Radioactive, not running... is this watch even worth saving?

[@ForestWoodworks]

Your expertise and humor is what attracts me to watch your videos and swim around the comments section 😂 Also the fact that I could go from not knowing watchmaking from a hole in the wall to literally restoring watches in a matter of months simply by watching your channel and learning from it. 💪

[@VintageWatchServices]

That's very cool to hear :)

[@stupetidbuge6684]

16:16 oops little scratch 😅 Great vid though I could listen to you talk all day

[@VintageWatchServices]

🤔 Think you're actually right... That plastic probe shouldn't make any marks but it looks like it did 😔

[@michaelmoore2487]

A very enjoyable and informative episode. Thank you for the excellent explanations you provided about workplace safety precautions, radiation in general, and how to reduce the size of the holes in the bridges. Welcome back!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Michael! I hope to have shed some light on these things are there's quite some misconceptions out there and it's a tricky subject with lots of various measurement units etc..

[@danboston5867]

Saving the world one watch at a time! Great work as always.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Dan :)

[@chriszenier826]

I love opening old watches to see the service history marked inside. It's history and I enjoy that! It's shows how much or little the watch was loved and taken care of.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Chris, yes, I have no issue with old watches having marks in them! What I do have an issue with is doing so nowadays when we have much less intrusive ways of securing the user a warranty 😉

[@angelherrera6820]

One of the best channels on watch restorations! Thanks for the great content! Cheers!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Angel, that's very nice of you 🤗

[@sjurgabriel]

Thank you for another excellent video to watch! I missed you 🙂 About service-marks inside the backplate I look at it a bit different than you. I find them interesting as a part of a watch´s history, and they served a purpose when the watch was younger as a record of when and where it had been serviced. A watch I bought at a flee market was made more interesting by the fact that it´s markings led me to the shop that sold it originally, and their archive could tell it was sold to a local gentleman from a close by town. Markings also told me it was serviced regurarly until mid 70´s but by three different makers in the area. This knowledge ads to my pleasure of owning it some 70 years later, I find.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hei Sjur, thanks for your input! I don't have a problem with old watches having marks, what I'm trying to convey is that nowadays there are better ways to prove a service has been done. There is no reason today to scratch marks into a watch. IMHO.

[@xlerb2286]

@@VintageWatchServices I totally agree that as a general practice it shouldn't be done. But even now there are some scenarios where I feel it's acceptable. I had a very good friend that worked in a national standards lab in the 30's and 40's, went on to teach, and then took up watch repair later in life. He rebuilt a pocket watch that had belonged to my grandfather. And with hindsight I dearly wish I'd asked him to "sign" the watch. He was a good friend and taught me a lot, both in the classroom and out. That signature would have meant as much to me as does the watch itself :) I enjoy your videos, reminds me a bit of the days when I'd visit and he'd show me whatever projects he was working on at the time.

[@WatchThisA]

Love the video. Have recently "cleaned" a set of radium hands to feel safer about wearing a watch. I go outdoors with PPE to open the case and remove the hands, then dunk them in isopropyl to prevent dust and scrape them clean "underwater" so to speak. Then dump the fluid. The actions all but eliminated a uSv/h signature to a fraction over background. That said, as a shade-tree mechanic on cars/trucks/you name it, I routinely sharpie comments on parts I've installed. LOL. I replace a water pump, I write the date/mileage on the part as I'm installing it. Hopefully the next owner will appreciate it when troubleshooting whether a part is factory or been replaced recently. But I agree, you wouldn't scratch a date and initials on a piece of art like a vintage watch.

[@peterlamont1533]

Thank you so much and well done, for such an informative video. My late father bought two similar watches in 1963 as WW2 surplus. Being a hospital worker, he checked the radiation with the radiologist and had the faces and hands replaced. Both are 1944 British army officer's issue, Omega watches and I managed to have his serviced in 2014. However, last year I was told spare parts were no longer available for mine but it is now with another watch servicing company and I am still hopeful. It is wonderful to see old timepieces expertly renovated and given a new lease of life. Many thanks again.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Peter, thanks so much! There are still spare parts to be found for most watches, but they are indeed getting more and more difficult to find and quite pricey as a result. The good thing is that these old watches are so well made that as long as they are maintained regularly they will not wear much.

