International Dial told me not to send the watch. I sent them the 411 on the Waltham military pocket watch for an estimate: $106. specializes in safely stripping off the cancerous lume and repainting the dial with vintage-colored Super-LumiNova. “Just scrape it off with a pen knife into water,” an elderly pocket watch dealer advised. I’m not going to lick the Waltham’s dial. Meanwhile, it’s no surprise pocket watch restorers and collectors won’t touch a radium dial pocket watch with a ten foot pole. (I’ll post their reply in the next installment of this series.) A strongly worded email is headed eBay’s way. Question: why are there radium dialed watches – and dials – for sale on eBay? Where’s the health warning? I know a disclaimer announcing “THIS WATCH CAN KILL YOU” would affect values, but seriously. Professor Gillmore added that due to the age and condition of many of the watches in this study, opening up such watches without taking appropriate precautions is not recommended. One who knows that you have to remove the front glass from a lever-set pocket watch to set the time. “They have the potential to pose a significant health hazard to themselves and their families. This is of concern because in addition to military watches being particularly prized by collectors, many individual radium-dial watches are kept as mementoes by ex-servicemen and their descendants. The authors, Dr Robin Crockett, University of Northampton, and Professor Gavin Gillmore, Kingston University (above), warn these levels are high enough to be dangerous even in much larger spaces, such as whole houses.ĭr Crockett said: “These results show that the radon emitted from individual watches can potentially pose a serious cancer risk. In addition, three of the watches in poor condition gave rise individually to radon concentrations – when kept in the same poorly ventilated room – well in excess of the threshold where Public Health England would recommend remediation. In this study, a collection of 30 antique, radium-dial watches gave rise to radon concentrations 134 times greater than the UK’s recommended ‘safe’ level when kept in a space the size of a typical boxroom. The result was headlined WWII military watches ‘potentially pose serious cancer risk’ A pair of British academics tackled that very subject. So yes, radium can kill you. And yes, radium dialed watches are a danger. Marie Curie herself eventually died from working with radium. People who work with radium must take great care that they do not get the element on their skin, swallow it, or inhale its fumes. The radiation it gives off can kill living cells. Like all radioactive materials, radium is a dangerous substance to handle. So I Google searched “radium.” One of the first questions listed: “Can radium kill you?” : I knew that the words “Radium Numbers” in the product description were something of an issue. “I won’t touch it.” And now we need to talk about the Waltham military pocket watch’s luminous numbers and hands. Anyway, done! The Waltham military pocket watch is mine for $275. A fully functional 21 jewel Waltham military watch like the one immediately above sells for around $745. I’m more than reasonably sure this ain’t that.Įven if it cost three bills to whip the DOA Waltham military pocket watch (at the top of this post) into shape, or substitute another movement, the low purchase price means it should still be worth it. Clockworks ‘ -“Bringing New Life to Old Watches” – charges around $100 to repair and accurize a reasonably complete and functional railroad grade pocket watch. “Doesn’t appear to be working.” Translation: the watch is broke AF. Winding mechanism moves and hands move freely but doesn’t appear to be working. Inside back cover says Keystone Base Metal 158263. The front says Waltham 17 Jewels, the back says ORD.DEPT. Military World War Waltham Radium Numbers Pocket Watch. I spied with my little eye an entirely dubious Waltham military pocket watch on eBay. There is another path: restore a broken ass pocket watch to its former glory. Premium-priced, perfect-looking, “serviced” and “running” pocket watches might have hidden defects and inappropriate parts. In Three Ways to Kill a Pocket Watch, I warned collectors to avoid eBay like the plague.
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