Horological Meandering

Medical science is fairly clear on the subject. Smoking cigarettes seriously damages one’s health. It is estimated that approximately half of all smokers die from a smoking-related illness. Long-term smokers live approximately 10 years less than non-smoke...  

I hope it is read by many people. As for sellers' disclosure: it will take law suits to highlight the injuries and the causative factors before anyone will post a warning. Just look at the history of thalidamide-use; asbestos-use; etc.

Let's hope you are not railing the wind.

Very informative! Guess I am happy I don't sleep with my watch on.... Best Blomman

Dear friend, you have to be congratulated by a grateful Purist community ! 1Q: based on your article & the science you\'ve screened, would you then advise everyone to try to get Geiger results for all watches, let\'s say between the 20ies and 60ies. And m... 

.....I would want to know for sure how much radiation a watch that I owned emitted. If a watch was produced between the 1920s and 1960s, then yes, absolutely, find out how much gamma it is emitting. Either buy or borrow a Geiger counter.

Thank you for taking the time to pull together an informative article which draws out the risks associated with our hobby. The US Environment Protection Agency has this very simple caution ''Do not try to take apart Radium dialed clocks, watches or timepi... 

I would also like to know how much Radiation my watch is emitting, but I want to know what type of radiation is coming from my watch there is not a machine out there that gives you that reading the nearest we have is a Geiger counter what many collectors ... 

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These watches are irradiating. I'll take the former;-)))

That is, different organs have different risks of developing cancer when exposed to the same amount of radiation. For example, the breasts in a lady are very radio-sensitive. The lungs are radio-sensitive. The brain less so. For a wristwatch usually worn ... 

from 1958.For the first few years prior to the acquisition of a Geiger the Dept of Health Inspector would put the timepiece face against a sheet of x ray film, if an image developed on the film the timepiece was confiscated. The results of these tests lea... 

I was stating a principle we use in radiation protection, that of different radio-sensitivities of different body organs, and applying it to the subject at hand. If I had a gamma-emitting watch, I would put it in a lead-lined box and only take it out occa... 

.....this is what I am really trying to get collectors to ask. How radioactive is my watch? If there is low levels, then who cares. However, if emission rates are high, then just don't wear it as its simply not worth the risk.

Yet, people who work at a desk have their watch at chest height for a good portion of the day. Further, Gamma will penetrate the body from a distance so although a watch may be sitting at the waist height, it will still emit throughout other parts of the ... 

That is, radiation needs several years to cause cancer, because the changes it causes to DNA needs this time to manifest as cancer. So, for example, children and teenagers have the highest risk of developing cancer after exposure to radiation as they will... 

The workers exposed to radiation at Chernobyl saw exposure levels of around uSv 6 million. Regardless of age, these workers were dead within a month. The level of exposure is pivotal in determining how quickly the ionisation process occurs in the body. Of... 

Deterministic effects are what you refer to in Chernobyl. They include hair loss, skin burns, sterility and death. They only occur after a threshold dose of radiation has been exceeded and after that, the effects are directly related to dose. Stochastic e... 

I am not sure I have found any scientific evidence that shows an identified lead-time from a causative event. From what i have read, the "trigger" level for cancers is just unknown. A further point is that certain scientific papers argue that accumulated ... 

Perhaps 'lead-time' was the wrong phrase. 'Latency period' is probably the correct term. Regardless, if you google 'radiation-induced osteosarcoma', you will see that most of these cancers (a bone cancer) developed 10 years after radiation. You are right ... 

And I thank you for taking the time to write this report. I would be interested to know how this might change collectors practical habits. It is not always possible to check a watch with a Geiger before purchasing, given that many dealers trade online. Wo... 

If i was buying a watch from the pre-tritium era (i.e. 1920s to 1960s), I would never buy it online without seeing the watch unless it was from a dealer i knew very well who would let me return it if i had a problem with it. So, from this sense, I find it... 

Whilst Tritium is a low Beta emitter and does not produce any Gamma radiation its use came to an end in the late 90's. Tritium was first seen as a relatively safe radiating material, it exists in many areas naturally in the water table. Tritium produces a... 

Like you, I think there are some attendant risks with tritium. I think they can be material, too. Similarly, i think the watch community has not been made especially aware

The points I made with regard to servicing and ensuring any tritium watch is as clean and dust free as possible and my preference of an automatic watch over a manual watch applies equally to a Radium watch to help educe the exposure and risks of inhalatio... 

.....I am getting asked whether I have any radium-226 watches in my collection. The answer is also no.

Meticulously researched, written in an easy to digest way - thanks a lot! And as you correctly point out, quite some people are completely oblivious to the risk, so pointing it out is very important. If someone decides that they find this acceptable, fair... 

.....i don't mind making errors, but i hate doing so blindly.

Very grateful to you for the article and the eye opening effect it has had!

Health and Safety.... you see if there is risk, albeit even the smallest of risks, can a manufacture service a watch with potential health risks. Further, what happens if you send the watch in for service, could a potential law prevent them from returning... 

For example, you have a Geophysic, you send it for a service or a change of hands, they will change them with luminova hands. Same for Rolex, same for Panerai...And for many other brands, I guess. Best, Nicolas

For instance, all the T Submersible T went to official service...they come back Lumi.

I would really like to know more about the dangers of the T dial watches are you planing on doing any follow ups which would go over them?

....i think other materials like strontium and tritium need to be addressed. It takes time to do the research, but it is something that I will do.

NT

For all the effort and research on this matter. I think it's truly important to know, especially because there's a lot of exposure as some of these watches might be worn regularly . To me as long as we understand the risk, exposure to ourselves, as long a... 

Thank you for all the time invested!