Radioactive titanium watch. Radioactive wrist and desk clocks Radiation clocks
A little information: the tritium backlight promises to glow for at least 25 years without any recharging (in reality it will be visible for more than 50 years). The principle of operation is the decay of a radioactive substance: superheavy hydrogen.
In general, I decided to order a similar watch for myself. It really warms the soul to think that the backlight on them will absolutely always work for the next generation.
First the formal details:
1. Made by Smith & Wesson. This is not a watch company, but a famous American weapons manufacturer.
2. Titanium case and bracelet. Mineral glass.
3. Water resistance 100m.
4. Tritium and phosphorus backlight.
5. Timer + “military synchronization”.
6. Japanese mechanism (quartz, battery).
There are a lot of photos under the cut, including backlighting.
The watch arrived in just 3 weeks, judging by the track, the seller sent it from Los Angeles (USA). They were packed in two layers of film, but the original box commands respect. It will not be easy to destroy such a thing, even if such a diligent organization as our post office gets down to business. Real metal!
Inside is the clock itself on a classic pillow and a book with blank pages. The complete lack of instructions and any performance characteristics is frustrating.
The top cover has the shape of a regular octagon and is held on by eight screws. In some ways it resembles a manhole cover on military vehicles. Some sellers have the word Abrams in the name of these watches. Apparently, this refers to one of the most famous American tanks - the Abrams M1. Well, yes, this is marketing, we don’t fall for it...
The readability of the watch is questionable. In bright light you can see perfectly, in the dark there are no problems either, but in insufficient lighting the hands and dial begin to merge.
Among the inscriptions there is a small symbol of radioactivity. It immediately imparts seriousness to the whole structure :)
There are a total of 15 tritium capsules in the watch - 12 on the dial and 3 on the hands. Among cheaper models, there are often 4 capsules on the dial. In my opinion, this is a bad decision; it is inconvenient to determine the time using such a watch.
The manufacturer states that the case and bracelet are made of titanium. Indeed, the metal has a characteristic “titanium” tint, and the watch itself is very light, despite its decent size. For comparison, I took a photo next to a ring made of pure titanium. The color is a little different, but not much. I don't know what this means :)
The small dials are functional - a 12-hour timer with hours, minutes and seconds. It can be reset using the buttons, and there is also a pause function. In my opinion, such a timer is of little use, because... The dials are overlapped by large arrows.
By the way, the large second hand refers to the timer, and the small second hand on the sub-dial refers to the main clock. Unusual, but convenient. When the timer is reset, the large second hand automatically moves to 12 - it looks very impressive.
The watch itself is quite thick, although not heavy or very large.
The buttons are pressed with a pleasant click, the winding wheel has three positions and does not require screwing, as on domestic “commander” watches.
The strap snaps into place in three stages: classic folding, control clip and spring-loaded lugs. It’s unclear why it’s so complicated, but you can definitely figure out that the clasp won’t just come undone!
Now about the backlight. If the light suddenly turns off, then the usual accumulative light burns brightly.
After about an hour, when any “phosphorus” backlight runs out, the tritium backlight becomes clearly visible:
And, of course, why not check them for radioactivity? It’s clear that it won’t show anything, but still!
Several dosimeter measurements showed no significant correlation between measurements with and without a watch. You can safely use it, it’s been checked!
Photo on hand (taken while charging from the camera): 
Photo of the back cover (on it): 
15/11/2002
What danger to human health can something as seemingly harmless as a watch pose?
What danger to human health can something as seemingly harmless as a watch pose?
The answer seems obvious: the broken glass of a wristwatch threatens a cut wound, and if you collide with, say, a grandfather clock in the dark, you can easily break your forehead or bruise your ribs. But seriously, two things in watches can pose a danger to our health:
And the shooter
Materials and coatings of cases and bracelets
When the need arose to create watches whose readings would be visible in the dark (and this happened shortly before the start of World War II), manufacturers solved this issue quickly and simply: they began to cover the dials and hands with radioactive materials. No, no one wished harm on anyone, it’s just that at that time only very few nuclear physicists knew that radiation was not a useful thing. Well, when the whole world learned about it after the US Air Force nuclear attack on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they decided to get rid of the watch, which posed a real danger to humans, once and for all.
