1930 Raleigh (Plain)

In 1930 several new models were introduced to the Hamilton men's lineup.  Hamilton had just completed the acquisition of the Illinois Watch Company and the future looked bright... that is to say, until the Great Depression came along.

However, the show must go on and one of the new models to be introduced was the Raleigh.  Like several of the earlier models, you could get it with an engraved bezel or with a plain bezel.  You also had several choices of gold fill - yellow, white, or green.  The Raleigh was made through 1932.

The shape is reminiscent of the Coronado but the Raleigh's lugs are not hinged.  It's also very similar to the Langley - which was cased in solid gold - so sometime's the Raleigh is referred to as "the poor man's Langley".  $57 doesn't sound like a lot of money but in today's dollars that would be almost $1,100 - so I don't think a poor man would have sprung for a Raleigh... gold filled or not.

My project watch arrived in typical 90+ year old condition.  The crown was unattached, the crystal is beat up, and the bezel shows the tell-tale wear through to the corners from decades of shirt sleeve wear.

The movement is in good shape and the balance appears to be intact - which is great, because watches for this era were often rode hard and put away wet.  They can be very troublesome and finicky.

The mainspring has the remnants of grease inside but it's an old blue steel design - I have no doubt that it has set into a tight coil and lost the majority of it's strength.

Yup - called it.  Notice the spring is not much larger than the barrel it came in.  This watch would probably run for a few hours before running out of steam and petering out.  I suppose you could keep winding it several times a day but a new mainspring will power the movement for 35+ hours.

While all the parts are in the ultrasonic I will prep a new crystal and white alloy mainspring for installation.

Everything is spic and span now and ready to be reassembled... wish me luck!

It doesn't look like it but the reassembled movement is ticking away with a good motion.  The regulator came pre-set to "slow" so I'm curious to see how it's running.

Well, it's running nicely from an amplitude and beat error standpoint but it's also running a little slow.  There's plenty of regulator room to work with and it won't take much to speed it up.

One quick adjustment to the regulator arm and the movement is now running just a smidgeon fast.  I'll leave it here though as I find that movements tend to settle down a little after they are overhauled.

A new crown and a new glass crystal make this 94 year old watch look fresh as a daisy.  There's not much to do about the case wear.  You could try to replate it but that wouldn't last too long so why bother.  When you get to be 94 you'll probably have some worn parts too.

1948 Kirk

Vintage watches tend to be on the small size.  Of all the decades Hamilton produced wrist watches, the 1940s are arguably the smallest.  Some would make excellent ladies watches by today's standards but I actually like most mens models from this period.  I think it's just the elegant simplicity that appeals to me.  Dials were sterling silver, markers were solid gold, every model was of the highest quality and made in the good ol' US of A.

Nothing beats a Hamilton cased in solid gold, unless you want to discuss platinum.  Most solid gold models were cased in 14K but there are a couple 18K or 10K models too.  One of the 14K models from the 1940s is the Kirk.  It was introduced in 1948 and produced through 1953 - so it was a popular model.

In 1948 the Kirk would set you back $132.  Adjusted for inflation, that's about $1,700 today.  So it was not an inexpensive purchase.  In 1953 the cost of the Kirk increased to $135 and you can see that a white gold Kirk was also available.  I've never seen one of those before - that would be an awesome find!

My project watch arrived in "as found in a jewelry box" condition - which is exactly how it came into the owner's possession - it was in his mom's jewelry box presumably placed there in 1974 when his father passed away.  Family watches are the best and make fantastic heirlooms.

Opening it up, the case back has some dents along the rim at about 4:00 in the photo below.  They're not original so I suspect someone tweaked the case, perhaps to keep the movement from rattling?  It appears to snap closed well so I won't open this pandora's box.  It's best to leave things as they are unless it's a problem.

I didn't see any obvious watchmaker marks in the case but this movement has definitely had some work done to it.  First, the serial number dates to 1949.  The balance is a glucyur design (there are no timing screws on it) so it likely came from a 731 or two 736 movement (which were introduced in the 1960s and based on the 747 movement).  Also, the regulator is missing the long arm and is set to "ultra fast" and I'm not sure what is up with that.  One thing I am sure of is the movement is not running.  So I'll give it a good cleaning and go from there.

