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Old 12 November 2017, 11:56 PM   #1
timelord
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Working on my bubbleback with radium dial?

Amongst my favourite prizes possessions is my 18k gold bubble back with explorer style dial.

I have had it for some years, but now is time for a service. I usually attend to most of my horology needs, but am still quite limited in what I can do. Therefore being a bubble back I would like to have it attended to by a professional who handles.high end watches and went in to get a quote

Much to my surprise he refused to quote me, as he is avoiding work on watches with Radium dials, especially mine which has some radium dust on the dial and if this is the case there is likely to be radium dust also in the movement Fair enough!!!

My question to those that still do open these to do whatever work needed is; what precautions do you take especially when cleaning the case and movement which has radium dust, in particularly in removing the dial- ( possibly with very fine dust hardly visible)?

I was thinking of removing the dial myself and sending the movement and case to be worked on but it is no different to leaving the dial in it as radium dust is already scattered everywhere inside the case! I have read a lot of literature on radium dials but am still left with a practical issue!! if I were possible, The ideal solution would be dip the whole timepiece in a non water based solution and disassemble the movement in the liquid, but the dial would be sacrificed.

I welcome your input with many thanks in advance
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Old 13 November 2017, 12:55 AM   #2
tamiya
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The dust isn't going to be dissolved in any gentle solvent so probably pointless working underwater.

I'd just take it outside and give it a good blowjob with canned air.

You'll probably accumulate more radioactivity exposure from background radon than working on 1 old watch, not like you're doing it daily.
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Old 13 November 2017, 05:52 PM   #3
SearChart
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As a watchmaker you'll rarely see radium dial watches. I wouldn't worry about the radiation.

Parts are a pain in bubblebacks, pretty hard to get, might be the real reason why he refused it.
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