1956 Hamilton Essex

I find it interesting that Hamilton "tested the waters" with Swiss-made calibers using the Illinois brand in the early 1950s.  Hamilton purchased the Illinois Watch Company in 1928 and the Great Depression necessitated closing the factory.  Most of the Illinois machinery found it's way to Lancaster and Hamilton made a few models using an Illinois designed movement.

However, for 20 odd years the Illinois brand was an asset owned by Hamilton Watch Company but providing no return.  So it was an innovative idea to reintroduce the Illinois brand, which people would still recall, and they used Swiss-made ebauches (partially completed movements) as the basis for a new model line.  This would be like if GM reintroduced the Oldsmobile brand to market inexpensive cars finally assembled in the US but based on almost-complete imported automobiles. 

Fast forward a few short years and executives decided to drop the Illinois brand entirely by evolving into Hamilton Illinois and, ultimately, Hamilton branded models.  Why pay for the maintenance of two brands when only one is needed?

A great example of this transformation was the Hamilton Essex.  Introduced in 1956, it was the second model to bear that name... the earlier version being in 1940.  The two models are similar in name only though.

The 1956 Essex came in a 10K yellow RGP case with a stainless steel back.  The dial was embossed with diamond-shaped markers in the odd positions and numerals in the even hour spots.

It might look familiar because in 1953 the same design was presented as the Model E.  I wonder if that was the genesis of the name Essex?

In 1954 the Model E was renamed the Debonair E and the brand Hamilton Illinois added to the dial.  It continued in 1955.

In 1957 the dial was changed to a very interesting textured dial, sort of resembling a flower (as you'll see below) with numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 and keystones at the other positions.  So based on the dial you find, you can determine if your example is a 1956 or 1957 version.

My project was is a flower that is long passed bloom.  It's pretty grungy looking and I'm hoping I can clean it up a bit.

The stainless steel back is a unique design that snaps into the bezel with a lot better force than the Deauville the just posted about.

With the front lifted away you can see the dial more clearly in the case.  It's a bit grungy but you may be able to see the textured pattern radiating out from the front to a curved ring at the hour positions.

Behind the dial is a Hamilton 671 movement.  This is an manual-wind version of the 672 automatic movements and the ETA 1256 caliber in the other Hamilton and Illinois models.

Everything is cleaned, including the dial.  I broke my cardinal rule of not cleaning a dial I'd be unwilling to get refinished.  This textured dial will more than likely get refinished with less than acceptable results.  Embossed textured dials often come back soft and ruined, in my opinion.  However, I decided to take a chance with a Q-tip and a little cleaning solution.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a nice motion.  Time to see what the timer thinks.

Not too shabby, running a smidgeon fast but I can adjust that.  The beat error is within my specs and it's not easy to adjust on this model so I'll leave that as is.

A tweak here, a tweak there, here again... eventually I get it dialed in to just a little fast per day.

The reassembled watch looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I wasn't able to get all the spots off and I almost lost the H in Hamilton so I decided to quit while I was ahead.  You can see the interesting design of the dial now much better.  With the funky lug design, this is a really nice looking 1950s watch.

1958 Deauville

Back in 2014 I did a post on the 1958 Deauville, well, actually a 1960 Deauville.  Now I can do a post on the earlier version.

Introduced in 1958, for the first two years the model featured a unique dial with numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9.  The dial was embossed so the numerals and markers are stamped into the dial from behind.

In 1960 the Deauville dial changed to a textured patter with the number 12 and markers in the other positions.  You can see an example of it on my 2014 post.

Other than the change in dial and the hands, the model used the same case and bracelet option, along with a slight increase in price.

I think the Deauville is easily confused with other models from the period, like the Carlyle and Coburn I recently posted about.  They're all entry-level models in Hamilton's lineup at that time.

My project watch has been laying around the shop for several years.  It's not a particularly great example and it's a bit worn and tired looking.  I'll see if I can brighten it up a bit.  It's also not running but hopefully it will respond well to a good cleaning.

The watch was originally used as an award for US Truck Lines for Safety.  That's pretty interesing.

The case back simply snaps onto the front bezel.  It's not a very tight fit and unsnaps very easily.  With the crystal in place you can see the dial has a lot of spotting grime.

The movement is a 17 jewel 673, based on a A Schild caliber.  This example is incredibly dirty, perhaps the dirtiest watch I've ever seen, but it's not rusty, which is good.  But it does look somewhat corroded, in a tarnish sort of way.

Everything is thoroughly cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

Some of the nickel plating came off in the cleaning process.  I guess this was the result of the corrosion / tarnish being cleaned away and taking the plating with it.  The gear train runs in ruby jewels so the nickel loss is mostly aesthetic.

It's running very fast with low amplitude. I can actually visually see that the amplitude was low.  Looking at the hairspring very closely, I can see that it's also been corroded and is a little out of shape.  I'm sure that's a factor.

I swapped balances with another 673 donor and it runs fast too but the amplitude and beat error are good.  Hopefully I can slow it down with the regulator, it's not that much of an adjustment.

Oddly, the regulator would not adjust the beat rate at all.  That's very strange and indicates a problem with the regulator.  So I'll have to look for another donor.  I found a solution with a 686 movement.  This Hamilton caliber is also based on an A Schild ebauche and but it has a glucydur balance and adjustable balance cock.  It's basically and upgraded 673 and is interchangeable.  Now the movement appears to be running nicely.

Yup - sure enough.  It's running well with a good amplitude and beat error.