[@milanchristi7939]

Welcome back!! I always learn a lot when I watch your videos. Many, many thanks!!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Milan, that's great to hear :)

[@JohnWhite-dp9yq]

The content is exemplary. The narration is educational. The tangential information (radiation) is much appreciated, and the occasional remarks relating to home/family life are delightful. That human aspect is addictive. Vintage Watch Services is the best.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Wow, thanks so much, John :) 😊

[@wiredone2]

Brilliant video!! Truly great content. I bought a Farve Leuba that I tested and was surprised it was really active, this sent me on a massive project to find information on radioactive watches, I found lots of useful info but finally now there is a definitive resource for anyone getting into restoring these lovely works of art and how to do it safely Thank you.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot for that, Neil! I indeed wanted to debunk some of the myths and make a fact based video shedding some light on the actual dangers and how to deal with them 👍

[@kswaminathan5439]

This is an absolutely engrossing video. Lovely watch. I have a Zenith rectangular manual winding watch in which the movement is similar to this, but smaller. Regarding the radium girls, the reason why they developed cancer and other teeth related diseases is because they used to put the brush in mouth to straighten the tip with saliva and then dip into the radium for applying lume to the hands/dial. After medical tests found this to be the cause, it was stopped. Stian, I am very happy that you have 10,000 viewers. More will certainly join. Do educate us with more such videos. Take care and stay safe.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, K! You're entirely right, the real danger is when you ingest radioactive material, as that allows the alpha particles (which are big and heavy) to directly ionize cells inside the body... very bad stuff.

[@velviaman3206]

Tremendous vid. and information. I have one with a silver dial which is slightly older, cal.12.4.p6, and has had the radium lume on the hands removed some time ago. I am a Zenith collector , as I have mentioned before, and see very little Zenith restoration videos so thanks. I like the large seconds hand which fills the space between the 5 and the 7 with no cut off 6 . Black dials on vintage watches scare me if I am buying sight unseen but those with radium numerals are difficult to fake. Nice to see you back , I too had the plague before Christmas which left me with a slight hand tremor, not the best for footering with watches.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Good to hear you're back on your feet also! Do you still have the hand tremor or is it improving? Zenith has such a rich legacy of fabulous watches but still aren't quite known to the masses. Just today my wife asked me if Zenith is a brand after watching a bit of this video by chance...

[@velviaman3206]

@@VintageWatchServices Improving but the harder I concentrate the worse it gets. I am looking for a Defy with the 8 sided case and the GF ladder bracelet. Most that I see have had all the sharp angles polished off, If you ever have one let me know. e.g. A3642. I bought the Captain with the Square diamond cut indices cal.2552 if you remember.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Yep, I remember! That's a beauty also :) I really hope you recover fully from this, it's a very sad effect indeed...

[@hectormonclova7563]

I’m glad you are feeling well, sharing with us those great experiences, and glad to see your channel growing. With that excellence, what else do you expect? 🙂

[@VintageWatchServices]

Wow, that is very nice of you, Héctor, thanks so much :) More videos to come!

[@alanpreston3111]

Wow …beautiful gold plated movement..love it … another glowing success Stian 😎👍🏻

[@verafleck]

15:51 what a beautiful reflection

[@VintageWatchServices]

It's a beautiful movement :)

[@etherdude]

Stian, so glad to see you back. I had no idea you had been ill. I hope you and your family are all well now. This Zenith is quite attractive. It is great that you now have it in a nice working and safe condition. The gold plated movement is really amazing once cleaned. I have a 1925 Ingersoll Midget. With Geiger counter receiver directly on top of the dial it was masured at 80 uRoentgen/hr. There is a gentleman here in the US who does radium removal and re-lume (using non radioactive lume) of dial and hands for a reasonable price. I sent the kit off to him to be reworked and hope to get it back shortly. When I removed diaI and hands I worked over a large piece of aluminum foil, double masked, and once the dial and hands were stored away, cleaned all the tools and surfaces with alcohol wipes and wrapped all the debris including dust, wipes, cots in the aluminum foil for disposal.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Doug! Being very cautious is indeed key when working on these types of watches and it sounds like you took the right precautions 👍

[@bullnose01]

Welcome back, Stian, and congrats on reaching the 10K subscription milestone. The Zenith sure cleaned up nicely. I'm surprised at how few tool marks there are on the plate and bridges considering how soft gold is. The macro shot of the palate fork assembly is stunning. Too bad the watch doesn't have an exhibition back so that the elegance of the movement can be more easily appreciated. Stay well.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Bullnose! It seems the movement has only been serviced once, which would explain the lack of marks also. A lot of these old watches would indeed benefit from display backs, but that is really a pretty novel feature, becoming common only the last couple of decades. You pretty much need a sapphire crystal for that, which also wasn't mainstream until the 90s.

