1953 Rodney

This weekend is Father's Day and it's the first Father's Day I'll celebrate without my old man.  My Dad passed away last October and although I believe in the communion of saints, it's just not the same without him.

My dad used to tell me the story of his Hamilton watch that he received for graduation and how he lost it horsing around in a snowball fight in the early 1960s.  He didn't recall exactly what it looked like, other than it was round, but he knows it was a Hamilton.  I showed him all the catalogs from the applicable period like a witness perusing mugshots - but to no avail.

A number of years ago I gave my father one of my favorite models - a 1953 Rodney.  It was produced through 1964 so it could very easily have been a match for his long-lost watch.  We pretended it was, anyway.

I like the Rodney because it's a larger watch and it has a lot going on.  First off, there are several different dials. You could even get it as a left-handed model.  That may sound really custom but the reality is the dial is just installed 180 degrees from typical.  The dial feet locations are symmetrical and all the models with a 748, 735, or 736 movement could be left-handed.  Interestingly, not all of them were cataloged that way though.

The Rodney was produced for a LONG time, in watch model years.  It actually spanned all of the 8/0 sized US-made calibers - the 748, the 735 which introduced shock jewels at the balance, and the 736 which introduced a Glucydur balance.  So the Rodney can have any of those calibers and still be "legit" - although a purest might balk if a dial from the wrong period was used.

For example, in 1964 the all-numeral dial had a pearled track.

In addition to a variety of dials, the Rodney also had three different bracelets.  The one in the first catalog snip was paired with the Rodney through 1962.  The one above is from 1964.  A third one, below, was paired in 1963. So if you were a special kind of crazy and really liked the Rodney, you could find an example with every dial and bracelet combination, included left-handed examples!

My project watch is my dad's watch and it took a lot of abuse over the decade or so that he wore it.  I'm sure it went golfing more than a few times and it's got it's fair share of "old man gunk" like most of the project watches I come across.  It's definitely long overdue for a trip to the spal.  The Speidel bracelet is not original.  It's just something that I put on it since I knew it would be easy for him to slip on and off.

This case design is sometimes called a "bubble back" since it's nicely rounded to accommodate the deep 748 movement.  This is not a "thin" watch but the case design helps it wear like it's thinner than it really is.

The crystal and front bezel just pop off to reveal the dial.  From here the movement will lift up and out.  Notice the green verdigris around the perimeter - a clear sign that this is a gold filled case.  If you wanted a solid gold model - that would be the Hartman - it even shares the same dial but the case is more fancy.

This watch has an 18 jewel 748 movement.  So this watch is probably a 1953-1955 model - as the 735 came out in late 1955.  The dust-proof crown has deteriorated so I'll have to replace it.

I have given all of my kids and my sister's kids a watch when they graduated college.  The last of them just graduated in May so I'm going to give this watch to my youngest nephew as a good reminder of his Grandpa.  So, since this watch may get some use and abuse, I'm going to replace this movement with a shock jeweled caliber.  That could be either the 735 or the 736 - I have a nice 736 spare movement so I'll use that. It's appropriate for the Rodney and this isn't a museum piece, it's an heirloom.  Notice the balance wheel has no timing weights - this is a Glucydur balance.

One little bit of trivia with the 8/0 sweep second movements is they had a single piece barrel bridge when the 748 was introduced.  Hamilton learned fairly quickly that if the mainspring broke, the train bridge had to be removed in order to get the mainspring barrel.  I don't know if it was customer feedback or factory feedback, but after a year or two the barrel bridge was separated into two pieces.  That way you could remove the barrel but leave the rest of the movement intact.

Eventually white alloy Dynavar mainsprings with a lifetime warranty were introduced and the 8/0 movement went back to a one piece barrel bridge as shown below.  Once the large ratchet wheel is removed, you have to take the train bridge off in order to go any further.

Everything is thoroughly cleaned and dried before being reassembled with fresh lubricants.  Reassembling the movement is not for the faint of heart.  I've had more than a few people contact me in desperation after disassembling their movement and not being able to get it back together again.  Nine times out of ten it results in a broken pivot on the escape wheel.  This is not the caliber you want to learn on - that's for sure.

It takes a while to get all four train wheels aligned in order for the train bridge to properly seat.  No force is needed - when it's right, it's right and if it does't drop into place then it's not right.  It takes patience and a gentle touch.

The reassembled movement is not ticking away with a nice motion.  Let's see what the timer has to say.

It's running a little fast but that makes sense based on the position of the regulator.  The beat error of 5.4ms is way out of range.  So I'll have to remove the balance and guess the direction and amount to adjust the hairspring collet.  Wish me luck!

I'm probably more lucky than good but I guessed well and reduced the beat error to 0.7ms.  That's more than respectable in my book.

A quick tweak or two to the regular brings the beat rate down to +5 seconds per day.  Even the beat error came down.  There's nothing to complain about here.

My finished watch looks WAY better than what I started with.  A trip to the watch spa is always a good idea after a 3-5 years and this watch was long overdue.  I'm sure my nephew will be very happy to receive this keepsake.

