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Old 23 March 2015, 12:51 AM   #54
tedwedz
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: London, UK
Watch: 1961 Rolex Airking
Posts: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tools View Post

Here is a brief overview of the various Luminous Materials.

Radium:

Up until about 1960, Rolex used the radio-active material Radium to coat hands and indices of their dials. The Radium markers were extremely efficient where bright luminosity is concerned, but also much more radio-active than the successor, Tritium.

The dials having Radium as luminous markers would read "SWISS" at six o' clock.
__________________
Thanks for this great article!

My 35mm 1961 (when bought on 26/6/1961 in Switzerland by my dad) 5504 Rolex Oyster Air King Super Precision (Serial Number 152844) does not glow any more.

It is marked "Swiss" at 6pm so must be the above Radium, maybe it was made in 1960?

Is there a way of (SAFELY!) making it glow again, I am not clear from the article?

Kind regards

Edward
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