Killing Time - Horological Weaponry

I'm dying to tell you about this killer visual history detailing lethal miniaturized (spy) guns built inside everyday objects like pocket watches, rings, pens, locks, pipes, and even in a crucifix! The ultimate Memento Mori timepiece, the only watches that'll tell you when you're truly out of time...

For thematic purposes, here are the pocket watch guns... See the rest of the collection at Dark Roasted Blend-->Link

A very rare English 0.3 Caliber Pocket Watch Pistol

I think one of these were found on the grassy knoll outside Ford's Theatre

A ladies timepiece wasn't an obvious choice
So a Pistol Ring "Femme Fatale" was made.
circa 1870 & Packing a .6 Caliber six-shooter

From-->Dark Roasted Blend (via Core77) & thanks to Greg @ Genuine Ideas

Many More Related Posts at The Watchismo Times...

See Weapon Related Watch Posts;
Sicura Knife Watch
Wristwatches of War
1941 Panerai Commando Set
Gunpowder Flask Watch
The Defenseband - Choking Watch Strap
Movado Seduction Weapon

See Subminiature & Hidden Watch Posts;
Shoot To Kilfitt - Subminiature Camera-Watch
Subminiature Camera Watches
Steinheil Camera Watch
Victorian Camera Pocket Watch
1950s Minifon Spy Recorder Watch
Victorian Wrist Horn
Rolex Lipstick Watch
Omega Ring Watch
Rolex Ring Watch
Walking Stick Watches
James Bond Movie Gadget Watches
1947 Wrist Lighter

See Memento Mori Watch/Clock Posts;
Time of your Life and Death - Mr. Jones Watches
Time of your Life - Mr. Jones Watches
Wake Up...Time To Die Clock
1610 Screaming Skull Clock
Mary Queen of Scots Skull Watch
Rock Crystal 1710 Skull Watch
Rolling Eyeball Skull Clocks
Painfully Real Cuckoo Clock
19th Century Bone Watches
Arthropodal Watchworks
All Memento Mori Posts



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The Radium Girls - Dying to paint watch dials

"The story of the radium watch-dial painters is a classic case in the history of occupational disease. Attracted by easy work and high wages, these young women painted the luminous numbers on wristwatches that, designed for soldiers involved in the trench warfare of World War I, became a consumer fad in the 1920s. The women were taught to sharpen the tips of their paintbrushes between their lips and, as a result, they absorbed substantial quantities of radium. Their tragic illnesses and deaths led to crucial discoveries in radiobiology and contributed to the establishment of standards for the level of exposure to radiation in the workplace." -From The New England Journal of Medicine

I first learned about the Radium Girls when reading this AlanWatch article. He had conducted his own interesting X-Ray and Geiger Counter tests of antique watches with lingering radioactivity. And further explained "In the late 1920s, some dentists began to notice a high incidence of jawbone deterioration among young women, most of whom had worked at the dial company. Later, cancers of the head and neck, anemias, and other disorders were found, resulting in some early deaths." (and it has been said that 90% of these women died by 1931)

Alan's false-color optical density analysis shows that the crystal spotting is most intense at 10 and 4 o'clock, where the red color is indicated.

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Radium Girls Wikipedia page-->Link
Damn Interesting article-->Link

And below, the book, "Radium Girls: Women and Industrial Health Reform, 1910-1935" by Claudia Clark;

Enter The Watchismo Times 1st anniversary vintage chronograph giveway!-->LINK


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