# My new watch is \*Radioactive!\*..... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107 "2006-05-17T15:19:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/1 "2006-05-17T15:19:11Z")
Don’t worry, it’s only a Beta particle emitter, the electrons emitted can’t escape the watch crystal (or the tritium vials for that matter) it’s a [Luminox 3003](http://www.luminox.com/catalog/cat/3000/3003.html) with the Tritium capsule illumination system, a self powered system of phosphor coated pencil-thin glass tubes filled with Tritium (radioactive Hydrogen (H3) ), the electrons thrown off by the Tritium strike the phosphors in the tubes and emit a constant soft glow (half-life of Tritium is 12 years) Luminox does stretch the truth a little about the brightness of the Tritium vials, they’re not as bright as the pics on the website make them seem, you really need to be in a rather dark room and have dark-adapted eyes to get the true effect of the illumination system [Here’s a pic of _my_ watch glowing in the dark](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Luminox.jpg), i did kick up the contrast in Photoshop about 10% just to get the overall haze from the digicam clear, but i did not ttouch the brightness… watches using phosphorescent paint will be initially brighter when charged up, visibly brighter, but they fade rather quickly and end up glowing dimly, Tritium vials stay at a constant brightness for at least 10-12 years then slowly fade as the H3 decays to plain-old Hydrogen It’s a great, basic watch with an incredibly cool illumination system… ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/2 "2006-05-17T15:22:37Z")
Here’s the Wiki entry on Tritium lighting… > [@Wikipedia](#): > > While they contain a radioactive substance, self-powered lighting does not pose a health concern. Tritium is only mildly radioactive; it emits beta particles which cannot pass through the glass of the tube, and each tube segment contains only a minute quantity of the gas. Direct, short-term exposure to small amounts is relatively harmless. If a tritium tube should break, one should leave the area and allow the gas to diffuse into the air. Tritium exists naturally, but in very small quantities. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/3 "2006-05-17T16:09:21Z")
Meh, I much prefer the radioactive watches from back in the day, where when you went to check the time, so too did Death. (Yes, I am jealous.) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/4 "2006-05-18T02:50:16Z")
Oh no, i’m getting addicted to _watches_ now… I went to Kittery Trading Post just to look around, turns out they had a clearance sale on the Wenger Battalion ($69.95 NIB), and since I’m a sucker for a deal, I couldn’t resist… so, now I have a watch with Super Luminova lighting compound and a Tritium illuminated watch, and a scientific mindset, so I did what any self-respecting science-minded guy would do, I set the two watches up for a comparison… my camera has a 10-second self-timer, so I would illuminate the Wenger for 10 seconds with my Lighthound 12 LED UV flashlight, and then compare the two watches immediately after illumination, then 1 minute later, than 5 minutes later… first, the baseline images for each watch, taken individually… the Wenger; [http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Wengerwatch.jpg](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Wengerwatch.jpg) the Luminox; [http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Luminox.jpg](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Luminox.jpg) the two watches side-by-side right after 10 seconds exposure to UV light; [http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi.jpg](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi.jpg) after one minute; [http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi1min.jpg](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi1min.jpg) after five minutes; [http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi5min.jpg](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi5min.jpg) after 5 minutes, the Wenger’s luminescent paint was barely readable, the Luminox was clearly readable… After initial exposure to light, the Wenger is the clear winner, at the one minute mark, they are more or less equal, but after 5 minutes and beyond, that’s when the Tritium markers really show their stuff… ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/5 "2006-05-18T04:42:05Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Oh no, i’m getting addicted to _watches_ now… Rock on, MacTech! Luminox [1602](http://www.luminox.com/catalog/catalog1600.asp) for me. I have this problem with mechanical watches, I gotta have more. I love going to sleep to the ticking of a cheap movement, I love the beauty of a well made Swiss movement. I’m never more than 20 feet from something sync’d to NIST, but I’d rather have a 17 jewel wind-up pocket watch. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/6 "2006-05-18T05:15:41Z")
A few years ago [theregister](http://www.theregister.co.uk/) sold Tritium-fueled glow-in-the-dark keychain pendants. I wanted one so bad (heck, still do!) but they’re illegal here for some strange reason. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/7 "2006-05-18T14:24:37Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > A few years ago [theregister](http://www.theregister.co.uk/) sold Tritium-fueled glow-in-the-dark keychain pendants. I wanted one so bad (heck, still do!) but they’re illegal here for some strange reason. ☹ They still sell them ([here](http://www.cashncarrion.co.uk/products/16086/0/)). Just my WAG, it’s problems with shipping radioactive materials across international borders that’s the problem. I can’t think of a reason they’d be illegal to own, here or Canada. I have a mission now, I must have one! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/8 "2006-05-18T14:55:07Z")
It strikes me that if you collected enough of these watches, salvaged the vials, and extracted the tritium into a suitable containment system, you’d have the makings of a pretty fair… **1920’s style Death Ray!** :eek: ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/9 "2006-05-18T15:50:15Z")
> [@Bobotheoptimist](#): > > I can’t think of a reason they’d be illegal to own, here or Canada. They actually are illegal in the US. There are requirements for registration of radioactive devices and licensing of the manufacturers, as well as possession. There are exemptions for limited quantities "to the extent that such person receives, possesses, uses, transfers, owns or acquires tritium, krypton-85, promethium-147 in self luminous products manufactured, processed, produced, imported, or transferred in accordance with a specific license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission pursuant to Section 32.22 of 10 CFR Part 32, which license authorizes the transfer of the product to persons who are exempt from regulatory requirements, but these do not apply to “frivolous purposes or in toys or adornments”. Radioactive watch hands are not deemed a toy, adornment, or frivolous use, but a key chain is. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_I\_change\_my\_answer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Can\_I\_change\_my\_answer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_I_change_my_answer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/10 "2006-05-18T15:59:22Z")
