1955 Baxter

One of the cool things about the watches from the 1950's is the designs often had a lot of flair.  Of course, there were plenty of plain-Jane round watches in the line up but Hamilton introduced a ton of watches with uniquely shaped cases and even the round watches usually had great looking dials.

Take for example the 1955 Baxter.  It was produced through 1957

The Baxter is a good sized watch.  That's another cool thing about the watches from the 1950's - or at least the later 1950's - watches started to get a little bigger.

The Baxter came in a 10K yellow gold filled case with a stainless steel back.  The butler-finished sterling silver dial has solid 18K gold numerals and dots.

I've tried a number of times to land a Baxter project watch but they usually get a lot of interest and sell for more than I'm willing to pay.  But I did finally get one, and it was in nice condition too.  The crystal is going to need to be replaced but a thorough cleaning will make a big difference.

As I said above, the back is stainless steel.  This one is engraved and overall this watch case has very little signs of wear.

Inside the Baxter you will find a US-made 8/0 sized movement... either a 747 or a 730 - which replaced the 747.  Notice on this movement there is no serial number.  Hamilton stopped putting serial numbers on movements in 1955 so this probably an early Baxter.

747 movements are great movements to overhaul.  Really, all the US-made movements from this time period were really well designed and well made.  After a through cleaning you can see this movement is purring away keeping excellent time.

Well, in it's finished state, the watch cleaned up very nicely.  Here it is with a nice new glass crystal and a fresh 18mm teju lizard strap.

Unfortunately the dial finish was a little compromised by moisture getting inside the case.  When I tried to clean the dial up the finish lifted right off and the printing faded on me.  You can't tell in this photo, but the dial is very splotchy depending on how the light hits it.   I think I will get it refinished so it will look as nice as the case.

UPDATE:  Well, I got the dial refinished and it definitely looks much better now.  What do you think?

It's probably a little hard to tell in the photos but the Hamilton logo is darker and the finish on the dial is a consistent gloss.

1957 Rotomatic II - Overhaul

I had an interesting experience recently.  I purchased a Hamilton watch and had a really hard time identifying it.  I thought I might have found an uncatalogued model or some other oddity.  But after a little extra effort I was able to place it.

You see, automatics generally come in certain families.  There are the Automatics, Accumatics and Thin-o-Matics.  But what I didn't realize is there are also Rotomatics.  My new acquisition is a Rotomatic II.  The Rotomatic line was introduced in 1957 and produced through 1959.

The Rotomatic II came in a 10K yellow gold filled case with a stainless steel back.  The silver dial has solid 14K gold markers and a pearled track.  The yellow gilt dauphine style hands had radium lume on the back so they glowed onto the dial and backlit the hands as a silhouette.

Inside is a 23 jewel Swiss made 665 movement.  You don't see this movement very often - or at least I don't see it very often.  In fact, this was my first time seeing one so I took some extra photos to show you how it comes apart.

As received, my Rotomatic II was in okay shape.  The dial is an obvious refinish since the printing is the wrong font and Hamilton rarely put the number of jewels on the dial (although there are some exceptions).  The aftermarket bracelet had to go.  This style bracelet with spring loaded end pieces can actually wear grooves into the lugs.  It only came on a strap anyway - so I'll make that change later.

The back of the case is clearly marked Hamilton - so I knew this was an authentic model.  These waterproof cases have a gasket inside and sometimes opening the screw-off back can be a real challenge when the gasket gets hard.

Here's a shot of the movement inside.  It looks very similar to other 17 jewel automatics like the 661.  I think the 665 is just a more jeweled version of the 661 and based on the same Certina Kirth Freres calibre 28.45.

The stem is pulled out by loosening the set lever screw, just like on most other movements.  Then the entire movement slips out the back of the case.  The movement is held inside the case via a movement ring that surrounds the perimeter.  You can see the remnants of a gasket in the ring.

Here's a nice shot of the dial.  You can tell this is a refinished dial because of the fonts used in the lettering.  This isn't a surprise since the radium on the back of the hands can burn the dial and I bet that's what had happened in the past.

If you look closely you can also see the pearlized dots are empty holes.  Pearlized dials are tricky to refinish and they often turn out like this.  The little holes normally have gold in them to add the pearl-effect and in the past I have taken a tiny paint brush and put paint in each hole.  It's a tedious process but the results are usually worth it.