1972 Sea Breeze III

It's been a while since I've covered a new model for the blog.  I've done over 800 different models and there are only 1100 or so to be covered - surely I've done all the more common, easier to find models by now.  Apparently that's not entirely the case though - not yet anyway.

Today's watch is a 1970s model called the Sea Breeze III.  It was introduced in 1972 and produced through 1977 - so that's a pretty good run.  In 1972 it was advertised at $45 on a strap or $49.95 on a bracelet.  It's a stem wound model - not an automatic.

By 1977 the price increased considerably.

Interestingly, in 1972 a very similar model called the Sea Beach IV was also produced.  It looks identical to the Sea Breeze III, at least in black & white.

In 1975 it appears to have been renamed the Sea Breeze III as well - just cased in stainless steel instead of gold electroplate.  More about that in a bit.

The Sea Breeze III goes by the model number 688015-4.  The -4 represents gold electroplate.  I would wager that the stainless steel version and the Sea Beach IV go by the model number 688-015-3, -1 representing stainless steel.

My project watch is in very good shape, for the most part.  Being a 688XXX model, I'm going to guess this has a 688 movement inside.

The crystal has a crack inside it that you can see from an angle but not directly straight on.  So I'll have to replace the crystal.

The Sea Breeze is a large watch by vintage standards.  It's probably 36mm side to side.

It took some doing but I finally got the case back off.  The gasket has degraded and part of it has come off with the back.

This is interesting... this watch has a 685 movement inside.  This is a pretty rare caliber and used in some military watch models.  It looks a lot like a 688 and one of the major differences is the 685 hacks, or stops, when you set the time.  I will definitely have to replace the gasket in the case.

The dial is held in place with dial foot screws on the perimeter of the mainplate.

From the front, you can easily tell the 685 is an ETA caliber - it looks like every other ETA caliber in Hamilton's line up.

The 685 hack mechanism is a little more complicated than in later movements like the 649.  When the stem is pulled out the mechanism moves and bumps into the balance wheel - stopping the watch.  When the stem is pushed back in, the lever moves away from the balance and the watch starts again.

Everything is disassembled and thoroughly cleaned.  While the parts where in the cleaner I replaced the crystal in the bezel.

The reassembled movement is bright and shiny and ticking away with a nice motion.

The timing is right on the money.  The amplitude is a smidgen low but I haven't fully wound the movement yet.

The dial and hands go back on and then the assembly goes back into the case.  I'll need to order a replacement gasket, this case is much larger than my stash will provide.

The finished watch looks great with a new crystal and it's now running as well as it looks.  I'm not a huge fan of the 1970s styling but this is a large enough watch that it actually has some appeal.

1941 Gilbert

Sometimes you find watches that are head scratchers... is it legit?  There aren't a lot of "fake" Hamiltons but there are jeweler re-cased movements and the occasional "Hormilton" to contend with.  A lot of things can happen to a watch over the decades.

The model I'm going to showcase is a 1951 Gilbert - the model was introduced in 1941 and one of a very few models to survive the WWII years and go into the 1950s.  1951 was the last year of production.

The Gilbert was cased in solid 14K yellow gold.  It featured a sterling silver dial with solid 18K gold numerals.  One very interesting bit of trivia is in 1949 the catalog shows the Gilbert was also available with a luminous numerals and hands or with black numerals (and black hands, I presume).  I have NEVER seen those two options in the wild though - so if you happen to have one, let me know.

My project watch is clearly a Gilbert but if you look closely you'll see the dial features numerals and square markers.  By the looks of it, it's been quite a long time since this watch had a trip to the spa.

With the bezel removed, you can get a closer look at the dial.  I don't see a notch on the side so it's possible it's an original dial that is super dirty.

The inside of the case back is clearly marked Gilbert so there's no mystery there.  The movement inside is a correct 982M caliber with 19 jewels.  By this time (1951) the 982M had lost it's gold medallion in the train bridge and got an engraved circled M.

The back of the dial has no markings whatsoever.  So this is clearly an original dial.

Another model from the time period, the Keith, has a very similar dial.

I have what I believe is a refinished Keith dial and looking at the margins of the minute track relative to the edges of the dial, the Gilbert dial is clearly smaller.  So I don't think my project watch has a Keith dial.

The back of the case back is engraved with a presentation for "over a quarter century" service and looks to be a classic example of an Awards Division watch.  The Awards Division produced watches with slight variations to production watches so the recipients wouldn't see their award for sale in their local jewelry store.

Everything is cleaned and dried and ready to be reassembled.

The watch is ticking away with a nice motion.  Lets see what the timer has to say.

It's a little slow but that's not a big deal.  The amplitude is great, thanks to the white alloy mainspring that it came with.  The beat error of 7.8ms is way to high for me to let go.  So I'll have to try to adjust it.

Ugh!  Someone in the past must have lost the hairspring stud screw and they put in a replacement that was almost impossible to remove.  It took quite a while for me to back it out enough to remove the balance.  I could then remove the screw and replace it with a proper sized screw.

