Sturmanskie gagarin is it a radium dial?
Stefanob1
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Radium was never too dangerous to the person wearing the watch (Alpha particles have a tough time penetrating most materials such as glass or metal). They were much more dangerous for the people making the watches (once ingested our body will mistake Radium for Calcium due to the similar molecular structure. Bone cancer was common for those who applied radium to dials/hands as they licked their brushes during application).
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For my opinion - it's radium (indexes are dark). To check go to any dosimeter selling store (i think it's easy to find in a big city) or meet someone local who have dosimeter to check.
And for me - keeping radioactive watches at home isn't responsible. They can be broken, kids can reach them. You don't know what deceases it can provoke (for someone it's nothing dangerous but for someone it's very serious, health differs).
Just my opinion
And for me - keeping radioactive watches at home isn't responsible. They can be broken, kids can reach them. You don't know what deceases it can provoke (for someone it's nothing dangerous but for someone it's very serious, health differs).
Just my opinion
Thanks for all the answers. I must say after some consideration i have decided to wear the watch because i think its a nice watch with an interesting history but i might have to get it serviced because it runs approximately 5 minutes to fast. And the movement doesnt hack maybe its not an original movement arent they supposed to hack?
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If it is an original Sturmanskie Gagarin the movement should hack. The hands do not look correct to me, I'm afraid
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It's possible but not likely. Here's a thread explaining how this movement is made to hack: https://www.watchuseek.com/f10/i-understand-how-2608-41m-movement-hacks-807538.html.
The hacking movement has recessed jewels in the main gear bridge in order to create room for the hacking lever (the bridge is raised slightly) and still allow the use of the same gears as the non-hacking version. If you remove the back of the watch it will be obvious which one you have. Here's a picture of the two bridges, the hacking one on the left, showing the recessed jewels:
Hands have definitely been replaced. Buying an authentic sturmanskie Gagarin is one of the most difficult tasks in Russian watch collecting.
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Yes, authentic frankenwatch!
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It would be really helpful if we could have a look at the caseback and also a shot of the movement Comrade Sefanob1- is there any way you can do this for us? I think the 15j hacking Gagarins have snap on case backs.
I've got to say that the dial looks authentic, which leads me to think that maybe, just maybe, you have an original case and dial combination, with the movement and hands changed over. Maybe the hands were in really bad shape and the movement was shot to pieces and not working??? If this is the case, then you are at least half way there, with two very important components of an original. These are just the thoughts of an amateur. A look at some more of the watch will give the experts a better idea…
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No radium on the stem hopefully; again it should be harmless as long as you do not ingest any particles/dust/dirt that comes out of the watch. Just make sure you wash your hands well after handling any pieces from the inside of the watch (assuming there is even any radium present). The alpha particles (the bad part of radiation) cannot penetrate skin unless you are exposed to direct contact to radium for a very prolonged period of time (these are not the "long range alpha particles" that exist within nuclear reactors we are dealing with here).
Sounds like you are going to have to open up the back to replace the stem, looks like a snap-back case to me, you should only need a knife to get it open
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Or you can take it down to your friendly watch repair man to open up and have a look see if he can fix it for you. When he opens it up - mine does it in front of me - you can take a picture of the movement. if I'm nervous about opening up the back I just take it to the watch repair guy, he opens and closes it for nothing for me - especially if you buy a strap. And yeah, give your hands a good wash after, but your watch repair guy probably won't even blink an eye at your radium dial.
On the case back, it looks genuine... IMHO
On the case back, it looks genuine... IMHO
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This link will help you to identify the real thing from the fakes/frankens: https://www.watchuseek.com/f10/sturmanskie-gagarin-buyers-guide-540756.html
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I really am no expert in these things, however from what I read around this forum, stems coming out of watches is a fairly common occurrence, so with luck your watch repair man should be able to fix it easily for little cost. Good luck!
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