I doubt any lacquer would take upwards of a week to dry, it's just not chemically engineered to do so. Of course, if there is a lot of retarder in it as you mention or otherwise has clear coat pigments blended into the lacquer recipe, that's another story. Hard clear coats take much longer to cure than straight lacquer.
Lacquer doesn't cure it dries. Not only that but if it dries till it cracks and flakes. That takes a number of years depending on the amount of retarder and plasticisers. The plasticisers are usually an oil that also dries out over time.