Post pics of your watches Part II

IrishPlayer wrote: »

I got chatting to a guy on another forum about my pilots watch and he was telling me how nasty that lume can be ,especially if it still glows :eek:

Actually IP if it still glows it usually means it's way safer.

It's either been replaced with non radioactive lume or there was little enough radium added to the original mix. Radium over time burns out the phosphors that make the glow(radium on its own doesn't glow, or very little). The more added the faster they burn out.

Trench watch ads and ads at the time to add lume to a watch would only guarantee the glow for 2-3 years because they tended to throw a lot of radium in the mix. So you could buy a brand new watch in 1916 that would glow like a torch, but would be dark by 1920. Later radium lume mixes were weaker so the phosphors lasted longer. The radium itself of course has a half life of IIRC 1600 years so it's still just as hot a 100 years later.

Tritium that replaced it has a half life of(again IIRC) 12 years, so by around 24 years it's pretty much dead. It's also a weak emitter, mostly beta, so doesn't bugger up lume the way radium did. Some experimented with promethium(sp) in the 70's and 80's but it has a half life of something like 2 or 3 years so about as much use as teats on a bull.

david wrote: »

Nice job Wibbs! Just out of interest how do you dispose of the old radium lume, I’m guessing not in the green bin

I came up with a way of removing it that also helps contain it D. What I do is take epoxy glue, you know the stuff that has two liquids you mix. Well I use the clearest one(the activator I think) and found it breaks down whatever original binder is left. So when the dial and hands are clean(I check with the geiger counter to make sure), I then add the other liquid and stir it together with the toothpick I use to remove it. In due course it all goes rock solid and all the bad goo is contained within. I then put it my shed at the end of my garden. Clearly marked should I fall off the twig without telling anybody. If there were an avenue where I could safely dispose of it officially I would, but I've yet to find one, but they are tiny amounts of the stuff. Given how widely it was used in the past it's like a drop in the ocean.

I have personally found that the radiation from old lume is low enough in gamma radiation and more a beta emitter. The latter is stopped by very little. Even thin card. It's also a point source so if it were in the corner of the room so long as you weren't sitting on it... The biggest risk if from ingesting it. Then you'd be in danger. The other risk would be if you had say a large collection of old aircraft dials in one room. They had much more painted on and as it breaks down it releases radon gas. That all said watchmakers who used to be exposed to this stuff on a daily basis for most of their working lives don't show any obvious higher incidences for cancer etc so...

Rechecked the dial and hands... Highest sensitivity.



Dead. Well the odd twitch for background(beta).

Get the bits and bobs together.



Like atomic Blue Peter here. No sticky backed plastic though. No adult supervision either.

Testing the first coat.



Needs a second coat. This involves a tiny brush and much tongue sticking out corner of mouth. And cursing frequently.

It flashes off pretty quickly. Under an hour. Hands lined up and back on and not binding(this can be fiddly and easy to feck up).



Leave to cure a few more hours...

Porcelain dials are sooooo nice. Look brand new even after over a century. Gorgeous depth to them too. Having had in my hand new watches with porcelain dials by the likes of Patek they're not a patch on the old stuff. Soft around the edges to the point you think your eyes are going funny, not nearly as crisp and they charge like wounded bull elephants for the privilege. Yet even cheap dials from a century ago were better and they rattled them off in their bazillions. Also the new stuff is one colour, aren't double sunk dials, never mind triple sunk with loads of different colours on them.

IrishPlayer wrote: »

Just wondering Wibbs, is it a challenge finding someone to service these unique watches? Have heard especially with the early quartz movements people on the forums finding it difficult getting work done.

The Trench watches are simple enough. Unless you need parts, but if you have one of the commoner movements ebay will usually do the trick. Early quartz and electronic stuff a must is a spare working movement.

found this video by TechMoan about the HP calculator watch,seems to have gotten the stainless steel model since making the video.

Funny enough, even before the whole watch collecting thing went mainstream they were always a pretty penny to buy, if you could find one.

Cyrus wrote: »

Nice lume on the Dark side, really liking this!

Yeah, I'm really liking that too C. IMHO the Speedy looks bloody fantastic as a two register chrono and the date works too. Though I much prefer two register chronos as a rule. They look more balanced to my eye.

Amplitude and accuracy in my 1942 Doxa DH was going down so I fitted a new mainspring.



Cracking little movement in these. Simple but robust(there's more decoration on the bits you can't see). Anti magnetic with early anti shock. The steel case is nicely made and machined(the majority of issued DH's were plated brass). You can still see the original lead gasket around the outside groove, the original crown is a tight fit and the new crystal I fitted is tighter than a gnat's naughty parts. It still keeps some water resistance. Minus the movement I've dropped it into the sink with 5 inches of water in it and it didn't leak. I'd not swim with it but...



One of my fave watches actually. Lovely balanced gilt dial. Small by today's standards, but that means you don't notice you're wearing it. 12 hours after the new mainspring it's running like a steam train and bang on time.

You had me at Longines.

Following on from Ads by Google's link to the reddit post on what your watch says about you: Omega: You are intimately familiar with all 12 manned Apollo missions. I am and even have a fair chunk of memorabilia from that era, but this is my only Omega and it's just a little after all that.



I still think if a cyberman from Doctor Who wore a watch it would be this one.