1938 Reagan

 I know I did a blog post on the 1938 Reagan and when I went to verify that I realized it was one of the earliest blog posts I did... way back in 2012, almost 13 years ago!  Sometimes I forget how long I've been doing this.

I recently had the opportunity to do another so I thought I'd post about is again.

The Reagan was one of the first generation of models to use the "new" 987A movement that replaced the prior 987E, 987F and original 987 caliber introduced in 1927.  There was a lot of innovation over those 10 years.  The 987A would continue to be used until 1946 and powered hundreds of thousands of WWII military watches.

The Reagan was offered with a black enamel numeral dial or an applied gold numeral dial for $2.50 extra.  Considering the numeral are solid 18K gold, that was quite the deal.  Of course, $2.50 in 1938 is equivalent to almost $50 in today's currency!  The Reagan was produced for three years.

My project watch looks like it just came out of the catalog.  It's even on a vintage strap.  If you look closely you'll see the dial is actually textured.  I can tell by the seconds register that this dial was refinished at some point, there should be numbers, but other than that, it looks great.  It also has a replacement crown.

This is an early 987A, just as it should be.  For starters the serial number is low.  This version dates to 1938.  Additionally, the barrel bridge and train bridge have holes to accommodate case screws.  Some three piece case models were still in use in the late 1930s and this movement could be used in them.  You can see in this photo that the crown is missing a dust sleeve - thus identifying it as a replacement.

It's a little hard to see them all, but there are at least seven different watch maker's marks inside the case back.  This watch has been well maintained.

The mainspring inside the barrel is a white alloy design, another clue that this watch has been serviced properly over the years.

The 987A is less temperamental than it's predecessors but you still need to be careful during reassembly.  Everything is bright and shiny after a trip through the ultrasonic.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a good motion.  Let's see what the timer thinks of it.

Not too shabby.  The beat error is well within my personal specs, the amplitude is vigorous, and a slight tweak to the regulator will bring up the beat rate.

The after-shot of the watch is pretty much the same as the before shot.  However, this 86 year old watch is ready for more wrist time!

1970s Dateline 14661 - Or is it a fake?

Fools rush in... sometimes I have to remind myself that when it comes to unknown models.  There aren't a lot of fake Hamiltons out there and when they do show up, they're pretty obvious.

I was recently asked to take on a project Hamilton that looks to be from the "big and chunky" era of Hamilton models... the 1970s or possibly the 1980s.

As received it looks somewhat typical of watches from this era.  However, there are some odd aspects to it.  For example, the H logo doesn't quite look correct to my eye.  The dial also says 17 jewels incabloc - which is not something I've seen, that I can recall anyway.  It has a date complication so I'm guessing this could fall into the Dateline family.

The case back is stainless steel.  It says Hamilton but the font is a bit unusual.  The model number is 14661.

Well, well, well. What do we have here?  Seriously, what do we have here?  This is not a typical Hamilton movement.  95% of the time I'd expect to see an ETA caliber inside but this is not one of those times.  The damascening is somewhat crude but it does have 17 jewels so why would you use a fairly decent movement for a fake?

You have to look VERY carefully but there is a sticker on the train bridge that says Hamilton Watch Swiss.  I've seen this sticker on other calibers from the 1980s like on military watches.

At this point I had an internal debate... do I proceed or do I just return the project with my doubts about authenticity.  I really don't like to bother with fake Hamiltons... but is it?

I did a quick search of Hamilton 14461 and other example like this one actually showed up.  So maybe it legit but from one of the dark periods where Hamilton was changing ownership.

With the dial removed, this date complication is unlike any that I've seen before.  So I have to be very careful during disassembly so that I don't lose track of where things go.

It's a good idea to note the position of the train wheels so there's no confusion when it comes time to put things back together.

The mainspring coils in a different direction than usual - that's because the cover of the barrel is on the opposite side than usual.

This movement is labeled with Standard Time's logo and the FHF watch mark.  FHF is  Fabrique d'Horlogerie Fontainemelon or just Fontainemelon, for short.  The number 96-4 is the caliber.  If you look on eBay you'll see this caliber was used with lots of other makers.

Standard Time was a company that Hamilton owned.  It produced movements for other companies and were also used in the Vantage line.  So maybe this is an authentic model after all?

The crystal is held in place in the bezel by some sort of snap ring. I haven't see this sort of set up before.