[@hanswurst4728]

An other technique i've seen watchmakers use for dealing with radium hands is to get a Petri dish, fill it a few milimeters with distilled water and submerge the hands in the water while scraping of the old lume, so no radium dust can get airborne.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Hans, yes, that's a good technique indeed, I'll do that next time :)

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

This kind of looks like 👍 a Westclox Scotty pocket watch, but for the wrist. The second hand 🤚 is at the 6 o’clock position, and the dial is black. This is WAY more precise, and the quality is outstanding with this watch. Your friend, Jeff.

[@ianmedium]

That is the best reluming job I have ever seen! You matched the uneven patina perfectly! With the worn bushes, would an alternative be to add jewels instead, could that even be done? Great video once again, you turned a tired looking watch into a gem. It’s amazing how a bit of cleaning of the case and polishing or renewing a crystal can make a huge difference to the looks of a watch. Now if only sellers stopped referring to dials such as this as “military” I avoid those sellers like the plague as it’s simply trying to add value where none should be added! Same with Sicura and it’s link in the past to Breitling, a pretty cheap poorly made watch being sold for ten times what it’s worth simply because of that connection!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Ian, that's very nice to hear! It's certainly not a military watch but calling it military style might be justifiable 😉 Putting jewels in the bearings would indeed be the best solution for reducing wear, but it would also make the watch non-original. Thus if possible I'd always prefer peening the holes.

[@DaveMGmovies]

Congratulations on the subscriptions Stian. And thank you for all the background on radiation -- it's good to know the figures.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Dave! There are a lot of misconceptions around this so I hope this video could make it clearer for the viewers.

[@thomasgabriel2213]

So glad you are feeling better! And congrats on hitting the 10K mark!! This was an another great video packed full of great information. Thank you!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much Thomas! 👍

[@brucebarlow6604]

Great to have you back at the bench Stian with more great work and dad comments. Keep well from New Zealand.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot Bruce, that's great to hear :)

[@ismirubel2978]

Watching this videos is so relaxing !!!!!!!! I am glad to discoverd this channel !!!!!!!! Thanks !!!!!!!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for watching it and welcome to the channel! 💪

[@magintysmaw]

Glad to see you back. Hope you are fully recovered. Top class work

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, that's very kind of you :) More to come!

[@wspaulding89]

Nice David Attenborough impression like he was in the room 0:39

[@VintageWatchServices]

😂👍

[@red75v67]

Great to see you back in full flow Stian. Not sure about the Attenborough impression but if you ever have bad neighbours, place them next to the air extractor when you have a bbq. A beautiful watch and a beautiful video.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hey, I was very, very proud of that impersonation! I think I nailed it! 😂 And actually that fume extractor is very loud...

[@sitandfish]

Stian, "We let hell rain over this piece of metal!" And then we hear, tippy tippy tap with a tiny little hammer.🔨 This is what keeps me coming back video after video. 😂 And the beautiful watches.

[@VintageWatchServices]

😂 Yeah, I showed that barrel bridge who's boss! With that tiny little watchmaker's hammer that wouldn't dent a paper cup...

[@plainclotheshorse224]

Great to see you back. I didn't realise the precautions you have to take when working on such watches. Congrats on the 10k subs.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much! Yep, when you're working on these kinds of dials you don't want to cut corners... It could come back to quite literally bite you.

[@WrightsW5]

The watch turned out great. You are the first KZbin watchmaker I have seen using radium protection. My personal protection would be to not buy a radium watch if it needed opening. Radium was actually allowed up to 1968 in Swiss watches, other countries would be earlier or later, like 1970 in Italy. Rolex used radium up to 1964, but some Rolex were tritium from 1963.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for watching and for your great comment! I didn't know they allowed Radium until that late, but from what I know very few Radium dial watches were actually produced after the late 1950s. There are still a lot of beautiful watches with Radium dials and hopefully I calmed some nerves with my video :)

[@rickseconds7676]

That watch is gorgeous!

[@joeskeptical4762]

*I'd be so proud to wear this. I admire Zenith watches a lot and I also like them. Great job, once again.*

[@VintageWatchServices]

Zenith's are fabulous indeed :) So many nice watches in their history and also in their current collection!