It is known, for example, that the radiation level of the Radiomir Panerai watch from the Italian company Officine Panerai released at the end of the war exceeded permissible standards so much that the entire batch intended for the underwater special forces of the Italian Navy was buried in a concrete container at the bottom of the ocean. This brand is still produced, but radium, of course, is no longer used to illuminate the dial and hands.
Currently used glow-in-the-dark materials can be divided into two groups. The first and very popular are light-accumulating paints. They are absolutely harmless to health. True, in order for such paint to glow, it must first be “recharged” - held in the sun or under a bright lamp. After this, for some period of time you will be able to find out what time it is, even in pitch darkness.
The second group is compositions based on the radioactive isotope of hydrogen - tritium. These do not need recharging, they glow on their own. At the same time, such materials are by no means eternal: the material gradually disintegrates (the age of tritium is 25 years), and over the years it seems to “evaporate.” So when you notice empty holes on the hands and markers of old watches, know that there was once a tritium-based material there.
According to the standards in force in Switzerland, the letter T is placed on the dial of “tritium” watches. Usually these are watches for scuba diving and other extraordinary activities. By and large, tritium is also harmless to humans, since the range of the emitted electrons is very short (they barely reach the watch glass). It is harmful only in industrial quantities, for example, during production. In the entire Soviet Union there were only two workshops (in Chistopol and Chelyabinsk), where elements of watches and other devices were decorated with tritium.
The radiation dose received by a person when wearing a watch with a radioluminescent dial for a year is 20 times less than the dose received from an X-ray and 525 times less than the dose received by a person within 12 months from natural background radiation. Thus, luminous materials used in watches today do not pose a health hazard.
However, a watch consists of more than just a dial and hands. Some cases and bracelets can also pose a hazard. And the most harmful material used in watches is considered to be nickel. It can cause skin diseases, allergies, burns, itching and other sores. But each person’s sensitivity to nickel is individual, and approximately the same number of people do not tolerate contact with this metal as suffer from, say, cats. Nevertheless, you need to think about everyone, which is why there are standards defined by GOST for the release of nickel in watches. Before going on sale in Russia, all watches, in theory, must successfully pass the nickel release test.
Nickel may be present in the steel of the case and bracelet, but this content is very small. Much more dangerous is the nickel contained in the plating of watches. A number of properties of this metal have led to its widespread use not only in watches, but also in the manufacture of various accessories - belt buckles and handbags, hairpins, jewelry, etc. By the way, they are also subject to regulatory requirements for nickel content.
Nickel release problems most often occur in cheap watches. Although, of course, it’s not a matter of price, but, above all, of production technologies. The plating of some watches consists of a layer of nickel and a layer of decorative coating - usually chrome (if the color of the plating is white), titanium nitride or gold plated (if the color of the plating is yellow). So, sometimes the thickness of the outer coating is so insignificant that it quickly wears off, exposing the nickel hidden underneath.
Decorative coating is always used in watches made of brass or alloy (an alloy based on zinc, aluminum, lead and other components). However, you should not be afraid: not all watches made of brass have nickel in their coating.
Modern technologies do not require the use of nickel as an underlayer material, and all more or less serious companies have long ago modernized their production, since in Europe the sale of watches with a nickel base is simply prohibited. But if you are still afraid of this metal, buy a watch made of steel or titanium. They are absolutely safe because they contain no nickel at all.
Theoretically, a watch strap can also pose a danger, since a solution containing nickel salts is also used when making genuine leather products. This means that a small amount of harmful metal may remain in the strap. However, no one in the watch business has ever heard of a customer being allergic to straps.