I once had an “atomic space ring” I got in a cereal box. I was quite sure it was shooting xrays at my eyes but I couldn’t stay away. It was a bit of phosphoric paint with a bead of plastic over it as a distorted magnifier. The light shooting out looked like a meteorite shower. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/11 "2006-05-18T16:04:04Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > They actually are illegal in the US. There are requirements for registration of radioactive devices and licensing of the manufacturers, as well as possession. > > There are exemptions for limited quantities "to the extent that such person receives, possesses, uses, transfers, owns or acquires tritium, krypton-85, promethium-147 in self luminous products manufactured, processed, produced, imported, or transferred in accordance with a specific license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission pursuant to Section 32.22 of 10 CFR Part 32, which license authorizes the transfer of the product to persons who are exempt > from regulatory requirements, but these do not apply to “frivolous purposes or in toys or adornments”. > > Radioactive watch hands are not deemed a toy, adornment, or frivolous use, but a key chain is. I stand corrected. Thanks. A guy on eBay claims he’ll send them worldwide. After reading this, I’m not sure I want one that bad. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/12 "2006-05-22T18:29:26Z")
well, afte my first week with the Luminox, i checked it against the Atomic Clock again… it was 4 seconds fast not bad accuracy for an entry level Swiss watch… now, i just need to see how my _other_ new watches (a pair of Pulsar Tech Gear Solar Diver 4000’s) stack up in a week, see if Swiss or Japanese movements are better… the Pulsars were purchased from a Seiko Company Store at one of the mini-malls in Kittery, Me, for a killer price, and since i’m a cheap bastard who can’t resist a killer price, i had to get them (the Black Diver was $110, NIB with 3 year “Bumper to Bumper” Pulsar warranty, after my tax refund, it only cost me $40 out of pocket, the Blue Diver was an “almost perfect” factory second that cost $45, absolutely nothing wrong with it, and since i sold one of my unused knives for $50, the cost to me was free…) ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/13 "2006-05-22T19:19:00Z")
_Got to concentrate Don’t be distractive Turn me on tonight Cause I’m radioactive_ – The Firm ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/14 "2006-05-22T20:16:07Z")
Welcome to the 20th Century. We’ll slow down here in the 21st so you can catch up. You know, the tritium gets appreciably dimmer after like 8-10 years. It’s possible that yours is not super bright because it’s been sitting on a shelf for the last decade or longer. That could also explain the cheap “ON SALE” watches you’re finding. Be careful when buying tritium watches for cheap. They’re probably passed the “best results” time period. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/15 "2006-05-22T20:19:54Z")
argh. I apologize if I came off smug. But seriously, you’re kinda over excited about something that’s been around for decades. It’s like making a post about this cool thing you plug into your tv and gives you lots of channels! OMG, Amazing! … I’m being an ass. I’ll leave now. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/16 "2006-05-22T21:59:55Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Welcome to the 20th Century. We’ll slow down here in the 21st so you can catch up. > > You know, the tritium gets appreciably dimmer after like 8-10 years. It’s possible that yours is not super bright because it’s been sitting on a shelf for the last decade or longer. That could also explain the cheap “ON SALE” watches you’re finding. > Be careful when buying tritium watches for cheap. They’re probably passed the “best results” time period. nope, this one’s “fresh”, i compared it against a brand new one, same brightness, the box it came in was marked with a 2006 manufacture date… as far as watches in general go, i haven’t had a _good_ analog watch up until now, i always thought digital watches were a pretty neat idea… i now prefer analog previously, i’ve owned Timex Ironman watches, and run them 'till they fall apart or i break them, the last analog i had was one of those '70s “learn to tell time” red/white/blue dial watches the Pulsars use luminescent paint, charged up by light, and will slowly fade, they use some version of “Super Luminova” paint, which gives a much longer glow than normal lume paint, but will eventually fade to nearly nothing until it’s rechaged the pictures on the Luminox website _ARE_ deceptive, they make the traser vials look almost bright enough to see in daylight, that’s not the case, compared to the Pulsars once they’ve reached their baseline illumination, the Luminox trasers _are_ much brighter here’s a comparison of Luminox Vs lume paint…; [Wenger Battalion Vs Luminox after initial charging of Wenger’s lume paint](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi.jpg) [after a minute](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi1min.jpg) [after 5 minutes](http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/WengLumi5min.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/17 "2006-05-22T22:53:24Z")
I haven’t had a luminox for years. But when I did have it, I LOVED IT. It seemed pretty damn bright to me. But then again, I was using it mostly at night, in almost pure darkness (like \<1% lum) and had no benefit of white light. So when the moon was covered, my watch was the brightest thing out there. Well, except for my compass. That was using tritium too. But like 20 times the tritium in my watch. I loved not having to press a button to see my watch in the dark. And the tritium dials are much brighter than any digital light. Well, any that I’ve seen. I also have tritium sights on my Glock, and the ACOG on my last M4 uses tritium. It’s probably the greatest use for hydrogen since water. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-watch-is-radioactive/357107/18 "2006-05-23T01:56:42Z")
Well, that’s the secret then, you were looking at it with dark-adapted eyes, so it will seem brighter, if you were in a room lit only by a TV set, for example, the watch lighting would seem dimmer… and yes, Tritium is very cool, i’d love to get some Tritium Glowrings and a Betalight (glass capsule of Tritium encased in a high-strength polycarbonate casing), but the stupid U.S. government has banned the “trivial” use of Tritium products, watches are tools and are not restricted