[@citizaniac149]

Really nice watch. Of course it is worth saving! If it's not a pin-pallet watch :D I like how the hand came out and match the dial! Nice work!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks, that's very nice to hear :) And indeed, given that it's not a pin-pallet it is worth saving! I was actually planning to spend some time talking about ambition levels and trade-offs for restoring old watches but that will have to come in a later video 😎

[@bojidarvasilev8854]

one of my favorite watch brands ❤️ beautiful and stylish watch 👍

[@VintageWatchServices]

Zenith is a fabulous brand indeed 💪

[@pablozuma1200]

This is a particularly beautiful watch. Very nice channel. Thank you.

[@clivesouthafrica2086]

Great video thanks. Raining down hell with the watchmaker's Mjölnir. Congratulations on the 10k milestone, well deserved.

[@VintageWatchServices]

😂 You know watchmakers: talk tough but only have tiny little hammers.

[@Ared947]

Glad to see you are back and hope you are feeling well. Congrats on 10K+ so you must be doing something right, something like this current tutorial. ALL THE BEST!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot, Jim! More to come, so stay tuned :)

[@avjaxon]

I'm happy you are back! Thanks a lot for another great video.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much Anton :)

[@thelegendthatiscrashers9570]

Loved watching this - never had any interest in watch servicing but was interested in the Radium aspect of watch illumination - watched the whole thing from start to finish and was fascinated in your work and lost half an hour of my day as i was so engrossed!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😊

[@Ronaldo-hw1og]

Beautiful job!

[@readrepairs]

Such a great video and narration. I'm really happy you tackled the scratching the case back issue. Well done and thank you.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot for that! I have no problem with old watches having marks but nowadays there's really no reason for it, imho. Love your video of the verge pocket watch btw, hope you will have more content coming up!

[@readrepairs]

@@VintageWatchServices Yes, more content in summer hopefully. More watches and other objects too. spring is a busy time for me on the road but looking forward to getting back to YT vids. Matthew

[@adrianbirkett594]

Thank you Stian, that is a beautiful movement!. Well done, you are so efficient at this Horology lark!. You have great tools also, glad you're better. 👍👏. Adrian 🍀

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Adrian :) Good tools are half the job!

[@donnyboon2896]

Glad you recovered from the Couf, and that your family is well. Saying prayers for ya'll.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Donny! We were lucky to have mild cases, and hopefully no longer term effects, fingers crossed.

[@chuknorth]

Really enjoying your vids, admire your skill. Learning so much. Glad to see you’re growing so quickly. Namaste.

[@dennisallport5704]

So glad to see you back, my new favorite watchmaking channel. Your truthfulness and wit are very much appreciated. I am looking into a pair of the curved brass tweezers you use. Thanks for showing us your skills and sharing a laugh or two, we all could use a bit more humor these days!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Dennis, that's truly great to hear :) More to come, so stay tuned!

[@bluetruck53]

Very nice work and some scary information about radium dials. I have only worked on dollar watches and alarm clocks, several since I retired that had radium dials from the late 20's to 50's, Big and Baby Ben's mostly. I was not as cautious, so a little awakening.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much! Unless you're unlucky or quite negligent you should be alright, but if you work on this kind of dial frequently you want to make sure you protect yourself👍

[@franka9760]

Nice work, Stian. I had never seen the clear plastic cover over a movement before. Also, I wish you had included a lume shot to see how the "coffee lume" looks. Thanks as always for your careful work and very informative narrative. I did not know that alpha particles ingested were so harmful!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot, Frank! Yes, ingesting radioactive material is the most dangerous event, as the alpha particles will ionize the cells in your body and change them from the inside... scary stuff.

[@mattobrien3346]

Your Back! Wonderful

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Matt!

[@bronzalba1159]

Excellent and professional job done Good luck

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for watching!

[@markehuss]

Very cool 'golden' watch movement, and wonderful (and reasonable) explanation of the dangers involved. It would have been interesting to see the watch in the dark to see what the two lumes looked like together. :)

[@VintageWatchServices]

Good point!

[@RayBecker]

Excellent video! Glad you've recovered. We had it also. While aboard ship, we had quite a lot of training for NBC Warfare or Nuclear, Biological and Chemical. My ship was Forrestal Class and did not have Nuclear. It's important that people know that we are bombarded with Radiation 24/7. Even more so during a CME or Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun. It is also important for people who live within about 50 mile radius from a city that had World War Two fabrication. 70, 80 years ago, they did not process Hazard Waste like they do today. There were some really shady characters back then who would get paid to dispose of the waste. My parents bought a new home in So. Jersey in 1977 that used to be a dump. Of course they didn't know it then but we found out in the 1980's. It used to be Peach orchards and I recall that most if not all of the homes built, did not come with a basement. That's quite revealing after the fact. So, in the 1990's there were water wells tested and Radon was discovered. The Township issued a moratorium on all new construction for several years. I may have been exposed less than my parents and siblings because I'd entered the Navy in summer of 1982. If you suspect that you live within a fabricating zone similar to where we were, I would suggest that you do some research.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for sharing that story, and these kinds of things were indeed much less regulated back half a century or more ago... There is still a lot of these issues being uncovered today, sometimes literally, but thankfully we're getting more secure as a society every day.

