

Several of the women got seriously ill and sued their employer for having contracted an occupational disease. They pointed their brushes on their lips to create a fine tip for the delicate work. In the early 1900s, the dials and hands of nearly all timepieces were painted with this radioluminescent paint.Īlmost all of the workers were women, and they were told that the paint was harmless. Watchmakers discovered that they could mix the radium with paint to create a paint that glows in the dark.

Radior cream, because every woman deserves a beautiful glow Those products even included drinks and creams. People thought that it was healthy, and it was included as an ingredient in many products. They had no idea that it was potentially dangerous. In 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium when they found out that the mineral uraninite was still radioactive after they’d removed the uranium. Is radium lume that dangerous, or is it a tempest in a teapot? A bit of history However, all over the internet are scary stories about radium, radioactivity, and potential dangers. It’s a big part of the overall appearance and the charm of these vintage watches, especially when the lume has changed into that attractive vintage yellow/brown color. It does not store any personal data.Many vintage watches have radium lume on the dial and in the watch hands. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Extensive interviews with survivors and their families make this “black” chapter of American watchmaking a lesson filled with little light. This documentary goes into quite a bit of depth with regard to the injurious consequences of being overly exposed to radium, even for just a short amount of time. There was a similar factory owned by United States Radium in Orange, New Jersey – where Thomas Edison, who worked with fluoroscopy among other things, had his workshop. The employees, now known as Radium Girls, were instructed to continuously reshape the hairs of the brushes they used by putting them in their mouths. The women working in the factories were tasked with painting the numerals and other markings on the timepiece dials with a luminous paint comprising glue, water, and radium powder. Luminous Processes remained in operation until 1977. Radium Dial moved to Ottawa from Chicago in 1922 and operated there until 1932 when it changed its name to Luminous Processes in reaction to a lawsuit. Women painting radium on watch dials for the proudly (and aptly) named Radium Dial company
