1975 Benton

When it comes to 1970s watches I always think,  "I like 'em big, I like 'em chunky".  Like Moto Moto from the movie Madagascar II: Escape to Africa.  Watches from the 1970s are a style unto their own and they are easy to spot.

Of course, 1970s models are probably still smaller than today's tuna fish can designs that you'll see people sporting.  I'm not really a fan of really large watches because they're all show and no substance.  I have found when you open the tuna can you'll find a tiny movement surrounded by a really large plastic space ring.

That's not to say that there aren't really great watches being made today.  I'm just pointing out that bigger isn't really a measure for better.  

However, in the 1970s watches did get a lot larger and featured very prominent metal bracelets, like you'd still see offered today.

A good example of this emerging trend was the 1975 Auto Date Benton.  It was introduced in 1975 and produced through the end of the available catalogs so presumably through the end of the 1970s.

It also goes by the model number 826019-4.  It was presented in a 14K yellow gold electroplated case with a stainless back.  In some years it was also available in just stainless steel with a gray dial so I presume the model number would be 826019-3.

The Benton is interesting it that it specifically calls out having a mineral crystal in the catalog ad.  So that could mean that replacing the crystal could be a challenge.

My project watch is another bowl award watch, this time from the 1979 Sugar Bowl.  It's missing it's metal bracelet and just to give you an idea of size, the lug width for this watch is a very large 22mm, approaching an inch!

The 1979 Sugar Bowl was a rematch for the 1975 Sugar Bowl pairing Alabama versus Penn State.  Penn State was ranked No 1 and undefeated for the season and Alabama was ranked No 2.

Alabama would go on to defeat Penn State (again) 14-7 in what proved to be an exciting 4th quarter.

This award watch is interesting because it lacks any of the usual markings on the case back to denote model number, etc.  It's also very unusual because the case back is secured in place by four substantial screws in each corner.

The case back has an unusual recess on the side near the crown, I guess it's to allow better access for winding.  It still features it's original crown.

Case back has the remains of a gasket that has turned to black goo.

I've been dreading opening this watch because it makes a crunchy sound when I tried to wind it.  It's not running and who knows what I'm going to find.  Looking at the movement, it's a 837 caliber.  It's based on an ETA 2879.  Based on the model number, you might expect to see an 826 inside, which is also a day and date caliber.  So it's possible earlier examples have a different movement inside.

This setup is also interesting... the movement is secured to a spacer ring by case screws and the spacer is secured to the case also with case screws.

The crown has come apart so the gasket fell out when I removed it.  I might be able to repair it.

The movement is removed from the spacer and now I can start to disassemble it.

The dial is held in place by two opposing J-shaped levers that press against the dial feet.  My screwdriver is pointing at one of them.  It's also pointing at an open hole - one of the barrel bridge screws is missing and I suspect that's why the movement is crunchy to wind.

With the dial out of the way, I can now see the day and date wheels.  This day wheel has two languages... English and French.  So you can pick the language when you set the day and when the watch advances days, it will skip to the next appropriate day.

The first part off is the C-shaped snap ring that holds the day wheel in place.

There are a lot of bits that work together to advance both the time and day and date complications.

Everything is disassembled and placed with it's proper hardware so after it's cleaned I can reassemble it with the correct screws.

While the parts are in the cleaner I will remove the gooey gasket residue and install a new gasket.

There... new gasket installed.

All the parts are cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

One of the challenging parts to get back into place is the pallet fork.  You should be able to see the pivot in the jewel before you try tightening the screw for the bridge - otherwise you risk breaking the pivot off.

The basic movement is back together and at this point this is your typical ETA manual winding watch.  Now it's off to the timer.

Looks like it's going to need some tweaking but it's easy to do on this movement.

There.... the timing is right on the money, although the timer didn't complete calculating the amplitude and beat error when I took the photo.

Everything goes back into the case and it looks a lot better now that it's cleaned.

The finished watch looks pretty good.  The crystal could stand to be replaced but that's going to be a challenge.  It may need to have a crystal specially cut to fit the case.  In the meantime, it's ready for some wrist time again.