[@gromit1996]

I'm glad you're back and not glowing as a result of your service on this watch. If you don't mark the caseback, which seems sort of benign to me, how would you track when a service might have been done? Then again, any marks I've seen are pretty indecipherable to anyone but that watchmaker.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot, Clay! A long time back there were indeed few manners of providing a warranty, and that's where this habit started. Since many decades ago however, there are better ways of providing a customer a warranty than deliberately damaging their watch... and that's my beef with it. Nowadays I see no good reason for making marks in a watch you don't own.

[@pawelwas6164]

Lovely trick with the lume!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Pawel!

[@jatco84]

Great job once again...as normal on this great looking piece. Love the movement and thanks for the radiation education. Interesting info. Love your work.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks again, Thomas! 😊

[@jerometsu5404]

Thank you for the video, very informative about the radium and of course, love your dad jokes !

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Jerome!

[@peterhearn3297]

Just subscribed, love a professional at work, especially at there profession. The tools you use are amazing. Yes covid is a problem world wide, so stay safe to you and your family. Greetings from Victoria Australia 🇦🇺

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for the sub, Peter!

[@1911Earthling]

My old master made sure we pegged the jewels and polished the pivots.

[@MillwalltheCat]

Nice work, and a very informative video. I was expecting the movement to be the AS1130, not that I was disappointed!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot! This is not an actual military watch, so it has a bit more modern and high grade movement than the Wehrmachtswerk :) The Sporto was launched after the war but this one indeed resembles a military watch.

[@doogsm6013]

Nice work and congrats on the 10k I'm glad you have fully recovered from both the holidays and the C19. I just received a Britix 641 with a FHF 67 movement, pretty sure it has the radium dial and hands also! I'll be sure to take the necessary precautions when I get around to servicing.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot! And there's absolutely a good chance your watch has radium on it, so be careful. A couple of commenters suggested spraying the hands with water before removing the old lume, which sounds like a very good idea.

[@davechandler6884]

Radio active watches, they also used rare earth coatings on many pre 1950s photographic lenses. Try not to sleep with them stored under the bed, it effects performance. LOL . Thanks for another Great Video.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hehe, that sounds like proper advice indeed! Sleeping with your massive collection of those lense under the bed while sporting an outsize vintage diving watch with radium lume might thus impact performance?

[@dinnerwithfranklin]

Lovely looking watch. Thanks for this entertaining video.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot Franklin! Or are you just his dinner companion? 🤔

[@dinnerwithfranklin]

I've always enjoyed watching you work. My name references the Sir John Franklin tragedy during his search for a NorthWest Passage.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for sharing, I love subtle references like that :) One really has to like one's kin to have that kind of dinner...

[@dinnerwithfranklin]

@@VintageWatchServices Lol, too right. Thanks again for what you do. :)

[@ralphferrara5152]

Nice video. Very interesting about the radiation. My question is, do old pocket watches have this problem of radiation? Would be interesting to find out before working on them. Please continue to make your videos. Very interesting and love how you explain as you go along. Looking forward to my question being answered and watching more of your work. Thanks. Ralph

[@scofab]

Well done once again, thank you.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks again! 😁

[@alaindrolet_atlt_2019]

Another interesting video ! i like the radium story and of course recommendations ! I’ll take it more seriously from now !!!! Thanks again to share this restoration !! 👌✨

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Alain ! Yep, radium dials are to be treated respectfully...