Everything is cleaned and all accounted for so I can put it together like any other movement.

The train wheels are installed and spin freely.  So now I can install the barrel bridge and the pallet fork.

Reassembled movement is ticking away with a decent motion.  Let's see what the timer thinks.

Hmm... there's a lot of noise but the timing seems to be slow.  I'll clean the hairspring and try again.

Well, it's running cleanly now but the beat error is extremely high.  I'm not surprised, it took some fiddling of the balance to get it running.  I should be able to adjust it though.

A tweak here, a tweak there, and finally it's running right on the money.

There were no watchmaker's inside the case but someone must have corrected the hour hand from dragging - but it left a mark on the dial.  Other than that the watch looks like it's had honest wear for the past 40+ years.

So is this a legitimate model or a fake?  What is your opinion - let me know in the comments!

1959 Montclair

It's been a while since I've found a new model that I haven't seen before.  That's getting harder and harder to do.  There are about 975 mechanical models in Hamilton's portfolio of US made wrist watches and I think I've documented 800+ of them.  So the remaining models are either very expensive or just uncommon.

I think uncommon watches are interesting.  Surely there is a reason or two why they're hard to find.  Perhaps they we unappealing to buyers at the time.  It could be that there were very similar but less expensive options in the lineup.  Maybe there was a production issue that limited the run... like the case maker had a problem with the design.  I wouldn't be surprised if simply the law of diminishing returns applied - every decade there were more and more models available in the lineup.  With so many options, some models were bound to be less chosen than others.

For example, in 1930 there were about 20 catalogued men's models to choose from.  In 1940 there were 32 models in Hamilton's men's wrist watches lineup.  By 1950 there were 46 men's models to choose from.  In 10 more years the men's lineup expanded to over 140 different models!  It's no wonder that some are harder to find than others.

One of the models included in the that long list of 140+ models is the 1959 Montclair.  It was produced through 1961.

The Montclair was available in 14K yellow gold or white gold - so that adds to it's potential obscurity.  It's a classic Hamilton model with a US-made Hamilton movement.

In 1960 the dial was changed slightly to add numerals at 3, 6, 9, and 12.  So you will see two different varieties out in the wild, if you see one at all.

Oddly enough, in 1961 the dial went back to the 12-only option with markers in the other positions.  This means if you see a dial with 3-6-9-12 it's a 1962 model, otherwise if it has a H-logo it's a 1961 model, if not, it's a 1959 version.

My project watch has seen better days. It's in "is this worth saving?" condition.  It's obviously had water intrusion.  It's not working and I'm not even able to set the time.

The back of the case is engraved with a presentation recognizing 25 years of service - this is as sentiment representing a period when companies actually cared about the dedication of employees beyond only the C-suite. 25 years is a long time to work for a company - more than a quarter of someone's life.

This watch shows evidence of it's original bracelet, based on the grooves worn into the lugs.  I'm not a huge fan of bracelets for that reason - they can damage the lugs.  However this example isn't too bad but going with a strap is always a better option, in my opinion.

I removed the crystal with the presumption that this watch opens through the front.  However, that doesn't appear to be the situation.  It does afford a better look at the dial though and although the catalog says it's an embossed dial, it sure looks like the figures are applied gold markers and numerals.  I'd have to look at the back of the dial to be sure.

Very close inspection reveals a slight gap in the side opposite the crown where a case knife can be applied to remove the back.

Fortunately the owner of this watch was able to provide a donor movement, complete with a better dial and hands.

The back of the movement reveals a movement ring to secure the assembly in the case.  It's quite obvious that water got inside the movement and it might be salvageable (I've seen worse) but since I have a donor movement in better shape, I'll use that instead.

This caliber is a 730 movement.  It's identical to the 747 movement with the exception of using shock jewels at the balance.  Notice there is no serial number on the movement - Lancaster-made movements stopped having serial numbers in 1955.  So unless something varies by year on the outside of the case (like the dial options on this model), there's really no easy way to date a model to a specific year when it was produced for several years.

My donor movement looks largely identical with the exception of the rust.

Everything gets thoroughly cleaned before being reassembled with fresh lubrication in all the wear points.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a good motion.  Even my camera shows the ticking motion with the blurred balance wheel.

It's running a smidgeon fast but that's no biggie. the regulator is set to run a little fast so a slight tweak back the center will slow the beat rate down.

