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.