[@canadiankrispybacon]

Would be interesting to see if the rad from the lume leeched through to the movement itself🤔 As for marking the case..I am a little torn..as it provides, or possibly even adds historical reference…and maybe even value 🤔. If the marking was on the outside of the watch, then that would be different..however stamping or marking service…engine blocks for example…though I could be wrong but if memory serves me correctly, stamping is not just a watch thing

[@gregcapella5941]

THANKS for another GREAT VIDEO from a MASTER WATCH MAKER !!!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Greg 😊

[@gregcapella5941]

@@VintageWatchServices Recommend you start a Patreon like this channel " Support Wristwatch Revival via Patreon: www.patreon.com/wristwatchrevival

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for the tip Greg, and I have been considering it. This channel was never meant to really be a big part of my time, so that's why I haven't done it. But if the channel grows beyond 100k, I'll need to rethink that 😁

[@davelowey3074]

Hi Stian, hope you and your family are ok now, happy for you about 10000 subs. Another great video really enjoyed thet cheers, and a nice little watch can't wait to see what your next video's about. 👍

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much Dave!

[@CeesMaas]

Great video, thanks!

[@TDIMAXDIESEL]

Very interesting and educational, thank you for sharing all your videos ! 😊🇨🇦

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Max !

[@edwardbishop1176]

Re case marking by watchmaker. I was repairing watches in 1960's and this was required to protect you from customers that would claim recent service but in fact much longer. The marking was logged in a book so the type of repair was known. It was a commercial necessity

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot for sharing that, Edward! Back half a century or more this was indeed considered good practice, and I have absolutely no problem with that. My problem is with watchmakers in 2022 doing so when digital methods of recording service jobs are readily available :)

[@geoffquickfall]

They are pretty movements and the plastic dust cover is unique! I use the same precautions for the radium based luminous as you do. Especially with the trench watches! Glad you are feeling better and hopefully you don’t have the long covid version to deal with. All the best. do I have permission to repeat some of your jokes??? Geoff I spritz the hands with water before removing to keep the dust down then store the radioactive material in a lead jar loaned to me by the local university. When the jar is full I take it to the university for disposal. Also on the porcelain dials I will spritz the dial before removing the luminous. Can’t be too safe around these!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Geoff, thanks for your comment and that's a very good idea. I'll pick up on that for my own practice going forward!

[@dinissantiago6729]

Found your channel recently, watched a couple videos, they are very nice

[@VintageWatchServices]

That's very nice to hear :)

[@alanpreston3111]

Uncanny impression of David Attenborough 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻

[@VintageWatchServices]

😂👍

[@danielpintos1443]

Lindo trabajo, saludos desde Benito Juárez Argentina!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much for that! Warm greetings back from Lonay, Switzerland :)

[@GranBuroo]

The color of the luminous paint came out nicely. I noticed you oil several pallet stones, but I haven’t seen other watchmakers do it this way. Doesn’t the continual cycling of the escape wheel distribute the oil evenly from a single stone?

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for watching and for your comment! There are only two pallet stones in a Swiss lever movement, the entry pallet and the exit pallet. It is common practice to lubricate the exit pallet and let the lubrication spread onto the escape wheel teeth from there. That's what I did in this video and I even explained exactly that 😉

[@GranBuroo]

@@VintageWatchServices Yes, sorry I was sloppy with my wording. You mentioned lubricating the *same* pallet stone three times, once every five teeth. I only mention this because I noticed you explaining this procedure this exact way in a number of videos, so you I thought maybe you felt it was important.

[@VintageWatchServices]

@gabermax Yep, that's the common way of doing it. I suppose I mention it every time I do it 😂

[@giacintoboccia9386]

Also notice that that Geiger counter was on the dial side of the watch, alphas will have an hard time travelling through the movement and the case back.

[@m.k.8158]

It does not matter-Alpha won't go through the crystal. And, his detector cannot detect Alpha anyway.

[@johnhannon]

What are you using at the 8:00 point in the video? Pivot polishing? I am enjoying your videos!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks, John! I'm using an EVE Flex stick held in a pin vice.

[@johnhannon]

@@VintageWatchServices Thanks!

[@truxton1000]

I was not aware of the fact that it is necessary to take precautions like this to work on a watch like this. Well if it was happening every day, but a few times a year? So I learned something, thank you. People in the factories must have received radiation levels thousands of times higher than the users of the watch and many suffered! Interesting about the Alfa particles, hearing that would make one understand that it`s important not to get these particles inhaled through dust etc....! I sometimes open watches that are older than the 1960`s so I will bear these warning in mind.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Yep, radioactive material is no joking matter... If you're working on watches with radium lume, make sure you're not in danger of ingesting any of the old lume.

[@walther9161]

Love the vid. Very informative

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks so much, Walther! More to come, so stay tuned :)

[@timepiecedownunder963]

Great video. Where did you get the machine that reads the radiation

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello, thanks for watching! It's a simple geiger counter I bought online. I don't remember where anymore, but it might have been eBay.