At one time, doctors probably expressed fair concerns that the first models of quartz watches used batteries that contained mercury compounds. However, this was quite a long time ago, and as for modern batteries, they are not able to cause any harm to the owner of the watch. This does not mean that they can be disassembled or swallowed. We don't recommend it.
In general, as you probably already understood, watches that are harmful to health are not produced today, and everything depends primarily on the individual characteristics of your body. One begins to choke in the presence of cats, another cries in the spring, a third has an itchy wrist from a leather strap, and doctors do not recommend that severely hypertensive patients wear watches even made of pure gold in the heat. As for individual characteristics, they were once taken into account even when hiring for watch factories.
In addition to the standard medical examination, candidates underwent a sweat test for acidity. If certain standards were exceeded, the path was closed to a person, for example, for assembly, since if a person with high acidity of sweat touched the dial, after a few months it would begin to darken and may even rot entirely.
Most experts believe that fears associated with the dangers of watches are greatly exaggerated. All watches sold in Russia undergo special tests and receive a certificate confirming their safety for the consumer.
The myth that radioactive substances glow will soon celebrate its centenary and, despite this, is still actively exploited by writers, artists and directors of the 21st century. It dates back to the 20-30s of the last century, when paint based on zinc and copper sulfide with the addition of radium began to be actively used in household appliances. Zinc sulfide with copper is a common phosphor, which, under the influence of an electron beam, colors the screens of radars and oscilloscopes in the “proprietary” green color, and in the paint composition glows under the influence of alpha radiation from the radioactive metal radium.
The mb-microtec company consists of three divisions. In addition to the production of tritium light sources Trigalight and the “home” watch brand Traser, it includes Glencatec. In fact, it is a research laboratory dedicated to finding new areas of application for mb-microtec know-how. Her most interesting projects involve the development of medical microrobots enclosed in sealed glass capsules using Trigalight laser encapsulation technology.
In those years, radium was more popular than Marlene Dietrich. Mesmerizing promotional posters showed happy families gathered around fireplaces emitting a mysterious greenish glow, and millions of people eagerly awaited the arrival of nuclear ovens in their kitchens and nuclear cars in their garages.
After humanity faced the dangers of radiation, the euphoria gave way to the other extreme: the slightest mention of radiation makes people frown tensely. Meanwhile, even an ordinary banana can cause a false alarm in a radiation detector - after all, bananas naturally contain the isotope potassium-40. The smoke detectors we see on the ceiling of every office use decaying americium-241.
We visited the mb-microtec factory (Bern, Switzerland), where light sources based on radioactive tritium gas are produced. This production is somewhat unique. Several companies in the world (you can count them on one hand) produce tritium sources, but only mb-microtec technologies make it possible to produce miniature flasks suitable, in particular, for installation in a watch dial. Therefore, all watchmakers who want to illuminate their models with tritium have to contact mb-microtec.
This is such a fish!
“Huge containers of tritium are being delivered to us!” - John Williams, CTO of mb-microtec proudly announces. We expect that in the next moment John will spread his arms to the sides in the traditional gesture “that’s a fish!”, but his palms only draw a medium-sized roach in the air.
The fact is that tritium is one of the rarest substances on the planet. Its world reserves are estimated at 30 kg, with one kilogram costing approximately $30 million. Industrial tritium is produced in nuclear reactors by irradiating lithium-6 with neutrons. But the Sun is full of tritium. Recall that tritium is an isotope of hydrogen, the nucleus of which contains one proton and two neutrons. Under conditions of powerful gravity and the highest temperature of the star (15 million degrees), tritium nuclei collide with deuterium (“heavy hydrogen”) nuclei, consisting of one proton and one neutron. In this case, the nucleus of a new chemical element helium is formed (two protons and two neutrons), a neutron and a huge amount of energy are released. The helium nucleus is lighter than the deuterium and tritium nuclei. If we recall the famous E = mc 2, where c is the speed of light, it becomes clear why the sun gives us so much heat.