Everything is disassembled, inspected and thoroughly cleaned.  It all looks good so I'll reassemble it with the proper lubricants in all the wear spots.

Once the balance is dropped into place, the movement comes alive with a good motion.  Lets see what the timer thinks.

Hmm, running slow but in "ultra-fast" position.  There's not much more room to adjust the regulator.  Upon close inspection, I can see the hairspring came out of the regulator fork so I'll correct that and reinstall the balance.

That's much better, with a little tweaking I've got the beat right where I want it.  A glucydur balance is factory-poised and weighted.  The only adjustment is the length of the hairspring so even though the regulator is out of the normal F-S range, it's doing it's thing just fine.  The only other option would be to replace the balance but in this situation the old adage truly applies - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

A new crystal and genuine gator strap complete the restoration of this 1949 Kirk.  It's now ready for the next generation to enjoy it.

1923 Ladies Decagon

Long before there were men's wrist watches there were ladies wrist watches.  Men of distinction would wear a pocket watch.  I guess the trenches of WWI proved that real men could wear wrist watches and by the early 1920s you could find men's and ladies models in Hamilton's line up.

Ladies watches came in two forms, the earliest being essentially small open-faced 6/0 sized pocket watches on a chain bracelet.  The other were 6/0 movements without a second hand in a case that would be outfitted with a silk ribbon strap.  It's very unusual to come by an original strap with its original buckle (findings).  You'll see them on rare occasions but they are always in tatters.

The cases for Ladies models with ribbon straps were highly engraved.  The also came in different shapes... round tonneau, cushion, and 10 sided decagons.  Cases were offered in solid gold and gold filled.  You had lot to choose from!  

My project watch dates to 1923, 101 years old.  Looking at the loops for the strap, there have obviously been some repairs.  However, there's not a lot of case wear, considering it's a gold filled case.

The trick with these three-piece cases is to find the right spot to slip a case knife in to remove the back and the front bezel.  This case back has a clue to which corner, as it's a bit chewed up from prior openings.

Tucked inside the case is a 17 jewel 986 movement.  This watch is fully wound but not running.  There's no obvious issue, like a wobbly balance, so hopefully a good cleaning is all that is needed.  We'll see.

This caliber shares a lot of parts with what would soon be introduced as the 987 movement, but it would be a few more years for the 987 to be hit the catalogs.  Notice the case back has a hole in one of the corners - this hole aligns with a post in the case and helps you align the 10 sides when you press it together.

The mainspring inside is an old blue steel design.  I have no doubt that it will be "set" in a coil and need to be replaced.

Sure enough, not only is it a tight coil, notice it isn't flat - this is a sign that it was installed by hand.  That's a very tedious process and a mainspring winding tool is a much better process.   This mains also has a Swiss-style brace at the outer end.  In order to use this spring, a small metal rod was installed in the barrel, to catch the brace and keep the spring from spinning.  This isn't a proper Hamilton mainspring with a T end, so I'll replace it for sure.

Everything gets cleaned and dried.  I installed a fresh white alloy mainspring for a 987 movement.  It should be okay as the 986 shares the same mainspring as a 987.

Although my camera has frozen the motion in time, the movement is now ticking away with a good motion.  Let's see what the timer has to say.

Hmmm... something is making extra noise inside.  The timer listens to the ticking and discerns how it's running.  It's picking up extra noise and it could be the hairspring is rubbing the center wheel or there's a piece of dust inside.  It doesn't take much to send the timing off.

It took some tweaking but I got the hairspring to run cleanly.  The amplitude is great, the beat error is a little high.  The two lines are little wobbly.  It could be one of the wheels is a little worn or bent - after 100 years a lot can happen to a watch.  It would take some detailed analysis to find the issue.  The beat error could be reduced if I had the cajones to try.  Balances from this era of watches have no forgiveness and are extremely easy to goof up.  As they say in every Star Wars movie - "I've got a bad feeling about this" and I'm going to listen to my inner voice and let sleeping dogs lie.  This beat error isn't ridiculously high so I don't feel bad leaving it as is.

The cleaned case is bright and shiny so this 100 year old watch looks fantastic.  I was unable to bend the lug loops... whatever material was used to repair them is definitely solid.  A jeweler could probably straighten them and prep them for a new strap.