Thanks to the adjustable balance cock I can fine tune the beat error fairly easily.  With a few tweaks I get it dialed in to near-zero.

My finished watch looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  Unfortunately, the back comes off too easily, especially when the strap catches it and pries on it.  Off it's comes and the movement spills out.  So I really have two options... try to glue the case closed with a little crystal cement, or send this watch to the scrap pile.

Using  crystal cement to keep the case closed is a sort of Rube Goldberg thing to do... it would probably work but it's kind of a rudimentary thing to do.  I don't feel I could sell a watch like that in good conscience so this watch will go into the donor pile, and hopefully a better watch will be saved in the future.

1969 Mystery Model

 I think it's interesting to imagine day to day life in the Hamilton factory in 1969... especially if you worked at the company for a long time.

For example, in 1929 Hamilton produced 11 different wrist watch models, arguably more if you consider the variety of gold / gold filled types.  They also manufactured a myriad pocket watch movements and models as well.

By the end of the 1960s, the factory in Lancaster, Pa was turning out over 180 different models, with other plans on the way.  You can imagine the factory was a hectic place to work.

The Hamilton Watch Company was more than just watches though.  It had diversified into several areas and had acquired other companies along the way.  One of the companies acquired, Buren Watch Company, was the Swiss maker that manufactured the micro-rotor automatics and some of the manual movements used in the Thinline model line.  Hamilton executives decided to cease production efforts in Lancaster and move production to their Swiss factory.  This was the end of the golden era of watchmaking in the United States.

You know that wasn't a quick decision and I'm sure the impact within the factory, and within the surrounding Lancaster area, was profound.  That was a LOT of change to digest, no doubt.

One of the things you'd have to consider would be what to do with the significant inventory of work in progress from Lancaster that didn't make it into finished goods?  Surely, a good portion of inventory would be maintained to service and maintain existing customer sales, but that's more of a spare parts thing.  What about completed movements?

I think one of the prevailing theories is Hamilton created, or licensed, several uncatalogued models that utilized excess US-made inventory.  Probably the best known example of this is the Liberty Coin.

The Liberty Coin is well known and documented.  It was offered in solid gold as well as in an rolled gold plated case.  One of the many unique features of the Coin is there is no second hand.  However, another interesting point is the dial calls out the number of jewels in the movement - 22 jewels, indicating the 770 was used.  Referencing the number of jewels on the dial was not a common occurrence.

Over time I've come across a number of mysterious Hamilton models, like this one using a 736 movement that feature the number of jewels on the dial.  The cases are often marked Hamilton but lack the details that are typically included within the case - like "Hamilton Watch Co, Lancaster PA".

I recently came across another example.

Like the Coin, this watch says Hamilton 22 Jewels on the dial.  The dial is embossed (stamped), with a nice radial finish.  Oddly, the crown sticks out from the case like it wasn't fitted properly.  It looks like it's in the setting position but this is actually the winding position.

The back of the case says 14K Hamilton, and the font used for Hamilton is similar to other "mystery" watches I've seen.

This watch came in an authentic Hamilton box and is paired with a period-correct Hamilton strap.

The watch opens through the crystal so the first step is to separate the two-piece stem.  The female side is retained in the crown.  There's still some thread showing in the stem hub and the crown has a long tube, so I should be able to shorten the assembly to tuck the crown closer to the case.

I'm not sure what style I would describe the hour and minute hands, they're sort of a mixture of styles, but they match and that's all that's important.

The only 22 jewel men's movement was the 770 and that's what you'll find behind the dial and within a movement ring to secure the assembly in the case.

The inside of the case back is unremarkable, other than a serial number.  There's no case maker or even evidence of prior service marks.  Typically I'd expect to see at least "Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster PA" or I'd suspect foul play - but this is typical of watches like the Liberty Coin, et al.

The 770 is an interesting caliber.  It's regarded as the best that Lancaster ever produced.  What I find interesting is over the 15 years that the movement was manufactured, the balance was changed.  Earlier movements used a traditional weighted balance and in the mid 1960s the balance design was changed to a weight-free Glucydur balance.  What's interesting is other movements made the same change - but thier calibers were also changed.  For example, the 730 movement became the 731, and the 735 movement became the 736.  Why wasn't the 770 movement renamed something like the 771?

While the parts are in the ultrasonic, I'll work on the crown.  The first step is to make sure the crown will actually sit closer to the case.  There's a lot that goes into selecting a crown, especially a waterproof crown.  It has to sit on the stem tube so the gasket will seal.  This one appears to sit fine, so it's really a matter of stem length.  Hopefully I can shorten it a little further.

Everything is ready to be reassembled.

Check out the underside of the Glucydyr balance.  It was dynamically poised at the factory with tiny amounts of material removed to ensure the wheel is perfectly balanced.

The reassembled movement is ticking away but the beat error is way out of spec.  I'll have to remove the balance and adjust the hairspring to better align the impulse jewel with the pallet fork.

Adjusting the beat error is tricky business, especially on a movement with a fixed hairspring stud.  I was able to get the beat error down to 2.5ms and that's within my personal specs of 3.0ms or less.  Every attempt risks disaster and I've learned over years of experience to quit while you're ahead.  Now I can tweak the beat rate down a smidgeon and get it closer or zero seconds per day.  The amplitude is fine, without a crown, I haven't wound the movement fully yet.

The reassembled watch is all cleaned up and looks as good as it did when it left the factory, or whatever body assembled all of these watches, when the factory closed up shop.  There's no production details for these types of watches but based on the scarcity of the Liberty Coin, I think this is a very rare Hamilton model.