For many years, physicists have been trying to recreate on Earth the processes occurring in the heat of the sun (and are making some progress). When they succeed, tritium will supply people with practically free electricity. Until then, he can serve us by igniting the phosphor in the glowing tubes. After all, the main property of tritium is safety.
Yes, it is radioactive, but the radiation of radiation is different. The most dangerous gamma radiation (high-energy photons) causes radiation sickness and cancer, although it is also used to treat cancer. Such radiation can only be blocked using a thick layer of material with heavy nuclei (lead, depleted uranium).
Alpha particles are nothing more than helium nuclei. It is easy to protect yourself from alpha radiation even with a thin layer of material, but it poses a danger if it enters the body. Prominent examples of both are Americium-241 from smoke detectors and the infamous polonium.
Tritium is characterized by soft beta radiation, which is a stream of electrons and positrons. You can even shield yourself from it with a sheet of paper. The energy of a beta particle is not enough to penetrate the body through the skin. Needless to say, tritium radiation cannot leave the glass flask. Even if you inhale a small amount of tritium, it will leave the body before it can cause significant harm.
However, when entering a gas station, we put on gowns and special shoe covers, and on the walls in each room we observe highly sensitive gas analyzers and radiation sensors. They are able to sense the slightest leak of tritium and instantly seal the room by launching an emergency ventilation system.
“The first reason for increased safety measures is official regulations,” explains John Williams, “the second is the small likelihood of the formation of tritium water from accidental interaction of gas with liquids.” Tritium water, in which some of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by tritium atoms, is dangerous because, when it enters the body, it can linger there somewhat longer than the gas that we constantly inhale and exhale.
Finally, there is a third reason: after all, the above-mentioned container is really large. Judge for yourself with an example: the Traser Red Combat watch contains sources with a total activity of 1 gigabecquerel (one becquerel means that the source experiences one radioactive decay per second). One container (the factory is allowed to store two) holds an amount of tritium with an activity of 50,000 curies, and one curie is equal to 37 gigabecquerels. So, if we calculate how many watches can be made using the entire supply of tritium in the factory, we get the figure 3,700,000!
Verified by law
Of course, mb-microtec light sources are used not only in watches. They can be found in weapon sights, aviation instruments, and fishing floats. The scope of application of tritium illumination is constantly expanding: sources appear in designer door handles, exit signs for aircraft and mines.
This is not surprising: tritium sources provide stable light, last 25 years, and do not require power or recharging. In this way, they compare favorably with phosphorus-based phosphors and the like, which store light energy during the day, but after one hour spent in the dark, they lose up to 90% of their brightness.
For those who are not convinced by the story about the safety of tritium, there is one last argument left. Tritium illumination is one of the most proven technologies in the world. Because there are few technologies that attract such close attention from government regulatory authorities.
Have you ever wondered what is stored in your closets, atresols and pantries? From personal experience, I know that many things lie there for years on the principle of “maybe they will come in handy,” and often even the owner of the apartment has a rather vague idea of what lies in the depths of the shelves. Meanwhile, there may be things very dangerous to health, the dangers of which their owners simply do not know.
On my blog I often write about traveling to radioactive places like Chernobyl or Pripyat. Such trips are relatively safe if radiation safety rules are observed. It is much more dangerous when radiation is closer than you think and you are unaware of its existence. I personally know a person who accidentally found one of the things I’m going to talk about today on the mezzanine of his home. What are these things? Why can they be more dangerous than a trip to the Chernobyl Zone? Let's get a look.
In this post we will talk about those things that contain radioactive substances that significantly exceed the safe norm - they can often be found in everyday life in the form of seemingly safe “souvenirs” and things left “as a memory.” First of all, this applies to various old measuring instruments (watches, pressure meters, etc.), the scales of which can glow in the dark. Until about the end of the sixties, such devices often used the so-called. “permanent light mass” (abbreviated as SPD), which contained radioactive substances - most often it was radium-226.
