1956 Automatic K-407

Automatic or self-winding watches entered Hamilton's lineup in 1954 and have had a considerable presence ever since.  By 1956 there were almost twice as many Automatics than in 1954 with over 20 models to choose from.  That number would double again by 1960.

One of the earlier Automatics introduced in 1956 was the Automatic K-407.  It was produced for only two years.

Like other watches of the period, the K-407 came in a choice of a white dial or a black dial.  Both have luminous hands and dots outside of the solid 18K gold hour markers.

Under the dial you'll find Hamilton's 17 jewel 661movement.  All Hamilton automatics were made by a variety of Swiss manufacturers.  The 661 was made by Certina Kurth Freres and is a caliber 28.45.

The K-407 comes in a 10K yellow gold filled case with gold filled back.  The crown is recessed into the bezel and is barely visible when it's in the winding position.  This is a tricky watch to wind by hand since you can only really access one side of the crown.  Perhaps that's why it was only produced for two years.

The good news is it's self winding so after a few turns of the crown the watch starts running and will continue to wind as you wear it.

I've had both versions of the K-407 and I think they are each very cool in their own ways.  I think the black dial is more popular and it really makes a presence on the wrist with the contrasting gold case, markers and hands.

Here's a photo of the white-dialed version, before I changed the crystal - you can see it's cracked near the 7 marker.

1965 Sea Mate II

Hamilton must have about 30 or more models named Sea-something.  So many, in fact, that they took to adding roman numerals to mark new models.  A good example is the 1965 Sea Mate II.  It's a completely different model than the 1959 Sea-Mate issued a few years earlier.

The Sea Mate II was one of a few watches that continued to be produced after 1969 - the year Hamilton was sold to what is now the Swatch Group.  It was produced until 1971.  Three dials where available... a white butler finished dial, a black dial and also a masonic dial.

The case is 10k rolled gold plate, RGP, with a stainless steel back.  It opens through the crystal so it has a two-piece stem.  I have found that these one-piece cases with a gold bezel and stainless back must be confusing to a lot of people - as it's not unusual to see pry-marks on the back where someone has tried to separate the two sections.

Inside is a Swiss-made Hamilton 688 movement... the same as an ETA 2390 with 17 jewels.

I recently picked up a Sea Mate II project watch.  After an overhaul, dial cleaning, new crystal and a strap - I think it turned out fantastic.

1957 Grant

Over the 50 or so years that Hamilton made wrist watches in the USA, they issued different models with the same name as earlier models... sometimes more than once.  For example, there are multiple watches named Scott, Drake, Essex and many others.  At the same time there are lots of common men's names that were never used, like Joseph, William, and David.

Watches that share names usually have nothing in common with their predecessors other than their name.  One exception to the rule is the 1957 Grant.  It looks to be a 1950's version of the 1934 Grant with a more modern flair.  Not only are the similarly shaped, both Grants were only made for two years.

The 1957 Grant was part of Hamilton's Fine Men's Watch line - their entry level models.  Like most of it's peers in the "Fine Line", the Grant features a 17 jewel Swiss movement, in this case a 673 movement.

The case is 10K rolled gold plate with a stainless steel back.

The most distinctive feature of the Grant is the grooved quadrant dial and recessed seconds register.  These are details that don't show up in the Hamilton catalog's artists rendition.

I recently picked up a Hamilton Grant with what I believe to be is the original bracelet too.  The bracelet is very similar to the catalog image, although one could wonder is the black spots in the bracelet links is a feature that my bracelet lacks.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the artist took a little creative license with the drawing and chose to add features that don't exist and hide features (like the dial) that do.  Regardless - I think it's a pretty attractive looking watch.

And just for comparison's sake, here's a 1934 Grant so you can see the similarities.