[@the_once-and-future_king.]

Nice work on the watch. Just an FYI, what happened with the phosphorus match girls was not radiological. Phosphorus causes necrosis due to chemical action, not radioactivity. Still not a nice way to go, obviously.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for your comment and you are completely right about phosphorus :) It is still a good example of the kind of conditions workers suffered during the industrial revolution, but indeed for somewhat different health effects.

[@PiratePhD]

Do you have any videos where you change an Incabloc setting? I'm a beginner and somehow managed to break one of the spring forks on a tiny watch movement I was servicing. I have read that it's best done with a jewelling tool and have a rough idea on how to go about doing it but would prefer to see it be done just to be sure.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Vedat, thanks for watching! I do believe I changed an incabloc spring in a video or two, but I honestly can't remember which one... I will make an inventory of the kinds of topics I cover to make sure I can answer such questions better, but for now I guess you will just have to watch all of them 😁

[@PiratePhD]

@@VintageWatchServices Thanks for the answer. No worries, I found a pretty useful video by Mark from the Watch Repair Channel. It's about changing a jewel which looks like it should be a very similar process. It wasn't an expensive watch so I'm not too worried but I guess this can be an unexpected lesson for a new skill :)

[@VintageWatchServices]

👍

[@Road38910]

I too have suffered from a neighbours dog, I feel your pain. The only solution is to move house and hope to god your potential buyers are not put off by mad, barking dogs. 👍nice video.

[@VintageWatchServices]

It hasn't quite gotten to that level yet, thankfully! Is that why you became a mountain man? 😁

[@georgegherghinescu]

Hello :) informative video on an important topic for watchmakers that receives too little attention, thank you for educating! Do you happen to have a watch with tritium lume on hand to perform the same test on that type? Would that emit less radiation? Tritium lume was used well in to the 70's if I remember correctly and it is still common on vintage watches ( a "T" before and after the Swiss Made mark). Thank you for making these videos, I enjoy watching them and I always learn good stuff on every one :)

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello George, thanks for watching! Tritium is generally regarded as safe, even though it is in fact a bit radioactive as you imply. A Tritium dial would not make much of an additional reading on a geiger counter to the background radiation.

[@tiberiuvincze8288]

It's good, welcome back! Nice and full of usefull info! I have to ask how do I can buy from Boley's if I'm only an hobby in watches? thank you !

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Tiberiu, I don't think you can buy from Boley without having a company, but I do believe you can from cousins, which has a wider selection anyway :)

[@tiberiuvincze8288]

@@VintageWatchServices I'm buying from Cousin's allready, almost 5 years now, but with the Brexit it's hard , my last order was in customs one month! I have a company I will try again! 10x

[@tiberiuvincze8288]

Epilame or fixodrop is Stearic acid?

[@VintageWatchServices]

@@tiberiuvincze8288 yep

[@VintageWatchServices]

@@tiberiuvincze8288 if you have a company it should be straight forward to register 👍

[@SVRSVR-b2q]

Красивый механизм. Браво мастер!

[@MrMuppetbaby]

Another nice job, BUT...... I wanted to see a demo of why I would risk my health. You didn't show us an evil glow in the dark shot. Oh well you are a master at repair and that made it worth it. Scary stuff. Tod in Vegas :) On the topic, what do you think of Tritium watches?

[@VintageWatchServices]

Oh, the lume in radium watches burnt out decades ago. So it hopefully wouldn't glow unless it was indeed possessed :) Tritium was for sure an improvement over Radium, but also burns out quite fast. So even though Tritium dials aren't really dangerous (even though they emit slight radiation), they're also not luminescent any longer after a couple of decades.

[@MrMuppetbaby]

@@VintageWatchServices What lovely stuff. I watched the "Radium Girls" documentary on KZbin and it was amazing and horrifying.

[@boydsargeant7496]

Thanks Stian, great stuff! Looked lovely afterwards. Question; I’m using Elma waterless cleaning and rinsing fluids in an ultra sonic cleaner and I think the rinse is discolouring brass items I the watch movement. Have you ever come across this? What cleaners do you use?

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Boyd, I don't rinse parts in the ultrasonic, only in the fluid. You can rinse most parts in water also, just make sure you dry them very well.