Sure enough, looking at the back of the dial there are a couple of sets of codes scratched in so maybe it's been redone more than once.

On the reverse, the first thing to come off is the rotor.  These KF-based movements are really easy - you just slide the little toggle switch to the left and the rotor will come off when you rotate it to the right spot.

With the rotor removed, you can see the carrier below it.  This set of gears transmits the motion of the rotor to the ratchet wheel and winds the watch when the watch is worn.  Three screws hold the carrier in place and when they're removed the entire assembly will come off.

Now here it's a little interesting... notice the train bridge below the carrier has "seventeen 17 jewels" inscribed.  I gather the 665's extra jewels are in the carrier and rotor.  Note also that the train bridge has "Hamilton Watch Co." stamped into it - it's not common to have Hamilton shown twice on the movement (the rotor and the bridge).

From here the disassembly is just like any mechanical movement.  First the mainspring is fully let out, then the barrel bridge and the train bridge can be removed.  That leaves the mainspring barrel and the fourth wheel and third wheel visible.  You can also see the silver-colored escape wheel tucked next to the balance.  The balance can also be removed at this point.

With those parts removed you can see there's a small bridge that is supporting the center wheel.  Two screws hold it in place and then those parts can be removed as well.  All that would be left is the pallet fork (on the right).  It has to come out in order to get the center wheel out.

Well, at this point everything goes into the cleaner and then two separate rinses.   Re-assembly is just the opposite of the disassembly.  All of the jewels and pivots, etc. are lubricated and the watch is regulated on the timer.

And here is the finished product on a fresh strap and with a new crystal installed.  It turned out really well.  I'm not crazy about the fonts used on the refinish but it's not bad enough that I'd get it redone.  The dial has a slight radium burn from the hour hand being stopped in one place for a long time but the radium is now removed so there will be no further damage.  This watch is ready for wrist time.

And here's a wrist shot from it's shake down cruise today.  You can see in my photo that the crown picked up a piece of lint from my jacket - but other than that the watch had a flawless day.

1936 Dorsey

Sometimes identifying Hamilton models can be tricky.  Normally when you go by the case material, case shape, and the dial design you can narrow the list of options pretty quickly.  Knowing the movement inside will point you in the right direction too.  But I like to use a list compiled by my fellow collectors on line... The Hamilton Resource Center

Even with all that info it's still easy to make a mistake.  Take, for example, the 1936 Dorsey.  Up until I started to do this post I thought I had my hands on a 1937 Cameron.  The name Cameron is shared by someone very special to me and it's a watch I've been looking to get for quite a while.   But no... it turns out it's a Dorsey.  Oh well, the hunt continues.

The Dorsey was introduced in 1936 and made for three years.  It comes in a solid 14K yellow gold case with a choice of an applied gold numeral dial or a two-tone black enamel dial as shown in the catalog ad.

Under the dial you should find a 19 jewel 982 movement.  The Dorsey should also have solid diamond-style hands.

As I stated above, I recently purchased a Dorsey thinking it was a Cameron.  I started to think I might have made a mistake when I began to clean the watch.  I have a new crystal awaiting the arrival of a Cameron but the crystal I have is too narrow for the case.   There's actually another solid gold Cameron from the 1950's.  It's very similar so I thought maybe I just had the wrong crystal.

If you look closely at the advertisements you can see the Dorsey has a slight curve to the sides of the bezel opening while the Cameron is straight.  That was my first major clue.  Otherwise they are really quite similar.

Anyway, here's a shot of my project watch as it arrived, without the old strap that was on it.  It was in nice shape and just needed a trip to the basement spa.

The dial is pretty good but based on the flat-finish I suspect that it's an old refinish.  It doesn't look bad at all - it just doesn't look 70+ years old.

The 982 movement is running - as you can tell by the blurred balance wheel.  The serial number dates this watch to 1938 - the final year of the Dorsey.

Sure enough, close inspection of the back of the dial reveals some scratched in numbers - a sure sign the dial was refinished at some point.  As long as the pattern used is correct, getting a dial redone is not a big deal.  A nice looking redial is better than a crappy-looking original in most cases (unless the dial is super-rare).

After a thorough cleaning the watch is reassembled and put on a fresh strap.  This Dorsey is now ready for some wrist time.  I'll probably sell it though - so I can free up the funds to find my long awaited Cameron.