02. Here, for example, is a radioactive sextant. “Shines” approximately 2500 microroentgens per hour, which is more than 100 times higher than normal. The biggest danger of such a thing is not even the level of radiation (it is safe already at a distance of about 1 meter), but rather the fact that the scales with SPD are not protected in any way - which means that radium can be shaken out of the scale and contaminate surrounding objects.
03. Radioactive diving watch. Perhaps one of the most powerfully “luminous” things is that individual specimens can produce a beta/gamma background of up to 10,000 micro-Rentens per hour. Pay attention to the color of SPD - it has shades from yellowish to light brown. If the scales are exactly this color, then most likely it is radium, and not the safe phosphorus used in later models.
04. However, it is impossible to say with one hundred percent certainty about the color of the scale. I came across specimens with a white-greenish scale, very similar to phosphorus, but at the same time phoning. The best check is measurement with a dosimeter.
05. If it is not possible to check the watch with a dosimeter, then you can use this method - safe phosphorus reacts to “charging” with light, glows for some time in the dark, and then dims. Radioactive SPD does not react in any way to photons and either glows with a constant dim light, or does not glow at all due to old age.
06. Not only divers, but also ordinary household wristwatches can be radioactive. Here's an example of a typical SPD watch - the hands and numbers have yellow radium SPD on them, which is a hazard.
07. Here's another good example. I don’t know the measurement results of these watches, but judging by the amount of luminous mass, they should “shine” very well.
08. Not only watches, but also everything else that has “dials” can be radioactive. A similar compass with SPD (as in the photo below) was once kept in my home. And very often old aviation instruments “shine” - if you have something similar at home, be sure to check the thing with a dosimeter.
09. What else could be dangerous? Various “military souvenirs” like sights - without scales, but with luminous parts. Of course, it could be phosphorus, but it could also be radium. A sight with SPD looks like this:
10. Old smoke detectors can pose a radiation hazard - they do not have luminous scales, but contain radioactive substances (thorium, in my opinion). At a distance of 1-2 meters, such a smoke detector is completely safe, but in any case there is no need to store it at home, and certainly under no circumstances should it be broken - there is a danger of contaminating the room with radioactive substances.
11. Here's another radioactive object - an old icing sensor containing a powerful source of strontium-90. Such a sensor can be found in factories, repair shops, and even on the roof of your house. It's better to stay away from this kind of thing.
12. Radioactive toggle switches. This is an inconspicuous “switch” that can be found in household boxes with nuts, screws and other metal rubbish. The point on top of the toggle switch contains SPD - it is especially dangerous if the glass protecting the phosphor is cracked or broken - a couple of such toggle switches can be stained with radium in a very large area.
13. Toggle switches with SPD installed in the device:
The worst thing about all this is that particles of radium can enter the body and remain there - even with a small level of radiation, such a particle can “make a mess” in a few years. Another very important point is that SPD based on radium salts has another danger - radon released into the atmosphere. This is a very dangerous gas, which also has the ability to leak even through rubber seals - so no glass screens will protect against it.
14. Radioactive lamps of the DKShS-3000 type - a xenon arc lamp, one of the electrodes of which is radioactive. The item is relatively safe, but it is better not to store it at home.
15. Radioactive control sources from radiation measuring instruments. For example, such a source from the DP-2 radiometer “shines” very strongly in beta - to such an extent that when working with it it is advisable to use glasses to protect your eyes. Of course, it is highly unlikely that anyone would have such a thing at home, but you never know...
16. Some old camera lenses (mostly German and Japanese made) are also radioactive. This yellowish glass on the lens below contains a large content of radioactive thorium. Such optics were made until approximately the mid-seventies, after which radioactive thorium was replaced by non-radioactive substances. Takumar from the photo below is phonit in beta+gamma at approximately 3000 micro-Renten per hour.
At the same time, unlike all of the above, a lens with thorium glass is relatively safe - it does not emit radon, but it is still better not to use such things.
