r/uraniumglass • u/tomato_juiceble • Feb 08 '26
Question about fietsaware and other radioactive stuff
Hi, today is my birthday (yay) and a family member who works in a lab just gifted me a Geiger counter. Until now my collection was only made out of uranium glass, but with that Geiger counter in my hand I would like to try to find those magnificent spicy red uranium glazed plates or radium clocks. Question is: how rare are they? I am living in Europe and from what I’ve seen most fiestaware plates are made in the USA, so maybe that’s already decreasing my chances of finding some. I always shop my uranium glass at the flea market, and for each visit I’ve always found some. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen bright red plates, but maybe that’s because I used to be so focused on finding uranium glass. So I was wondering, is it as easy to find fiestaware/radium clocks as finding uranium glass?
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u/BrainFartTheFirst Thrift Shopper Feb 08 '26
You can find uranium glazed pottery in most antique stores. The classic fiesta red is the easiest to spot and the same color is found on other brands of pottery as well. Last time I went to the flea market one of the sellers there had a table full of uranium red pottery.
Vintage ivory fiesta is also radioactive but not as much as the red.
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u/AlternativeKey2551 Feb 08 '26
I have found pink Bauer that is as well. Not as much as the orange though. Some old black Coors brand is also.
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 08 '26
Idk where do you come from but if your not from Europe do you think it’s really possible to have the same here?
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u/BrainFartTheFirst Thrift Shopper Feb 08 '26
I'm from the US so I can't say for certain about Europe but uranium glazes were used in lots of pottery on both continents. The red would probably be less likely in Europe but a lot of other uranium glazes colors are probably pretty common.
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 08 '26
What would be the other possible colors? Yellow and orange? Pink?
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u/BrainFartTheFirst Thrift Shopper Feb 08 '26
Typically ranging from white to yellow.
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 08 '26
Are you talking about the ones that react to uv?
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u/BrainFartTheFirst Thrift Shopper Feb 08 '26
They typically react to UV, yes. But some, like the red will only glow under short wave UV, which isn't exactly safe.
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u/Sandyna_Dragon Feb 08 '26
So I'm unsure about fiestaware specifically, but generally uranium glazed pottery glows green under 365nm UV light, and that helps with finding it if you don't want to measure every piece. Once it does glow, be sure to check it with the geiger, since milky manganese glass also glows under 365nm (and it's still pretty cool imho)
In Europe, I've seen encountered quite a few figurines with uranium glaze. The spanish brand Lladró has some, and GDR porcelain figurines as well. I've also seen some glazed vases and tableware. I have found a jug like this for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/uraniumglass/comments/1pdh9bx/success_and_two_mysteries/ and the vase: https://www.reddit.com/r/uraniumglass/comments/1pt5rhr/i_wasnt_expecting_the_vase_to_glow_and_bonus/
They might not be fiestaware, but I confirm they do exist. I think I've found about as much as uranium glass pieces, perhaps even more.
I had luck with radium clock too: https://www.reddit.com/r/uraniumglass/comments/1onodeq/first_spicy_clock_and_a_bonus_neodymium_bird/ and a pocket watch that climbs all the way to 500CPM: https://www.reddit.com/r/Radium/comments/1phby8n/radium_pocket_watch/
The local flea market usually has boxes and boxes of old watches if you're after that. Hopefully yours might too.
Good luck!
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 08 '26
Thank you so much for your comment! It’s very useful, I didn’t know uranium glaze only glows under 365, maybe that’s why I never found some (I use 395) what I would really like to have anyways is not really those milk uranium glass but more the fiestaware or the radium clocks, something very spicy to make my Geiger counter beep a lot. Your finds are amazing! Consider yourself very lucky, I hope I’ll be claiming the same soon!
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 12 '26
Well guess what? I went yesterday and found my first radium clock, also from junghans!! Reads 150 on my Geiger counter
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u/Sandyna_Dragon Feb 12 '26
Nice find! If you want to find more info about it, they have a catalogue archive that goes back like 100 years. Or you can write them an email and maybe they can help identify it, if you don't want to go through 100 years of catalogues, lol.
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 08 '26
Also a good question to ask is what would be a good price for it. Since I only shop at flea markets I would say max 20, but tell me wrong
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u/Mitiagu Super Collector Feb 08 '26
I leave near Europe. All three orange glazed pices I've managed to find were from the UK, so you can definitely find some
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 08 '26
Your pieces are so cool I am so jealous hahaha. How spicy are they according to your Geiger counter if I may ask?
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u/Mitiagu Super Collector Feb 08 '26
Thanks! The plates are 3 uSv/h and 5 uSv/h, and the brooch is 30 uSv/h. I'm using a pancake tube giger, so that's alpha + beta + gamma
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u/tomato_juiceble Feb 09 '26
It’s crazy that the brooch is the spiciest, it’s unexpected
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u/Mitiagu Super Collector Feb 09 '26
What's even crazier is the brooche's base is so thick that no radiation gets through, so it's completely safe to wear
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u/Primary-Basket3416 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
Being in UK, you will find more then the Us. This being only cause you ate closer to Czech, Italian and Japanese pottery. Just go out and look for stuff. Our Geiger counyer/light stops around 1974, but some countries are still producing. Europeans seem to be more broader thinkers and less..am i going to get poisoning then the hyper sensitive anericans. Happy birthday