Radioactive Lume in Vintage Watches: From Radium to Tritium

Рет қаралды 10,377

Күн бұрын

Before each video we ask ourselves what questions we want to answer, this makes it easier for us to keep a common thread and get to the heart of all the information.
In todays video we're going to explore it all, from the vintage radium & tritium watches of yesteryear to the cutting-edge technology of today.
0:00 - Intro
1:19 - What is radioactivity?
How was it handled?
How did it get on our watches?
4:40 - Is a radioactive watch really that dangerous?
6:52 - How can I tell if my watch is radioactive?
How should I handle such watches?
What are the differences between radium and tritium?
How does SuperLuminova work?
13:23 - Conclusion
For more information check our website:
goldammer.me/
our our Instagram account:
/ goldammer.me

Пікірлер: 53

@dynophreak Жыл бұрын

This is my favorite watch channel. Amazing job on another fantastic video.

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Much appreciated!!

@jamesgreig8796 10 ай бұрын

Another great video, very informative. Your channel is one of my favourite go to channels, when it comes to vinbtage watches. Great job, hope there are many more in the future.👍

@GoldammerVintageWatches 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for your kind words!! We definitely keep it going, don’t worry 😉

@MrSasa23 9 ай бұрын

Good job as always!!! I am still exploring your channel, it is marvellous 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@GoldammerVintageWatches 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for your feedback and support man 😊🤝

@watchnoerd5235 Жыл бұрын

Another fantastic and educational video, thank you!

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Thanks a bunch 🙏🙌

@comesignotus9888 10 ай бұрын

The danger of radium paint is not only in radon. It becomes fragile and in case of any attempts of the watch repair some "hot" particles fly around and can eventually land on or in human bodies. And while the luminous compound loses its useful qualities relatively quickly, making the owner wish to replace the paint, the radium itself has a half-life of 1600 years and is good to deliver the happiness to these fragile humans for centuries.

@donaldhoot7741 2 ай бұрын

I just got an old Ingersoll radiolite pocket watch from 1925. It's glow is gone but it is still very HOT on my Radiacode103 gamma ray spectrometer.

@donaldhoot7741 2 ай бұрын

Yes, it was painted by the Radium girls.

@francoisvandensteene5444 Жыл бұрын

Great educational video with beautiful images! Following you on IG! 🙌

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! We’re glad to have you on board 🙏🙌🤝

@Halfmoon67 Жыл бұрын

Awesome video ! Many thanks !

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your feedback, it’s much appreciated!

@Mark-jy6xd Жыл бұрын

Radium has a half-life of 1600 years. That means that the old radium on your watch dial and in the hands doesn't glow anymore, but it's still radioactive. It emits two types of radiation; alpha radiation and gamma radiation.

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Good addition, thank you very much!

@kewintaylor7056 7 ай бұрын

Is it dangerous ,can we relume it?😂😂😂😂

@chasedavis2358 6 ай бұрын

Radium directly decays into radon, so if the radon is contained it’ll increase in radioactivity

@favoritethings3065 5 ай бұрын

Another great video. As I showed in my Ranchero vs Railmaster part 2 video, my Omega Ranchero emits 5 microsieverts…I’m still not sure if this is safe or not. Not sure if it’s the Alpha or Gamma rays that are dominating, but I do get about 3 microsieverts from the caseback side.

@juslitor 3 ай бұрын

thats a spicy watch, what i have seen topped out at around 2 microsieverts/h in gammas.

@KAFKUBA Жыл бұрын

Great video appreciate it

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot

@HRM.H 11 ай бұрын

I love tritium paint. Ages so gracefully

@GoldammerVintageWatches 11 ай бұрын

Indeed, very warm and charming tones ✔️

@jimludwig9471 Жыл бұрын

Great subject, thank you! Quite illuminating 😁 Tritium gas tubes are still used and quite fun as well

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

Much thanks mate! Chromalight for the win :D

@donald1983 10 ай бұрын

Quick question - Is it normal to have the tritium glow differently on the hands compared with the glow on the indices assuming they are matching hands and indices? All are tritium but somehow the glow looks different on the hands.

@GoldammerVintageWatches 10 ай бұрын

Normally the glow should look the same on hands and numerals, but often it looks different because the amount of material on hands and numerals is different. Sometimes there is more on the hands and so it looks brighter and stronger, or just on the numerals ;-)

@donald1983 10 ай бұрын

@@GoldammerVintageWatches that explains it. Thanks for responding

@jamesgreig8796 9 ай бұрын

Just a question. You mention that tritium has a long half life, my understanding is that tritium’s half life is just over 12 years, not that long, but radium is 1600 years. Thanks for a really interesting channel. Kind Regards.

@GoldammerVintageWatches 9 ай бұрын

Hey man, you’re right! Can you link me the the exact point in the video what you don’t understand?

@jamesgreig8796 9 ай бұрын

@@GoldammerVintageWatches Hi Felix, The point on your video is at 13.53, where you mention the half life of tritium. Also, a very interesting presentation at the Horological Society of New York. It is by Kathleen McGivney entitled Why I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Radium Watches. At point 39.00 she demonstrates the lume on radium, tritium and Superluminova dials. I found her presentation very fascinating and enlightening. Appologies, if you are aware of all this, you being very knowledgeable on vintage watches. Kind Regards

@soumyabiswas928 Ай бұрын

Why did old watch companies use radium instead of phosphorous? Whereas phosphorus is much more readily available than radium or tritium.

@GoldammerVintageWatches Ай бұрын

They simply didn’t know how dangerous this material was

@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536 Жыл бұрын

Great and horrible history is the history of the radium.

@GoldammerVintageWatches Жыл бұрын

The toothpaste… just wow.

@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536 Жыл бұрын

Radium produces a mortal gas too. Kill softly. Radon.

@alexanderkaiser8770 7 ай бұрын

2:05 Für ein strahlendes Lächeln 😂

@GoldammerVintageWatches 7 ай бұрын

🙈

@TheAvalist 7 ай бұрын

dein deutscher akzent ist beeindruckend. 🤣

@GoldammerVintageWatches 7 ай бұрын

Den werd ich wohl auch nicht mehr los 🤣

@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536 7 ай бұрын

I was killed by my wristwatch. I am resting in no peace.

@GoldammerVintageWatches 7 ай бұрын

🤣

@c0ba1t 2 ай бұрын

I have a radium compass and a scintillation gamma detector, which is way more sensitive than a geiger counter. I'm sorry, but I don't want something greater than half a million counts per minute close to me for a long time. That's what my detector reads from this compass. I also have a clock that gives 20,000 CPM from radium. On the other hand, my tritium watches barely give me anything above background radiation. Much safer.

@GoldammerVintageWatches 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing this kind of measurement 🙏