1941 Lexington

One of my favorite models is the 1941 Lexington.  I suppose that's for a few reasons.  

First, as a former naval officer, the name reminds me of the USS Lexington(s), of WWII.  The original USS Lexington (CV-2) was the second aircraft carrier built by the US Navy.  It was sunk in the battle of the Coral Sea.  Another carrier was already being built (the Cabot) CV-16 and was renamed the USS Lexington while under construction and served during WWII, then off and on until it was finally decommissioned in 1991, while I was in the Navy.  I remember seeing it the fleet, it was the training ship for naval aviators.  It's a museum now in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Second, the watch was intended for use with service members.  The Endicott and Sentinel were similarly marketed and those are personal favorites too.  I find that very interesting, since WWII didn't actually begin for the United States until the very end of 1941, after the watches came out.  So it gives you some insight into the political climate prior to WWII with war on the horizon.

The 1941 Lexington is also a milestone model for Hamilton.  It was the first model to utilize stainless steel.  Up until 1941, Hamilton never used stainless steel for any wrist watch model.  It also never used rolled gold plated cases.  So that's a great insight to know if you see a Hamilton wrist watch with a 987 movement in a case with a stainless steel back or a RGP bezel... it's not an authentic model.

The code price of 12 equated to $42.50.   That's the equivalent of about $940 in today's currency - so it was not an inexpensive watch.

The Lexington is very distinctive looking with a black dial (uncommon prior to 1941) and slender white baton hands.  It's not luminous but the black dial with white letters is very easy to read.  The stainless steel case is solidly built and although the watch is very small by modern standards, it feels substantial in the hand.

My project watch looks like it's never been altered in the past 85 years.  The glass crystal has plenty of bumps and bruises.  Stainless steel can take a beating and this case shows some wear but a thorough cleaning will do it some good.  The baton hands look exactly as they should.  This is a model where the hands are really important.  Any other style of hands would look out of place, in my opinion.  The scale of the hands seems to match the font size of the numerals and width of the hour 5 minute indices, don't you think?

The back of the case is nicely engraved with the initials (I presume) of the original owner.

The black dial seems to have a dusty-looking patina.  I'm going to let sleeping dogs lie though.  Black dials are very hard to clean as they seem to turn grey if attempt even a gentle cleaning.  That said, they will often look better if you get them wet, so sometimes I will spritz them with a light spray of clear lacquer and make a faded dial look much better.  This one is perfect, I wouldn't change (or risk) a thing.

Tucked behind the dial is a 14/0 sized, 17 jewel 980 movement - exactly what you'd expect to see.  

Check out the crown... it has a prominent long post.  This crown design accommodates the shape of the case opening (or stem tube).  One of the most common questions I receive is "what crown do I need" and that's a surprisingly complicated question to answer.  

How would you describe this crown?  There's the material of construction, the diameter of the head, the length of the post, the diameter of the post, the thread for the stem, etc. etc. etc.   It's really one of those "you know it when you see it" things.  Sometimes the Hamilton parts manual specifies the crown for specific models, but often times it doesn't and in those situations you really have to give it your best guess.

Once the dial is lifted out of the way, I can see that the arm on the set bridge / yoke has broken off.  This little arm is the detent that keeps the stem in either the winding or the setting position.  I'll need to replace this part to keep the watch from accidentally going in to the setting position while it's being worn.

The watch was not working when I received it and here's one of the reasons... the mainspring is broken.  It's also fairly "set" and would have needed to be replaced anyway.

Everything is cleaned and dried.  This can be a challenging movement for beginners to reassemble thanks to the train bridge design but after 1,000 attempts you get the hang of it.  When I first started working on watches this design, the 982, and the 748 movement would almost drive me to tears.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a nice motion.  Even the balance is blurred by the camera.

It's running a little fast but that should be easy to adjust.

Okay - that should do the trick.

My posts may make it look like every watch goes perfectly.  That's not always the situation though.  In full disclosure, this movement ran great... until you moved it crown down, then it locked up.  Obviously watches need to run in all positions but they may run differently in certain positions.  Wrist watches were typically adjusted to three positions... dial up, dial down, and pendant (crown) up.  If you look at railroad watches, they're adjusted to the other positions that you might find a watch in your pocket... pendant to the left, pendant right, etc.

So what would make a watch stop in a certain position? Great question... really it could be anything.  Every wheel (and the pallet fork) rides on two pivots.  Dial up or dial down they're riding on only one, depending on the orientation.  However, rotate the movement on it's side and both pivots are in use and if any of them have an issue, it could stop the watch.

My experience has been it's either the pallet fork or the balance.  Usually it's the balance.  It could be the pivots or it could be something else that gravity effects only in a certain direction.

Anyway, I ended up taking the movement apart and checking everything very closely, ultimately resolving the issue after replacing the balance assembly.  Now it runs great in all positions.

I replaced the beat up crystal with a fresh glass crystal and now the watch looks as good as it runs.  This is a great watch and easy to see why it's a personal favorite.