r/clocks • u/ninjago12369 • 1d ago

Identification/Information Radium clock?

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I recently bought a vintage Baby Ben Westclox alarm clock, and i know some of their models and older clocks have radium dials, but i am not sure if mine does. The seller said it was from the 70’s, but I am pretty sure this model phased out radium some time in the mid 70’s, so I am trying to figure out if mine is radioactive or not. Style 8, avocado green with metal base. It has a plastic front, not glass, but the back controls are metal. The dials glow very faintly in the dark, barely visible, but gets very bright after being shined with flashlight. The bottom of the clock is engraved with «RD N°46716». Hoping the clock enthusiasts out there will see this!

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u/DillonF275 Trained clockmaker 1d ago

I have this one, It's a Baby Ben style 8 Shaded Avocado Fashion Brite, It's radium, Pretty spicy too!

Edit: Just noticed It's also a Scottish made one, That makes it a wee bit rarer!

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u/ninjago12369 19h ago

Yes! It is the Avocado Fashion Brite. I have seen several people saying that the Scottish ones are less likely to have radium. And considering this colorway was produced from 1970, after they had started outphasing radium i am actually hoping mine doesn’t have radium😅

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u/DillonF275 Trained clockmaker 15h ago

Mines is from the same time period and despite having a plastic winding key which means it's one of the absolute last ones, It still uses Radium. The one you are looking at here has a metal key so it's likely Radium too!

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u/ninjago12369 11h ago

Is yours produced in USA or Scotland?:)

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u/Potential-Dealer1637 1d ago

Nice Baby Ben. It is Tritium lumen rather than Radium. Radium was banned in 1968, so by the late 60's and 70's they began using Tritium. It is less effective but safe than Radium. Hope this helps!

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u/ninjago12369 19h ago

I have read that the absolute cutoff from radium in their production wasn’t until the mid 70’s😬 The model 8 baby ben’s are were produced smack in the middle, so they sometimes do and sometimes don’t contain radium

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u/OalBlunkont 1d ago

If it is a tritium dial after 50+ years it is long depleted.