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Sunday, May 7, 2023

1960 Accumatic X

Hamilton first introduced automatic models in 1953 with the Illinois line.  The automatic movements were made by ETA in Switzerland and imported to Lancaster, PA.

After a year Hamilton introduced their own branded models and quickly settled on Swiss-made movements made by Certina / Kurth Freres for the Automatic K-series models.

In 1956 they introduced the Accumatic line of automatics and this line went back to using movements made by ETA.  Accumatics and K-series models would be made together into the 1960s and the Accumatics took over from there on. 

Most of today's Hamilton movement are still made by ETA so you could say that the Accumatic line is still going 60+ years later.

One of the more scarce Accumatic models is the 1960 Accumatic X.  It was introduced in 1960 and changed in 1961 to the Accumatic X-B.  Presumably the movement changed between the X and the X-B, but it could also be the case design changed... I'm not entirely sure.



I haven't come across an Accumatic X previously, or at least I don't think I have.  The model is fairly plane-jane looking and would be easy to overlook as one of the other Accumatic models.

My project watch shows a lot of wear and you can tell by the somewhat crude H logo that the dial has probably been previously refinished.

I pretty much finished the project before I realized that this would be a new model for the blog.  So I didn't take photos of the movement disassembly, etc.  The movement inside is has a generic ETA rotor so I don't know for sure what the movement is.  I'm fairly certain it's a 677 like in this 1959 Accumatic VIII.


The case is a two piece design like the Accumatic VIII and the case back pops off the front.  You can tell from the myriad service marks inside that this watch has been well maintained.


The reassembled movement is running nicely.


The finished project looks a ton better with a new crystal.  The dial shows some toning, potentially from the old lume on the hands.  They've been cleaned in the ultrasonic and have fresh luminous paint so they look a lot better and won't harm the dial either.  


This watch came with an old Speidel bracelet with a "perpetual calendar".  You rotate the little wheels to roll the scroll to the proper day of the week that the month starts.  Who needs a Dateline when you have a perpetual bracelet?

2 comments:

  1. After seeing nothing listed on Etsy, I'm relieved to see this blog still going! Have you found a new venue for sales?

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  2. I have a very modest collection of Hamiltons. All in various states of disrepair....all because of this blog. It has turned into a fun hobby.

    ReplyDelete