1973 Clermont

 One of the interesting watch terms out there is "complication".  When it comes to watches, you can have a variety of complications and I think the term is very appropriate.  The most basic elements for a watch are the hour and minute hands, and to get a watch to keep accurate time at all is arguably pretty complicated.  

However, from there you can add things... like a second hand, or a date, or the day of the week, or make the watch self winding, perhaps add a chronograph (stop watch), how about an alarm?  Each additional element adds a complication.

For decades Hamilton produced excellent watches with just the basics.  Innovation came in the form of ever increasing accuracy, new materials and improved environmental performance.  In the 1950s, new complications started to be added and automatics joined the model line, as did calendar models with the day of the month, and an alarm watch.  The 1960s introduced chronometers.  It wasn't until the 1970s that the day of the week was introduced.  Today you can have all of the above on your wrist... although maybe the alarm might not be offered too frequently.

Hamilton's Day 'N Date series included all the models that offered a day of the week and the date of the month complication.  One of them was the 1973 Clermont.  The Clermont was introduced in 1973 and produced through 1976.  It came in a 14K yellow gold electoplated case with a stainless steel back.

The Clermont is also known by the product number 825011-4.

My project watch is a Clermont and it's an interesting example because it's also an award watch for the 1975 Sugar Bowl.  It's a bit beat up and the second hand has fallen off but it is ticking.

The case back lacks the traditional markings from Hamilton, probably to make room for the presentation of Penn State vs Alabama and the name A. Dragenovich

The 1975 Sugar Bowl pitted two very famous coaches and their teams against each other... Bear Bryant with the Crimson Tide versus Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions.

Joe Paterno and Bear Bryant take part in the traditional cafe brulot toast prior to the Sugar Bowl. Photo courtesy of the Bear Bryant Museum.

Alabama went on to defeat Penn State 13 to 6.

The original bracelet on the watch has been lost to time, as has the original crown.  The replacement appears to be a smidgeon large.  It's interesting to see that the case has been worn along the edge, presumably from years of manual winding.  It's no wonder the original crown is gone.

The case back unscrews to reveal the movement inside, which is retained in a movement ring that mates with the case.

The catalog says that the dial on the Clermont is black and this dial is more of a deep blue.  Obviously it's been customized and other than a slight mark above the trophy, it's looks really good.

Two screws hold the movement inside the retaining ring.  Once it pull those, I can start to disassemble the movement.

There are a variety of different movements that Hamilton used for Day "N Date models.  This one is a "Quick Change II" or Q/C II with a unique stem that causes the clutch to slide into different positions when you turn the crown one direction or the other - that will change the day wheel in on direction or the day of the month wheel in the opposite direction.  Did I mention the term "complication"?

Speaking of the Day and Date wheels, once the dial is removed you see the two wheels that rotate different directions... the day of the week rotated counter clockwise while the date of the month rotates clockwise.  It's interesting to note that the day of the week can be set to English or English... so when the movement indexes from day to day, it actually skips a position.  This is because you could have a wheel with other languages like English and French, for example.

A small snap ring holds the day of the week wheel in place and once that's lifted out of the way, you get to see how the magic happens.

With a couple of additional covers removed I can start to strip the individual wheels.  It's fascinating that the movement that simply turns the minute hand can also make all of the other parts move in coordination.

I purposely laid out all of the parts with their corresponding screws so I can remember what goes with what when I reassemble everything.  From here, all the parts will go into my ultrasonic cleaner.

While all the parts are being cleaned, I'll see if I can select a proper crown to install.  I think I have a good match... there's a LOT that goes into picking the most appropriate replacement.

I think the one I chose is a perfect fit.  I plan to do a blog post on selecting crowns in the near future.  Stay tuned - I think you'll find it very interesting.

Okay - 30 minutes later and all the parts are cleaned and back in there relative positions so I can start the reassembly process.  The first step is to get a working movement again, then I can worry about the day and date parts.

I haven't already mentioned it but this movement is an ETA design and in this view you can see it has a strong family resemblance to all of it's ETA kin.  Even ETA movements today look a lot like this, when the automatic bits are removed.  At this point it's now a running manual wind movement - let's see what the timer has to say.

