If Forrest Gump was into vintage Hamiltons he would have said, "Old watches are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get".
I was recently asked to take on a project watch and my first instincts were, "this isn't going to be good".
Here's the before photo...
I've learned to be suspicious when a watch shows up in multiple parts. My instincts tell me I could be walking in someone else's footsteps. However, you never really know until you get into the thick of it.
Tucked inside the plastic cases are the earthly remains of a 1953 Hamilton Carl. The Carl was produced for three years and was available on a strap or with a specially paired bracelet.
The case of the Carl is distinctive with prong-shaped lugs that flair out to the side. The dial has a two-toned finished with markers as well as numerals at 12.
The Carl was also paired with a matching ladies model, aptly named the Carlotta. It also had prong-shaped details that incorporated the corded bracelet.
As I said, inside the two plastic containers were all the bits you'd expect to makeup a Carl. Why is it in pieces?
Popping the movement out of the case back, the lettering inside makes identifying the model easy - Carl is written right inside.
The Carl came in a 10K gold filled case and tradition would have outfitted it with a 17 jewel 752 movement. However, the model was upgraded to a 19 jewel 753 movement for some reason. Typically that caliber would have gone into a 14K gold filled model.
This movement looks to be in decent shape but it's not running and the balance looks wobbly... definitely not a good sign.
The dial doesn't appear to have a two-tone finish and the back of it has numbers scratched in. So this is definitely a refinished dial. I was asked specifically to see what I could do to clean the dial up but I'll have to be very careful. Refinished dials will often not respond well to cleaning.
One of the pivots on the balance staff is bent and the other is missing so this movement will require a balance staff replacement - a very tedious and stressful intervention.
Something fishy is going on - I can't get the front to mesh with the back. It's as if the front is a different shape. Was this watch stepped on or otherwise damaged? I'll worry about that after I address the movement.
Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled. Hopefully the balance will do it's thing. I was able to get the dial cleaned up a little but the finish is compromised and any further attempts will completely ruin it.
The reassembled movement is ticking away with a vigorous motion - that's a good sign.
Ooof! It's running a bit slow and has a pretty high beat error. I wonder what's going on?
Ah, not to worry, the hairspring fell out of the regulator pins and was out of position. Repositioning the hairspring between the regulator pins brought the timing right into spec. Looks great!
A tweak here, a tweak there, and I think I finally have the case back together again. The bezel was definitely bent out of shape somehow. The crystal that came with the package does not fit properly. Hopefully it's the wrong shape and the bezel isn't damaged to the point that a replacement crystal won't fit either. I'll have to order a new crystal and take my chances... vintage watches are like a box of chocolates, you know.
