This WW2 pocket watch is still ticking - and still radioactive

A Swiss-made timepiece became a symbol of wartime innovation and postwar radiation risks

Fact sheet…

• Discovered: eBay (an unloved, quiet listing!)

• Age: 1942 - 1944

• Radioactivity: 7.50 uSv/hr (roughly 30x background radiation)

• Maker: Record Watch Company

• History of the maker: The Record Watch Company was a highly respected Swiss manufacturer that created reliable precision pocket watches. During World War 2, the UK Government contracted them – among other Swiss suppliers – to equip armed forces. They were one of the largest producers known as the “workhorses of wartime timekeeping” featuring shock-resistant movements and accuracy in tough environmental conditions.

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Unlike most of my items, this was discovered on eBay and I purchased it for around £20. In reality, this pocket watch is worth closer to £200 due to the quality of its still-working Swiss movement, genuine GS/TP (General Service / Time Piece) proving military issue, and the serial number being traceable to military records.

This was a period of time when quality movements were being made that weren’t overpriced to a big brand, and each was built to be serviced forever. I’ve not been able to match up the issue number of my watch to military records yet, but it’s highly likely to have seen service via general troops, artillery, or engineers.

Of course, this pocket watch is intensely radioactive, owing to the use of radium on the dial. When new, this pocket watch would have glowed continuously as the radium paint emitted energy via alpha particles and gamma, which excites a phosphor in radioluminescent paint, usually zinc sulfide. And no, the eBay listing didn’t know about this!

Over many years, the glow of the paint burns out and disappears, although it can sometimes be excited by a UV light. However, my pocket watch is so radioactive that the paint has long been burnt out, and there are even signs of radiation damage on the glass (murky brown burn).

War is dangerous, but so is this pocket watch if left in your trousers or jacket pocket over many months and years. The gamma rays can cause ionizing radiation that damages tissue and DNA. At the time, radiation was still in its infancy of being widely understood, and radium paint was an industrial necessity to keep troops safe through luminous devices.