Not too shabby.  The amplitude is low but that's partly because I haven't really wound it up too much.  The beat error is high at 2.9ms and the beat rate is a little fast at 97 second fast per day.  Notice the beat rate is 21,600 beats per hour - that's faster than the traditional 18,000 BPH most vintage watches have.  So this watch beats 6 times a second instead of the traditional 5.

Adjusting the beat error brings the amplitude up considerably and a tweak or two to the regulator gets the timing to an acceptable 10 seconds fast per day.  It will probably settle down a little after it runs a while.

Getting all of the day and date parts into place is pretty straight forward.  The worst part is pulling the stem out to reinstall it in the case and hoping that it goes back in place correctly so the Quick Change parts work.  The stem has three positions... the winding position (all the way in), the time setting position (all the way out) and the day and date setting position (midway between).

Once the dial is on, I can lightly set the hour hand and then advance the time until the day and date change.  Then I know it's midnight and can place the hands accordingly.  I add the hour hand initially just so I know what direction to turn and how many hours I've gone as I could have to go 24 hours to change the date.

Now the hands are in place, including the second hand, and I can install the automatic frame work and put the assembly back in the case.

The last step was to replace the crown.  As you can see, this one fits much better.

This watch is almost complete.  The only thing left to potentially do is to replace the crystal.  I don't know if this crystal is original but it appears to be mineral glass held in place with a gasket.  I could remove it and replace it with something else, or I could try to get a correct mineral glass replacement.  If the gasket is reusable, that is.

In the meantime, this watch is back in working order and can still enjoy some wrist time.

1951 Clyde

It's been a long time since I bought a Hamilton watch out in the wild.  That's mainly because I rarely see them.  I enjoy perusing antique shops and thrift stores as much as the next guy, I suppose, but I rarely see nice vintage watches for sale.  I suspect they're just easier to sell on line... easy to ship, etc. rather than waste time and space in a display case.  When I do find them, they're usually priced more than I'd be willing to pay for a project watch.

However, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and again and I purchased a one year wonder project watch... a 1951 Clyde, at an antique mall.

The Clyde is an interesting watch since it was only produced for a single year.  It's got a strong family resemblance to other models from the period, so maybe it wasn't distinctive enough.  It could also be that the bracelet it was paired with isn't particularly attractive, in my opinion, anyway.  Maybe it's better in real life.  It was also available on a strap, for a pretty big discount... $14 in 1951 was a lot of money... about $170 when adjusted for inflation.

The Clyde is cased in 10K gold filled and has a sterling silver dial with solid 18K gold figures and numerals.

My project watch is in decent shape but the crystal is beat up and make it look a lot worse.

The case back shows the tell tale signs of a one piece nylon strap... probably my least favorite strap choice.  The toning should polish off easily.

The dial has a mixture of dirt and moisture residue.  Since this is my watch and it appears to be the original dial, I'll try to clean it and hope it looks better - or at least more consistent.

Tucked inside the case is an 8/0 sized 17 jewel 747 movement.  This is one of my favorite movements... it's super easy to work on and is a great movement to learn the ropes on.

The inside of the case is marked with the model name, makes identifying really easy.  The serial number inside is unique to this case but doesn't mean anything to anyone other than Wadsworth, the case company who made the case.

The mainspring inside the barrel is a white alloy Dynavar mainspring.  These are considered a "lifetime" mainspring because they don't set in a tight coil... however, they do break on occasion.

While all the parts are in the cleaner, I'll prep a new glass crystal for installation.  This will make a huge improvement.

Everything is cleaned and dried.  The dial turned out good, it's not perfect but I didn't lose any printing and the toning is restricted to the corners so it's very vintage-looking.

The movement is reassembled and ticking away with a nice motion - let's see what the timer thinks of it.

Not too shabby... just a slight tweak to the regulator will bring the beat rate in line.

There... this is a good place to leave it.

What do you think?  This watch turned out great... the dial isn't perfect but it is a lot better than what I started with.  I hope when I'm 75 I look this good!