"Radium Girls". Well worth watching

[Boxerfan]

3. I have a signed dial from a Radium Girl.

I like old mechanical watches. I also work on them & I am self taught. I buy non working specimens on e-bay & repair them.
-------
An old South Bend 12s from a lot of obviously neglected watches. Hoping to get it running I start the inspection & teardown.

The hands were mangled & it had spent time face down in a pile for a long time. It had remnants of the old glow in the dark Radium. It is safe as long as you don't handle or ingest the paint itself.

Upon removing the dial I noticed faint scratch lines. There was a message from the past.

" Healy 1925 Rad Illinois" scratched in fine penmanship.

I am very sure this was a reach out in that she knew she was sick. It was a firing offence to deface a product & risking a job back then was a big deal.

I have it in a small baggie with the hands . I have left the dial alone as a piece of history. It resides in my display cabinet with way too many watches.