Hello everyone,


I'm completely new to this and might have already made a big mistake..

I bought these two Omega Seamaster Calendar rather cheap on eBay. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the issue with radium hands and dials and I simply opened them without any protection..


Are there any signs that it has been cleaned or repainted or that the hands were replaced?

I'm slightly worried as I might have inhaled some particles when I opened them.

View attachment 1541859 View attachment 1541860

Thanks in advance!

 

We’ll both hand sets look incorrect for the watches so although they would’ve had radium hands originally it’s hard to be sure now.
Only the first watch seems to have radium on the dial.

Given the wrong hands and poor dial on the second, hopefully they were very cheap. Condition, condition, condition.

 

Unless you licked them meticulously inside out 24/7/365 , you might be fine .... Generations of Humans have survived Radiation, like in Mickey Mouse concentrations on Watch Dials and Hands .... Read about the Radium Girls in WW2 ; Don't do that.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. Not that radium isn't dangerous, but the odds that you were seriously exposed to a high concentration of disintegrated radium lume particles and/or radon gas is quite low. In the future, it's wise not to open any watch manufactured before 1962 or so - leave them to your watchmaker. If you are going to be a serious collector of vintage watches, it's also a good idea to have a portable geiger counter in your stable of tools. And don't let the fact that a watch dial or hands have radium prevent you from buying a watch that you like. The danger is very small as long as the watch case and crystal are intact and some radium dialed watches are simply stunning in appearance. Here's my 1958 Ranchero which has radium lume on both the dial and hands.

 

I purchased my first Vintage - a Hamilton a few years and didn't know about radium or tritium. I lucked out and it did not have any lume. I have one of these (GMC brand) although now I only purchase vintage without any lume (many collectors don't mind; I know I'm missing out on some very cool pieces but everyone has there personal level of comfort) - I have one of these as peace of mind. GQ GMC-320 Plus Geiger Counter Nuclear Radiation Detector Data Recorder Beta Gamma x-Ray Test Equipment to test any new vintage purchase. If it was made prior to the 1960s then it probably used radium. In the early 1960s some watches were marked T (T- SWISS MADE -T appeared on the bottom edge of the dial.) This kind of watch used tritium.

 

Thank you very much for your replies, highly appreciated!

I definitely learned form that mistake and will use the right equipment next time. I just got my hands a Geiger Counter which gave me 0.19 μSv/h right on top of the watches (0.07 above the normal measurements in the house).

And yes, I got them cheap (150€ per piece). At least I guess that's cheap?

 

Radium would be higher than 0.19 uSv/hr. That would be considered background.
I think the lowest I’ve seen is around 0.5 for radium up to a factor of ten higher.

 

You have to put your gonads in a bowl with ice cubes and 3 iodine tablets diluted in water.

Do this 3 times a day for 45 minutes.