Hi, I really want a Soviet watch that’s affordable and in a good condition. I came across this one and I really want it. But the thing is I’m kinda paranoid because I read that many watches had radioactive dials before the 1960’s and I don’t want to risk it with this one.

So is there a way to find out whether or not this is radioactive through the pictures?

Also, if anyone knows a good seller on ebay that has watches that are in good condition and are really affordable like this one, can you please share the link? I honestly don’t care if they aren’t 100% real or are frankens. I just really want a nice Soviet watch…

Wish that there was a long list that contained all the names of watches that were radioactive, so amateurs like me can be careful.

  • Palimpsest0@alien.topB
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    11 months ago

    I don’t see anything that looks like radium lume there.

    Generally, radium paint materials will be whitish and thickly printed, or seen as a fill material in hour markers and hands, or small round dots next to hour markers. With age, it will darken, so sometimes it’s now tan or grey-green, but it will be a light color, and often looks chalky.

    The radium paint itself is a mixture of a zinc sulphide based phosphor, radium salts, and organic paint binders, like an oil paint. The bulk of it is zinc sulphide, which is a white, chalky-looking material, so that’s what the paint looks like. To make zinc sulphide into a radioluminescent phosphor, it’s chemically altered with a trace amount of either silver or copper. Copper based phosphor can age greenish, but a lot also depends on how the paint binders age. Being organic compounds, and exposed to a lot of radiation from the radium content, they usually darken or yellow, just like old lacquer exposes to direct sunlight, resulting in a light brown color for the aged radium paint. The zinc sulphide itself breaks down from the radiation, so it stops glowing even though the radium salts remain radioactive.