Necklace marked .925 and "Radium"

[Brauski]

So, this necklace I found weighs about 100gr and looks like steel or nickel but the clasp is marked .925 Italy on one side and "Radium" on the other. The clasp itself looks to be sterling but the necklace has the metal look. Does anybody know if Radium was used at some point to plate silver for some reason? It doesn't glow or anything like that but out of an abundance of caution I'm asking questions. Thanks!

 

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[hvacker]

I remembered a post about this but not the radium.
www.treasurenet.com/.../286977-necklace-marked-14kt-italy-18-2g.html

 

[hvacker]

Something occurred to me was radium was once thought to have health benefits. That might make your find old. People would go to places to soak in mineral baths. One was called Radium Springs. Later the understanding of the danger of exposure was made known.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

The women at the factories that painted the radium on watch and clock faces were heavily contaminated and there were many cancers.
Don't know if there could be a designer that perhaps signs their work that way.
I grew up at Radium Spgs, swam there all my life, nothing wrong with me.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

The women at the factories that painted the radium on watch and clock faces were heavily contaminated and there were many cancers.
Don't know if there could be a designer that perhaps signs their work that way.
I grew up at Radium Spgs, swam there all my life, nothing wrong with me.


View attachment 1098890

i saw saw a documentary on that..it was sad. Women's jaws rotting off

 

[mjm579]

So, this necklace I found weighs about 100gr and looks like steel or nickel but the clasp is marked .925 Italy on one side and "Radium" on the other. The clasp itself looks to be sterling but the necklace has the metal look. Does anybody know if Radium was used at some point to plate silver for some reason? It doesn't glow or anything like that but out of an abundance of caution I'm asking questions. Thanks!

Do you happen to have any pictures of the necklace and/or the mark?

 

[mjm579]

Seems there is a RADIUM JEWELRY COMPANY located in California.

 

[batcap]

I was listening to NPR just a couple of nights ago about the last radium painter girl dying in 2014. She didn't like the taste of the radium (they sharpened their brushes by licking them) and her boss gave her a pink slip. She suffered several cancers but she made it to 107 yo. I guess radiation does give some people super powers.

Hear it here.

 

[JimDon]

Didn't they use radium or rhodium to plate silver items to prevent the from tarnishing?

 

[diggummup]

This has already been addressed in your other post here- http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/w...00gr-marked-925-italy-radium.html#post4324023

Unless I see a photo of that mark I cannot say anything else.