1971 Dateline TM-2903

I've posted before about how vintage Hamilton collectors usually have a favorite decade or two to focus on.  Hamilton Watch Company made wristwatches from about 1920 through 1969 in their Lancaster PA factory and the company continued to make watches in Switzerland in the 1970s.  A lot happened since then but Hamilton still produces fine watches today and often echos it's US-roots.

If collectors have a favorite decade, it wouldn't be a leap to say they might have a least favorite decade as well.  For me, my least favorite decade is probably the 1970s.  That's mainly because the styling of the 1970s is not really to my taste.  To be honest, I think the same is true with other elements of 1970s fashion, in general.

That said, the 1970s produced a lot of interesting models.  One of them is the 1971 Dateline TM-2903.  It was produced for two years.  The catalog is pretty sparse on details, including the price, but the name provides some insights.  

The Dateline name implies the watch has a calendar complication.  TM indicates that it's part of the Thin-o-matics.  The 2 in 2903 indicates the model is cased in solid 14K gold.

Based on the catalog image, I'm led to believe the case has a brushed finish of some sort.  Perhaps the bracelet does too.  It's hard to say for sure as an artist can only render so much in a black and white depiction.

I recently had the opportunity to work on a TM-2903 first hand.  It's not in an original box but it certainly presents to be in original condition.  It is, however, not running and I suspect it's been polished a time or two.

The bracelet does not appear to have a brushed finish but it is gold filled so it's got enough gold content that it could have been polished away.  The bracelet was made by JB Champion.

The case is a two piece design where the case back snaps onto the front bezel.  You could probably fit a strap to the watch but you'd want to use curved spring bars.

The two bezel openings cover a single dial.  I think it's interesting that the dial is a golden color but the date wheel is white.  I know other models could have a yellow date wheel, but that might have been better when the date was integral to the surface of the dial.  I suspect the white date simply shows up better in the tiny date window.  It'd also interesting that that dial says SWISS but that detail isn't readily visible in the bezel opening when the watch is assembled.

Behind the dial is a 630 caliber Thin-o-matic movement to power the watch.  This is another aspect of the 1970s that I don't prefer.  These second generation silver colored micro rotor movements are my least favorite calibers to work on.  They were made by Buren, and by this time Buren was owned by Hamilton so it's really a Hamilton-made movement.  If you look closely, you can see that the train wheels are all off to the side of the movement.  The central sweep-second hand is still in the center, but all the other wheels are off to the side.  The larger wheel with the metal bushing in the train bridge is actually the "center wheel" - and this offset center wheel is the reason I don't like these movements.

The inside of the case back has quite a few different watchmakers' service marks indicating that this watch was well taken care of over the past 50 years.

The main plate is missing one of the two dial foot screws.  I'll replace that when I reassemble the movement.  The crown appears to have a gasket to seal against the case.  The crown appears to be spring-loaded to press the gasket agains the case.  I don't know if this is a defect to simply how it was intended to operate originally.

The dial-side of the main plate provides a cover with some instructions for assembly.  I wish it was really as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Once the cover is off you get to see all of the various parts contained within.  You can also see the other side of the center wheel.  This wheel has the cannon pinion that drives the minute wheel.  It has to be firm enough to drive the minute hand (and hour hand) but it also has to slip enough to let you set the time without jarring the train wheels.  It's a goldilocks situation and has to be "just right" - and that's the issue - it can wear over time and use to be a little too loose and the result is the movement runs fine but the hands slip - and give the impression the watch is running slow.  That's why I don't like these white-micro rotor movements - they can be notorious for appearing to to run slow.  Unfortunately, replacement parts have long been exhausted and are not longer available.  You can try to get a donor movement but the odds are not in your favor and you could end up with another movement with the same issue.  

Most of the parts are stripped from the front of the main plate.  I'll leave the keyless works until the I strip the back, as the center wheel is still being supported.

Everything is cleaned and dried.  Now it's time to put it all back together.  I didn't do anything to the case, as I didn't want to removing any of the remaining original brush work.

There are a lot of parts to this movement and the goal is to not have any left over.  Eventually I got most of them pack to their proper places.  There's still a few left to go but it's at the point where I can wind up the mainspring and put the balance back in place.  The train wheels spin nicely so it's looking good so far.

Voila... the watch is back to ticking away with a nice motion.  It's off to the timer to listen to the ticking.

It's running cleanly but the beat error is a little high.  I'll try to tweak it closer to towards zero.  

Okay... getting closer, now to just slow it down a smidgeon.

The finished watch goes back into it's case and the case goes back into it's box.  Now I just have to observe the watch to make sure the hands move as they should and the time displays correctly.