[@citizaniac149]

@@VintageWatchServices after rinsing in (destilled) water you should rinse the parts in isopropyl alcohol. This prevents rusting and evaporates very quickly. Most of these solutions (all?) do brighten up brass and other parts. That's just normal. They are just removing the tarnish 😉

[@VintageWatchServices]

I use something called essence of Renata, which is basically naphtha. It works very well for these things, but isopropyl is a good alternative as well. 👍

[@pippomai9559]

That was a piece of watch. Yes Doc Nuke !!! That was a piece of watch 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks, Pippo 😁

[@st3althyone]

Alpha and Beta radiation are usually only damaging if they get into your body, hence the need for the air scrubber you have. They can also damage the skin if the radioactive material is left on it for prolonged periods. That’s why wearing protective clothing is advisable since Alpha and Beta radiation can’t get through them. The most dangerous radiation is Gama- not Alpha - and Neutron radiation. Both have very high energies and can go through most objects and require heavy shielding to stop them. Neutron radiation is the only type that can make objects radioactive by neutron activation. Sorry for rambling. I just wanted to correct your small mistake-otherwise, excellent content, as usual.

[@fjklfdasdf]

hey Stian, i'm a little bit late with this video since its a year old, but i'm curious - how do you dispose of the radium residue? Ty!!

[@VintageWatchServices]

I hand it in at my local recycling plant. What they do with it I wouldn't know...

[@iantelinside]

As a radiation worker, I thought you explained the concepts very well. Beautiful watch!!

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks, Ian, that is very comforting to hear! It's a difficult topic with a lot of myths, but hopefully one or two fewer for the ones watching this video 😉

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

Can you explain how to measure a watch for a new crystal to ensure the new one fits correctly? Or point me to an earlier video where this is explained. Also how do you know a watch dial or hands contain radium? Is a geiger counter the only way? Regarding the watchmaker marking inside the back cover, being a camera collector, I often come across old cameras with a sticker from a repair shop inside the back of the camera. This might be undesirable in a watch since the sticker could come loose and mess up the movement.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks for watching! It's pretty straight forward to find the right size, you simply measure the old one (assuming it is still there). For plexiglass crystals, you choose a tiny bit bigger size, as they shrink with age, but for mineral and sapphire you order the same size. You'll have to make sure you also take the gasket into account for these. Marking the inside of the case was commonly done in the old days, and it was done as a mark of warranty. Nowadays there are obviously much easier ways to do this and it's not good practice any more. But you're right about stickers, it wouldn't be a good idea to put a sticker on the inside of a watch!

[@kingsford73]

Good job as always 👏 👍 👌

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks a lot, John!

[@clivewiddall3430]

Great video as always and you’ve inspired me to try and do one my self. I got a very good deal on a 71 seiko sportsmatic movement, (that is supposed to be a seahorse but the transfers have lifted of the dial? That I’m about attempt to do, which has 3 dates engraved in the back and are so small I’d need a microscope to read. I am have terrible trouble getting the auto unscrewed, any advice would be extremely appreciated before the hammer comes out.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Clive and very cool that you're inspired! If the screw is completely stuck, try using some rust remover or wd40 and let it rest a while before trying again. Good luck!

[@clivewiddall3430]

@@VintageWatchServices thanks so much for that, time to crack on.

[@johnsrabe]

20:54 Wow, I totally disagree. Since watches are meant to last decades, a discreet mark is a place to tell some of the history of the watch over those years. I like the tradition. And yes, I would be fine with the watchmaker leaving such a mark in my Rolexes. Which is not to say that everyone needs to agree for THEIR watch. Can we agree that a watchmaker should ask before leaving his mark? I do think there should be some universal codes for types of repairs, so there’s more than a date and initials. Interestingly, there’s a movement over at a drain cleaners YT channel for them to leave info on the underside of manhole covers about the intricacies of that drain, and the service done. Not kidding!

[@VintageWatchServices]

They should at least ask, yes. Interesting mention of the manholes, but probably in some countries there are already field devices with the workers so they can see what work has been done before etc. Digital records are superior to making marks in my book 👍

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

I don't see how initials and a date adds any knowlege other than someone did something to the watch.

[@martinlouden9005]

A real little beauty Stian.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Thanks Martin!

[@Allan-hd1uh]

Enjoy your videos I have seen other watch restoration videos and they never demagnitize the watch. What is the purpose of demagnitizing a watch.

[@VintageWatchServices]

Hello Allan, thanks for that! The demagnetizer is mostly for the hairspring, which, if magnetized, may stick and this cause the watch to run very fast. There are many sources of strong magnetic or electric fields nowadays, such as security scanners, loudspeakers, theft alarms etc.