How can I tell if my watch has radium?

How can I tell if my watch has radium?

If it has luminous markers, and made prior to the 1960s, then the watch most likely has radium. After 1998, watches may have Swiss or Swiss Made on the dial, however by this time LumiNova was used instead of radium. T: indicates that tritium was used, as opposed to radium.

Is it dangerous to wear a watch with radium?

Radium is highly radioactive. It emits alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. If it is inhaled or swallowed, radium is dangerous because there is no shielding inside the body. ... By the 1970s, radium was no longer used on watch and clock dials.

Is radium paint still used?

Radium paint itself was eventually phased out and has not been used in watches since 1968.

Is tritium still used in watches?

Although tritium paint is still used today for watch lume, it was most commonly used in the 1960's through about the late 1990's or early 2000's. Also used during this time, however much more rarely, was promethium, another radioactive material used for self-luminous watch applications.

What replaced radium in watches?

Radium dial production peaked in the first decade of the 20th century as radiation poisoning was then unknown; subsequently, radium dials have largely been replaced by phosphorescent- or occasionally tritium-based light sources.

What replaced radium?

Promethium Promethium. In the second half of the 20th century, radium was progressively replaced with paint containing promethium-147. Promethium is a low-energy beta-emitter, which, unlike alpha emitters like radium, does not degrade the phosphor lattice, so the luminosity of the material will not degrade so quickly.

Did Rolex ever use radium?

RADIUM. The first luminous material used in Rolex watches was radium; and it remained the standard until 1963. Before then, the effects of radiation exposure were not well understood, until the highly toxic material caused radiation poisoning among factory workers.

What are three glow in the dark substitutes to radium?

Today the kings of luminescence are Timex's Indiglo, Super-LumiNova, and Tritium tubes. All three of these alternatives can be found in an abundance of watch brands throughout the globe.

When did watchmakers stop using tritium?

Since tritium watches are also considered to be potentially hazardous, the use of tritium in watches was finally stopped in the 1990s. Since then, timepieces are made with Super-LumiNova, a pure phosphorescent luminescent material that is free of any radioactive additives and based on an alkaline earth aluminate.

When did Rolex stop using tritium?

1998 When did Rolex stop using tritium? In 1998 once the use of tritium paint was banned. They have been using Luminova instead.

What happens to a radium watch over time?

• You'd be looking for a pre-1968 watch, and it probably won't glow that much. Over time, the intensity of the glow from the paint will decrease because of the damage caused to the ZnS crystals by the alpha particles. Since radium-2 year half life, its decay is not a significant factor.

Is it legal to use radium on watches?

• There's not much use though - they no longer glow much or at all, because the radium has burnt out all the phosphor. Do you mean the watches that used radium to make their dials light up? Then sure, they're legal, since the total amount of radium was miniscule --- just a tiny bit of radium paint on each number, usually.

How long is a glow in the Dark Watch radioactive?

• They have very much the same design but this time instead of tritium they're mixed with radium. The half-life is sixteen hundred years. However, they may not seem to be as radioactive because the phosphor in the paint gets eaten up by the radium.

Is the radium paint in your watch radioactive?

• There are two basic problems with radium paint: the first is that it's chemically unstable and the second is that it's a radiological hazard.