Are people putting blue anodized hands in watches for the "blued" look? Examples posted ---

Blue anodized?  

The Deadly Blue Watch Hands

We may all be forgetting The Radium Girls, the timepiece workers at US Radium in Orange NJ that were all poisoned to death painting watch dials, hands and markers with liquid Radium.

In the late 1920s through mid 1930s, radium was used to make aircraft cockpit gauges glow in the dark. This process transfered over to the watch and clock industry. Little vials of Radium were sent to jewelers and clocks had vials hidden in the back cases so a customer could repaint the hands.

Less to say, cobalt 40 had a lifespan of 2000 years. The entire section of land formerly occupied by US Radium in Orange, NJ is quarantined to this day and probably forever.

These hands found on name brand pocket watches and early wrist's still have traces in many cases of active radium. And yes, they are Blueish is color. When I come across these hands in my shop, I ultrasonically clean immediately. And try not to handle them with my bare fingers.

The Radium Girls is a tragic story lost in time. It impacted the watch industry and the 1930s Workers Reform Act was initiated by Congress which still today protects the rights of workers in a hazardous manufacturing environment.

John V.

Time & Again

"With the discovery of Radium (in my opinion rediscovery), the society went bananas and started sticking radium into just about everything. We are talking about soap, toothpaste, male ED enhancements, chocolate, tea, coffee, food, cigarettes, cosmetics, bath salts etc."

Source: 19th century: Radium Heating Systems? | KD's Stolen History Blog