If you find any of the above on the mezzanines and cabinets at home, under no circumstances should you throw them away. You need to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and hand over these things, they will dispose of them there. In general, take care of yourself and your loved ones :)
Wristwatches are one of the most common radioactive objects; they are often handed down from grandparents and kept as a memory, irradiating everything around them. The place where such watches are disassembled or broken turns into a hotbed of radioactive dust, the inhalation of which is guaranteed (sooner or later) to lead to a diagnosis of cancer.
They also emit the radioactive gas radon-222, and even if the watch is far from you, inhaling the radioactive gas for years is a big risk. The excess of the natural background in the immediate vicinity of such clocks ranges from 100 to 1000 times. The dose rate of some specimens exceeds 10,000 µR/h (100uSv/h).
Radiation... People are accustomed to identifying radiation danger with some kind of global catastrophes, and many do not even realize that they actually live side by side with objects that seem to have an absolutely peaceful purpose, but are fraught with an invisible and insidious danger. Take, for example, an ordinary wristwatch. Not modern ones, of course, but those that our grandparents wore and which perhaps someone keeps as a memory. In the post-war period, the watch industry widely used in the production of dials the so-called permanent light mass containing one of the most insidious isotopes, Radium-226.
Initially, the watch delighted the owner with brightly phosphorescent and undying numbers and hands, while quietly and imperceptibly irradiating him with Radium radioactive radiation. Time passed, the clock grew old, the phosphor faded as a result of its destruction by radioactive radiation, but Radium did not go away. He also continues to radiate invisible danger. Moreover, the danger is real. The equivalent dose rate of gamma radiation from the dials can exceed 1000 microroentgens per hour, which is 100 times higher than the normal natural background. A high level of radioactive radiation is not the only danger that lurks in the luminous markers of such watches. The fact is that Radium-226 decays to form the radioactive isotope Radon-222b, which is a gas and easily leaves the watch case.
But that's not all. As a result of radiation destruction, light mass becomes very fragile and easily crumbles. As a result of repairs or any actions with the watch, radioactive contents may come into contact with your hands and may subsequently be introduced into the body with food. In the Soviet Union, many brands of wristwatches were produced with radioactive marks on the dial and hands. They were produced until the mid-sixties of the last century. Such brands as “Ural”, “Kama”, “Pobeda”, “Sports” were produced, as well as special watches for divers.
But the most common radioactive clocks were those used in military equipment, aviation and the navy. They were a frequent gift given by colleagues to their comrade in arms on his birthday or upon retirement. The watches were, of course, given with all their hearts and the donors did not even know about the very unpleasant contents that could harm the health of the owner of such a watch, and they took their place of honor somewhere on the wall or bedside table, quietly irradiating all the inhabitants of the house day after day. The most generous amount of luminous mass was applied to the so-called cabin wall clocks. The dose rate of gamma radiation on some examples of such watches could reach up to 100,000 µR/h!
Aviation clocks of the AChS type became widespread, as well as clocks installed in armored vehicles, which kept time not only on board an airplane or tank, but also at home and in cars, where they were built in by fans of military equipment.
There is also a high probability of detecting radiation in captured German watches from the Great Patriotic War. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to say for sure whether a grandfather clock or a watch bought in an antique store is radioactive. But this is very easy to find out if you have at your disposal a portable dosimeter RadiaScan-701. The device is equipped with a modern highly sensitive Geiger counter “Beta-1”, which will allow you to quickly and accurately assess the background radiation at home and in the country. Will allow you to identify sources of radioactive radiation that you may encounter in everyday life. After all, radioactive watches are only a small part of an extensive list of items, military and civilian items, fraught with invisible danger. As the saying goes, “Forewarned is forearmed,” and knowledge, supplemented by a modern device, will allow you to protect yourself and your loved ones from radiation danger. We will tell you about other things and objects, for example, some models of home table or wall clocks that pose a danger, in the next article in our catalog.