1973 Day 'N Date 5006

If you see a vintage Hamilton with a day of the week complication you can be assured it's a post-1969 model, as Day 'N Date models were introduced in the early 1970s.  You'll find them in a variety of solid gold, gold filled, stainless steel and gold electroplated cases.

Although some models were named, all models had a model number too.  Typically the model number started with the movement caliber inside... like 825 and ended with a dash number that indicated the case material, like -3 for stainless steel and -4 for yellow gold electroplate.

I have found that sometimes a case number is used with different models, or better said, the same case can have different dials, usually varying by color or marker design.  I guess it was easy to make different models using just different dial designs.

Anyway, one of the models you might find out there is the 1973 Day 'N Date 5006.  Its case number is 825001-3.

The Day 'N Date 5006 only shows up in the 1973 catalog and the artist's rendition doesn't really do the watch's details justice.  Looking at the drawing, it's clear the case has a brushed finish but is bright around the crystal and probably the sides.

The 5006 has a Q/C II movement and that stands for Quick Change so the stem / crown has three positions... winding, time setting and date changing in between.  In the date changing position you can advance the date by turning the crown one direction and the change the day by turning the crown the other direction.  It's a great advance over the earlier calendar models that would change the day only by advancing past midnight.

My project watch is a typical vintage watch condition... it runs but it's a bit banged up.  It also has a bit of a clunking noise emanating from inside so I suspect the rotor might have come off. 

You can see the dial is a silver color with a gray band around the perimeter.  The hour markers and hands have blue highlights and the red second hand really jumps out at you.  Those are details the catalog just can't portray.

The bracelet on the watch looks more like the bracelet on the 1973 Auto Date Buccaneer, which seems to have a very similar design but is case number 825002-3.

The case back is clearly marked 825001-3.  Based on the amount of DNA behind the watch, I'd say it's been a while since this watch was serviced.

The deployment style buckle on the bracelet is clearly a Hamilton design.

There's a little more DNA inside the back of the bracelet.  The bracelet was made by Drema, if you're curious.

Inside the case is a 17 jewel Hamilton 826 movement, which is interesting.  I'm of the opinion that the 825 and 825 are largely interchangeable and based on the ETA 2789.

I think the clunking I heard was because there are no movement retainers holding the movement inside the case.  It looks like it's designed to use them and they are missing.

I didn't count them but it feels like there are twice as many parts to a Day 'N Date model than a typical automatic.  Some of them are springs and you need to be careful not to let them fly off never to be found again.

Putting the basic movement back together is a breeze compared to what comes next.  At this point the basic watch is reassembled and ticking away with a brisk motion.  This movement has a 21,600 beat per hour beat rate - visibly faster than the typical 18,000 BPH rate most vintage watches have.

It's running a wee-bit fast but I can fine tune it easily enough.

There... everything is right on the money.

An ETA automatic is essentially a manual winding movement with an automatic framework strapped onto the back.  Just a couple of screws hold the oscillating weight in place once it's in position.

Now comes the fun part, putting all the bits and pieces onto the front of the main plate and making sure the day and date will function properly.  At this stage the calendar parts are in place.  Now I need to install the day parts before reinstalling the dial.

The last two parts to go on are spacers that go around the perimeter of the main plate.  These support the dial once it's installed and keep it from rubbing the day and date wheels.

The only trick to installing the spacers is to make sure you don't block the two holes for the dial feet, near the 21 and 6.

I'll break out my case clamp set and try to find something that will fit and hold the movement inside the case.

Voila... the watch is reassembled and running great.  I brushed the case and bracelet in an attempt to restore the original finish of the stainless steel.  I think it looks a lot less beat up but it's not factory fresh by any stretch.  It's definitely better than what I started with, thats for sure.

1966 Seaman II

I think it's interesting how some model names where reused for different models and other times there was a roman numeral addition to the name like II, III, etc.  I guess the latter could be considered a series of models such as; the Storm King models, Rotomatics, even the initial Accumatics.  Other times just the same was reused, such as the Drake, or Martin.

Still, there isn't always a rhyme or reason for the reuse and the family resemblance, if there is one, isn't very obvious. A good example is the Boatswain, Boastwain II and Boatswain III.  The latter is nothing like the initial two.  Go figure.

A very small family of watches might be defined but the two Seaman models, the 1962 Seaman and the 1966 Seaman II.  They have a very strong family resemblance and could easily be twins.  The are also both one-catalog wonders... the Seaman was only shown in the 1962 catalog and the Seaman II was only in the 1966/67 catalog.

Looks like the biggest difference between the two models is the price tag - a $20 decrease between the 1962 and 1966 versions.  An astute eye might notice the Seaman appears to have a pearled minute track where the Seaman II has hash marks.  The contour of the lugs is slightly different too.  Of course, the hands are different shapes as well.