And... voila!  The finished watch looks fantastic and definitely answers the "is this watch worth saving" question.  Looking very closely at the dial, I'd say it is embossed after all, as the figures appear to have a slight contour on the sides to indicate they're stamped in place versus applied solid gold markers.  Regardless, this a great looking watch now.

1948 Dwight

 A lot of Hamilton collectors have a favorite decade and their reasons can vary.  For example, watches from the 1930s have a lot of unique styles, dials and case designs.  Watches from the 1950s represent the pinnacle of Hamilton achievements with Electrics and Automatics being added to the line up, unique bracelets added to the design, and every model featured shock jeweling at the balance.  Watches from the 1960s are sleek and elegant, as represented in the Mad Men series on TV, and there was a unique design for every man.  

I think my favorite decade is the 1940s.  I tend to imagine the men of WWII going off to war with a Hamilton watch they received for graduation, carrying a Hamilton watch into the air as a pilot or navigator, or receiving a fine watch after the war to celebrate getting married.  Watches from the 1940s tend to be the smallest of all the decades but the saying, "real men wear small watches" aptly applies.  The generation that stormed the beaches of Anzio, Iwo Jima, and Normandy wore small watches.  That's good enough for me.

One of the interesting 1940s models is the Dwight.  It was produced for only a single year, so there aren't that many of them out there.  It looks very similar to the Milton from the same year but it's considerably wider.  The similarity is mostly in the swooping lugs - there's definitely a strong family resemblance.

The Dwight differed from the Milton in several ways beyond just the size.  First, the case is 10K yellow gold filled, versus 14K gold filled for the Milton.  10K gold filled models received the 17 jewel 980 movement, instead of the 19 jewel 982.  The Dwight features a two tone dial with all numerals, similar to other period watches like the Eric.  

It's interesting to note that the Dwight is a one-year-wonder.  I wonder why production was so limited.  Perhaps it's similarity to other models wasn't enough to differentiate it. 

One other interesting trivia bit for the Dwight is it's one of the relatively few rectangular models with a round seconds register.  That's not unheard of but generally the seconds register is the same shape as the bezel opening - especially with watches from this era.

You don't see the Dwight very often and finding one in good shape is even less frequent.  My project watch arrived with one obvious issue - the crown was no longer attached.  The stem broke off at the movement.

The case is actually in decent shape and not overly worn.  It's dirty and could stand a light polish but it's not worn through anywhere to my eye.

The movement inside is a 980, just as you'd expect.  It appears to be in nice shape other than the finger print on the back.  This photo gives you a good idea of the relative size of the Dwight.  It's much wider than most of the models that feature a 14/0 movement.

It's a little hard to tell in the photo but the balance staff is broken and missing a pivot.  So that will need to be replaced.

No surprise that the mainspring has set in a tight coil.  I find that 90% of the time watches from this era are due for a fresh mainspring.

A new glass crystal will be a huge improvement for the aesthetics of this watch.

Everything is clean and dried.  The dial has numbers scratched into the back so I suspect its a very old refinish.  I'll see if some Rodico putty will freshen it up.

The hairspring stud screw came out in the ultrasonic.  These screws are so tiny that I marvel at how precisely made they are.  The best way to reinstall it is with a pin vise.   This specialized tool holds the screw so you can get it started in the hole.  Then a small screw driver can tighten it the rest of the way.

The reassembled movement with a working balance is now ticking away with a good motion.  Time to see how I did with the timing. 

Not too shabby... a slight tweak to the regulator will speed it up nicely.

The crown that came with the watch is the incorrect style.  It would work for a case with a stem tube but the Dwight case has a large opening that is looking for a crown with a dust shroud.  This is probably why it eventually broke the stem.  The only portion of the stem that is supported is in the movement and the crown is so far away from the movement that any uneven pressure from winding will flex and strain the stem.  Eventually it just snaps.  The crown on the right in the photo below will work nicely.  I just need to trim the stem to be the correct length.

Based on the setup, it looks like I need to trim about 1/8" off the end of the stem.  That will bring the crown in closer to the side of the case.  It's a very precise fit and I've found it best to work my way in over several passes rather than trying to cut it in one pass.  If you cut it too short you have to start all over again.

The finished watch looks great with a new glass crystal and proper crown.  The dial cleaned up well thanks to some light work with Rodico putty.  It's not perfect but you'll have some spots too when you're almost 80 years old.