After about four attempts I was able to get the beat error down to 1.2ms.  Now to adjust the beat rate and speed it up.

With the last adjustments finished the watch is now running great.  No complaints here.

The finished project has a new glass crystal and a nice black leather strap.  This is a very interesting example of a Gilbert.  I think the dial is legit - it's original and fits the bezel opening perfectly.  I don't know if it's a one of a kind but it may be limited to only awards watches or even employees of the company - the Ohio Edison Company.

1939 Foster

One of the more popular 1930's and 40's models is the 1938 Linwood.  It was perhaps the most dramatic "curvex" models - or curved to fit the wrist.  Some folks think the Linwood is rare but I don't have that opinion.  Maybe it's "scarce", but I've seen quite a few - especially since it was produced for four years.

What's considerably more scarce the Linwood's slightly younger brother - the 1939 Foster.  It shares a lot of the same features as the Linwood except it's cased in solid 14K gold.  The Foster has a similar case design to the Linwood but the lugs flare out a little where the straps attach whereas the Linwood is a consistent curve.

Both models feature a "spherical dial" which means it curves in all directions from the center.

The Foster was produced for only two years and priced originally at $80, it was considerably more expensive than the Linwood's price of $52.50.  So unless you really wanted a solid gold case, I think the Linwood was probably purchased more readily.

One of the distinctive features of the Linwood and the Foster is they both have a special marker at the 6 position.  That was pretty unusual as dials with applied gold numerals tend to skip the 6 position as it competes with the second had.  However, the dials on the Foster and Linwood are so long the have lots of extra room - or at least just enough - for a marker.  The Linwood has a gold star - very cool and the only model to feature a star, if I recall correctly.  The Foster, on the other hand, just has a simple gold dot, or round marker.  You may be wondering why you don't see in the photo below - that's easy, it's not there!

The back of the case is solid gold so there's little chance to see wear through like you'll often see on the Linwood.  The case curves dramatically "to fit the wrist" and it's fairly comfortable to wear as long as you don't strap it down too tight.

This is interesting... the strap is Hamilton branded...

... but it's also marked 14mm so it's not that old.  Originally the Foster would have had a 9/16" strap, which equates to 14mm.  Based on the pattern of the leather I thought this was an ostrich strap but I was close - it's an American Emu.  I can't say I've ever seen an Emu strap - have you?

With the bezel and the crystal out of the way, you can see a tiny hole where the gold dot should go at the 6 position.  Based on the missing marker ant the tiny notch at the 3 position, I'm very confident this is a refinished dial.

My advice to any new collector is to focus on solid gold models.  Your collection will be much smaller but every watch will be special and distinctive.  There is just nothing like a solid gold case.

Tucked behind the dial is a 19 jewel 982 movement. The 982M didn't come out until 1940 and up until then, the 982 was used in solid gold models and the 17 jewel 980 in the gold filled cases.

Sure enough, the back of the dial shows several sets of numbers.  That's a good clue that this dial was probably refinished more than once.

Despite several sets of watchmaker marks inside the case back, the mainspring is a blue steel design.  I'm sure it's "set" into a tight coil and lost most of it's energy.  It would probably power the watch for a few hours, but not many,

While everything is in the ultrasonic, I'll see if I have any dials with round markers.  I have several candidates and several sizes to choose from.

I'll also prep a new white alloy Dynavar spring.  The white alloy springs will last a "lifetime".

Everything is ready to be reassembled.  Check out the coil of the new mainspring as compared to the old one above - quite a difference and the new one will power the watch for upwards of 40 hours.

It doesn't look like it in the photo below but the watch is ticking away with a nice motion.  The timer will tell me how well it's really running. 

You really can't do this kind of work without a timer.  It listens to all the ticking and can tell you all sorts of information that you just wouldn't get otherwise.  On the screen below you see two parallel lines (that's good).  The slope is upward so you know it's running fast... 63 seconds per day, that is.  You want to two lines to be close together and although they look fairly close, in reality they're very far apart.  The line on the top is actually on the bottom.  The distance represents the beat error and numerically it's 7.1ms.  That just means one side of the balance swings further than the other side.  Ideally it would swing equally side to side and be perfectly centered with a beat error of 0.0. 

7.1ms is too high for my standards.  I'm happy with 3.0ms or less.  In order to adjust it I have to remove the balance wheel from the balance cock and rotate the hairspring collet.  It doesn't take too much and every attempt risks disaster. It's very delicate business and I usually develop beads of sweat on my forehead while I do it.

In order to do it, you have to choose the right direction (or you'll make it worse) and then you need to adjust it the right amount.  After my first attempt I got it down to 3.9ms.  Still too high, so I'll press my luck and do it again the same direction and the same amount.

Alright!  Pretty much right on the money.  Still running a little fast but that's an easy adjustment of the regulator.

A tweak here, a tweak there - eventually I dialed it in to just a smidgeon fast per day.

Voila!  The watch now runs great and it looks great too - especially with a round marker at the 6 position.  This watch is ready for another 80+ years of service - as long as it gets overhauled again in a few years.