My project watch is an interesting example.  Notice it has the original Seaman-style hands.  That's not terribly unusual, as the factory was known to use whatever worked during busy times of the year like preparing for graduations or Christmas.  The crystal has a large scrape so the dark blemish on the dial is actually just the crystal.

The SWISS on the dial, sweep second hand and the flat back are good indicators that there's an ETA-based movement inside like the 688.  This is a one-piece case so the movement comes out the front after the crystal is removed.

I'll use a small lever to separate the two-piece stem and pop the crown off.  Then I can remove the crystal and lift the movement out.

Based on the number scrapes and scratches on the crystal, I think a new crystal will be a huge improvement.

As expected, there's a 17 jewel Hamilton 688 movement inside.  It looks like it was never touched since it was initially installed.

Check out this textured dial.  I doubt this dial could be refinished to look like new again, good thing this one is perfect.

The inside of the case back shows no signs of previous services.  It's also interesting to see the model number 921565 ends with 65.  That would indicate this watch was created in 1965, probably after the 1965 catalog was released so it became a 1966 model.  The number beginning with R is the unique serial number for this watch.

A new 29.5 high dome crystal is ready to be installed.

The movement is cleaned and ready to be put back together.

The reassembled movement is back to ticking away with good motion.  Now to see what the timer says.

Well, running a little fast but the amplitude is low and the beat error is on the higher side.

Well, I reduced the beat error and the amplitude came up but it's just barely over 200 degrees.  That wouldn't be terrible if this was a pre-1940 movement with a set mainspring but I would rather see an amplitude in the mid to high 200's.

When I see moderately low amplitude I first check the barrel to make sure that it's not dragging.  Sure enough, it wasn't completely closed... it was close but not closed.

Ah, that's much better.

Well, this 1966 Seaman II looks and runs like it just left the showroom display case.  The only distractions to my eye are two specks of polish compound near the lugs and a piece of fiber on the lizard strap - all are easily removed.

1954 Automatic K-450

Hamilton's first automatics were introduced in 1954.  Some models continued to be made in 1955 but several early automatics were one-year wonders including the Automatic K-301, K-350, K-400, K-401, k-K-450, K-502 and K-550.  That means seven of the first 12 Automatic models were only produced for a single year thus making them some of the most difficult models to find today.

One of them, the Automatic K-450 recently made its way back home to Pennsylvania for some homemake pumpkin pie, traveling all the way from Hawaii.

The K-450 was the first Hamilton automatic to have a gold filled bezel with a stainless steel back.  The movement inside is likely the 17 jewel 658 movement that was used in the earliest K-series models before the 661 workhorse was introduced.  Although I don't know exactly when the 661 was introduced.

My K-450 project watch is a bit worn with a very scratched crystal but looks promising.   It's making a loud clunking sound inside so I suspect the rotor inside has come loose.

The stainless steel back is a sturdy design and should be easy to unscrew off.

Sure enough, the rotor has come loose.  The 658 is identical to the 661 except for the oscillating weight design.  The weight rotates on an axle.  On the 658 the weight is secured to the axle with a screw that goes over a post.  You can see below that the post is broken off so there's nothing to secure the rotor to the framework.  This movement isn't very common so I can either leave rotor off, making this just a manual-winding watch, or I can replace the broken parts with parts from a 661 and use a 661 rotor.

The hole in the jewel in the rotor is larger than on the 661.  It looks to me like the post for the axle is still stuck in the axle.  So I will either need to find a new axle or replace the whole assembly.

Based on the appearance of the movement, it's been a while since this watch has seen a watchmaker.  At this point this movement looks exactly like a 661 without the oscillating weight.

The inside of the case back makes identifying the model easy.  The rotor must have been rattling around inside for a while, as you can see the back shows a lot of rub marks.

Based on the general appearance of the dial and the numbers scratched onto the back, this dial was refinished at some point.  It still looks good though.

Looking closely at the bushings in the framework, one of the holes has been worn into an oval, so I will replace this framework with better one from a 661.

Everything is cleaned and ready to be put back together.

The movement is now running with a nice motion.  The barrel bride has lost some of its nickel plating and has a slight yellow color.

The watch is running a little slow but the other specs look good.

A very slight tweak to the regulator fork speeds the watch up nicely.  9 seconds fast per day is a good stopping point.

This watch definitely needs a new crystal.  A 28.3mm high dome crystal will do the trick.

Voila - the movement is reinstalled in the case and is now effectively a 661 and fully functional as an automatic.

This watch turned out great.  Considering I've never seen a K-450 until now I can honestly say this is the nicest K-450 I've ever seen.  What do you think?