Re:First atomic clock wristwatch (2003)
by CamperBob2 on Monday January 25, 2021 @07:22PM
(#25910819)
Cs 133 isn't radioactive. Tritium is, but at least until recently, it was still commonly used in watches for illumination. Low-level beta source, expensive but not especially hazardous.
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Re:First atomic clock wristwatch (2003)
by willis936 on Monday January 25, 2021 @10:27PM
(#25912134)
>at least until recently
Has something changed? I know tritium sources are on the decline, but it always tickled my mind that radioactive lume was available to consumers for reasonable prices.
Re:First atomic clock wristwatch (2003)
by CamperBob2 on Monday January 25, 2021 @11:19PM
(#25912491)
Haven't heard of it being used recently, except perhaps in gunsights, but a quick Google search brings up quite a few tritium-illuminated watches at moderate prices. I would've guessed that button-activated LED backlighting would have replaced it by now.
Edit: interestingly, Wikipedia says that radium was still used in watches until 1970.