The Hamilton Watch Company was started in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1892, with the goal of creating the finest timepieces available in America. Keeping time accurately was critical when it came to safe and reliable railways. Trains went back and forth on the same rails and the only thing that kept them from colliding into each other was to keep to an accurate time table.
Hamilton's first production watches were released in 1893, and the company quickly earned it's place as "the watch of railroad accuracy".
I was recently cleaning up my workshop and I came across a watch that I have no recollection of purchasing, so I must have had it for a long time. My interest in watches began over 20 years ago when I finally got around to having a few family-owned time pieces repaired. I found the history contained within these little time capsules to be captivating and I quickly became interested in all sorts of ancient pocket watches. I quickly assembled a collection of varied examples... Waltham, Elgin, Illinois, and Hamilton. I really didn't know much about anything at the time. In fact, the watch I came across doesn't even say Hamilton on it so I may not have even realized what it was until I found it again.
I think it's safe to say that today I know a lot more about Hamilton watches but I'm also still learning and that's what makes the hobby so fun. Considering I started with pocket watches, you might think I would know the most about them but that's not really the case. There's a lot more to pocket watches than you might presume.
For example, pocket watches come in various sizes... literally defined by the dimension of the main plate. That's true for wrist watches too and the scale is centered on zero (0). Watches get larger as the number gets bigger, so a 10 size is smaller than a 12, which is smaller than a 16, which is smaller than an 18, and so on. The scale goes the other direction too so a 6/0 size is larger than a 8/0 size, which is larger than a 12/0 size and, eventually, you might approach a tiny 21/0 size ladies cocktail watch.
A watch with a given size can vary with the count of jewels used as the bearing surfaces inside the movement. Typically the more jewels, the higher the quality movement. So a 7 jewel movement is better than 5 jewels, but it's not a good as a 15 jewel movement, which, in turn, is not quite as good as a 17 jewel movement.
Balances have an impulse pin installed in the roller table - the impulse pin (or jewel) is what hits the pallet fork. Sometimes the balance has a single roller and sometimes the balance has a double roller. The double roller helps prevent the balance from "over banking"
In addition to the jewels, the material of construction for the plates of the movement, the quality of plating, the balance design, the amount and detail of machining, etc. can all differentiate the quality of a watch.
Going further, the materials used for the various wheels inside the watch are also an important factor and include a range from brass, to steel, to even solid gold!
Oh, and of course, the watch has to keep accurate time across all sorts of positions (dial up, dial down, etc) and in varying temperatures, barometric pressures, consistent mainspring strength, etc. So how much a movement is adjusted for position, isochronism, temperature, etc. is also a big factor in quality.
If you add all of those factors together, you quickly obtain a staggering degree of complexity and value when it comes to something as simple as "a pocket watch".
A lot of collectors tend to focus on a genre that limits the field a little bit. For example, some people collect only railroad models - but even that focus has it's perils. Which railroad are you talking about? The standard is not always the same and it changed over time.
To me, a good way of narrowing the field considerably is to simply focus on one manufacturer and one size of watch - from there things get a little less complicated but there is still a lot to consider.
You can find a lot of information on the NAWCC website if you become a member. Here's an example of what you can find to better understand what made certain grades different than another. Click on the image to enlarge it.
That brings me to my project watch. As I said at the beginning, it's not even marked Hamilton. Instead, it say 'R.C. Eldridge" on the single sunk dial (meaning the seconds register is on a separate plane than the hours). This presents another vector in collecting where private label watches can have their own panache, especially when the dial and movement match like with this watch.
The case back is unremarkable and unscrews from the case's center section.
The case was made by the Philadelphia Watch Case company and is made of "silverode", which is a trade name for a hard nickel alloy that looks like silver but was more durable and affordable.
The movement is marked R.C. Eldridge and Millford Mass. The serial number is 18750, and that's the first important clue. Looking up the serial number, I can confirm that this is a Hamilton 930 movement from 1895. It's an 18 Size caliber and only 4,200 of this grade were made.
If you were starting a watch company you'd probably have one primary purpose... to make really good watch movements. You might not be too focused on what to case the movement in - you could outsource that part. However, you would have to make great time pieces and establish a reputation for quality. Of course, you'd also have to worry about cash flow and paying the bills. Distribution would be critical - you have to actually sell what you make and establish channels to sell through.
All of those aspects converged quickly for Hamilton and they marketed their products to high end jewelers and offered to private label their watches so their movements benefited from the established brands that jewelry stores already possessed.
I don't know who R.C. Eldridge was in Milford Mass. but I would wager they were a prominent jeweler at the time. There are actually Hamilton records available where I could potentially look up the exact details of this watch.
Here's a snip from the "Halligan Records" on the NAWCC site that explains the early sales strategy further.
Looking up the serial numbers from this era, you can see the variety of movements made during the period. My serial number is 18570 and you can see the production period was somewhere between October 11th and November 13th, 1895. It's interesting to note that most grades had 17 jewels and some had as few as 15 jewels. Only one had 21 jewels. The other interesting factor is the grades ending with odd numbers are hunting cased models where the stem is at the 3 instead of the 12 position like on an open faced calibers. Hunting cased movements are sometimes called "side winders" and they're typically cased in a clamshell case. The table also shows whether the balance has a single roller (S.R.) or a double roller (D.R).
With the bezel removed, I can see a little tab outside the dial by the II marker that tells me this is a lever-set movement.
The movement is held inside the case by two case screws and once they are removed the movement can slip out the back of the case. I removed the balance and balance cock first, because it sticks out like a sore thumb and is very easily damaged.
Looking at the side of the movement you can see all the wheels in the train. There's also no dust cover - I suspect that there was one initially but it's been lost to time, although perhaps that was only a option on higher grade movements.
The enamel dial is in great condition. I don't see any prominent chips or cracks anywhere - that's remarkable considering the dial is 130 years old.
The back of the dial is in good shape too. You can see why these dials are often described as porcelain dials although they are officially referred to as enamel, but they're baked like porcelain.
With the dial removed I can see that it's been a long time since this watch has been to the spa. I know I never worked on it. I can see one of the screws supporting the yoke function has been incorrectly replaced. Everything else appears to be intact.
With a little light reflection, I can see that the remaining original screw is broken. Hopefully I can still get it out.
Success... so far, so good. It will be interesting to see how much cleaner the movement will get after it's been through "the works". It's very grungy now.
Turning my attention to the other side of the movement, the first thing off are the two screws that hold the barrel bridge on. The 930 is a "full plate" movement so all of the train wheels are held in place with a single train bridge.
The mainspring barrel has two sets of teeth... one on the arbor to engage the winding pinion and the other on the barrel to drive the center wheel.
The 930 is a 16 jewel movement - a high quality design but entry-level for Hamilton and the next step up would have been a 17 jewel movement. Where is the missing jewel? It's at the center wheel on the main plate. This is the first Hamilton movement that I've worked on with fewer than 17 jewels.
Notice the color of the jewel settings or "chatons" are a dull brass color. Always check the chatons on a "serviced" movement listed for sale - if they're not bright and shiny, the seller is misleading you.
Two screws hold the train bridge in place and once they're removed and the bridge is lifted away you're left with the four wheels and pallet fork. Getting the bridge back on is a tricky challenge as you have to get all five pivots to align, plus the four posts.
It's short work to remove the wheels and all that is left are the four screws holding the winding pinion, etc. in place.
One of the four screws was broken and it left a piece of the screw in the main plate. I was able to remove some of it but there's still a portion stuck in there. Maybe the ultrasonic will free it.
While all the parts are being cleaned I'll see if I can scavenge some screws from a slightly younger 926 movement - it's from 1907 but the 926 was also made in the 1890s.
Well, it looks like I've already swiped the yoke lever mechanism screws. Notice the 926 is very similar to the 930. A lot of the parts are shared but there is something that makes the two calibers different. One thing is the 930 has 16 jewels and the 926 has 17, but there could be other differences as well.
Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled. Wish me luck.
Unfortunately, one of the four holes for the winding pinion is still blocked. I'll have to hope the three remaining screws will do the job.
Notice the jewel settings are bright and shiny now. It took a while but I finally got the train bridge to seat and all of the pivots are in their respective jewels. Now I just need to replace the barrel bridge.
I managed to find a screw from a 974 spring that fit the hole where the damaged screw was. The other screw is incorrect but it's a low enough profile that it won't interfere with the dial. I tried all sorts of screws from other makes and models and didn't have anything other that this one screw that would work.
The main plate is a lot shinier now that it's all been cleaned and lubricated.
My 926 parts movement donated it's dust cover to protect the innards of the 930. Now I can drop it in the case and use the crown to wind it up.
I dropped the balance in place and the movement immediately came back to life. Let's see what the timer has to say.
It's running a little slow and the beat error is high at 6.2ms. I'll have to remove the balance and see if I can adjust the hairspring collet to better center the impulse jewel with the pallet fork.
Getting warmer... down to 4.3ms. I personal spec is below 3.0ms. Ideally it would be zero but every attempt at adjusting it also risks damaging the balance so sometimes you have to accept good enough.
Well that's much better... down to 0.4ms. Still a little slow but now I can adjust the regulator and speed the rate up a little.
I hope I'm running as fine as this watch when I turn 130... this performance is right on the money now.
I replaced the crystal with a new glass crystal and this watch now looks as good as it runs. Silverode cases are pretty basic but I suspect this is what the movement was cased in when it left RC Eldridge's jewelry store in 1895... pretty cool, huh?
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