1961 Bentley

The 1960's was a dynamic time in America.   The traditions of the past rubbed squarely against new ideas of fashion.   If you think about it, Hamilton's product line up could be viewed as a metaphor for the changing times.  There were traditional, conservative models and there were some funky, never-before-seen styles.  Some people embraced the changes, some thought they were "too much".  Hamilton watches even went to Vietnam on the arms of soldiers and airmen as military-issued watches.

An example of a traditional dress watch was the 1961 Bentley.  It was produced though 1964.

The Bentley was traditional in several ways.  It featured a high quality 10K gold filled case with a sterling silver dial and solid gold markers and numerals.  This was a hallmark of Hamilton quality for the past half century.    In addition, the dial has a two-tone design so it changes a little depending upon the angle from which you look at it… again - a feature Hamilton used on many other models.  It also featured a Hamilton US made 770 movement.

I recently landed a Bentley in well-used condition but not in too bad a shape.

The dial was quite dirty and tarnished around the edges.  Getting dirt off is usually straightforward but tarnish is a different story.

The Bentley runs Hamilton's 22 jewel 12/0 sized 770 movement.  It doesn't get any better than this.

After a thorough cleaning the reassembled movement goes onto the timer.  Not too bad, a little fast and the beat error is "fair".   My only criticism of the 770 (or any US made Hamilton movement) is the beat error adjustment is tricky thanks to the fixed hairspring stud on the balance cock.  Some of the Swiss movements have an adjustable hairspring stud so the beat error is easily managed.

A little tweaking to the regulator and the timing is brought into line.  There's nothing shabby about 5 seconds fast per day for a 50 year old watch.

Cleaning and polishing the case revealed a soft presentation on the case back… "Sealtest Forman of the Year 1962".  A little Googling of the recipient revealed that he was born in 1919, served in WWII, and received this watch when he was 43 years old.  He passed away last year at the age of 94,  This watch was obviously important to Mr. Granville Skiles of Baltimore, MD, as it was well worn but still in good shape.

And here it is all cleaned up and paired with a new strap.  The dial cleaned up okay but the tarnish left a spot.  It looks dark but that's really from reflection.  The area around the 11 marker is a little shiny.  It's not bad enough in my opinion to warrant refinishing but that's a personal choice.  A dial is only original once - so it's best to leave it original until the condition becomes distracting - then a redial is a good solution.

1933 912 Pocket Watch - Overhaul

The ages of most Hamilton pocket watch movements are easily identified by the serial number.  The only exception that I have found is the 17 jewel 912 movement.  For whatever reason, the resources that are publicly available don't have very good info on the 12 size 912 movement.

The 912 movement was introduced in 1924 and produced through 1935, after which it was replaced by the 17 jewel 917 movement.  

The 912 was the "entry level" Hamilton dress pocket watch.  It's a nice movement but they made so many of them that they're not really prized by collectors.  They're just too common.  However there are so many of them out there and so many different case, dial and hand options, that one could assemble an impressive collection if they really had an interest in doing so.

Hamilton named it's pocket watch cases (like wrist watches) but you could often select the dial and hands you wanted in the case.  Solid gold and gold filled cases were available, depending on the case style.

I recently purchased a 912 for reasons that will become more clear later.   I believe the case is a "Jefferson" - which is cool, because he is my favorite US President.  It's hard to say for sure but it's the closest match I could come up with based on the pendant and bow design.  Also, my watch is green gold filled, like the Jefferson.

In order to get the movement out, the crown is pulled out to the setting position and the two case screws that secure the movement to the case are removed.  Then the movement will come out of the front (assuming the bezel is popped off first).

With the mainspring let out, everything is disassembled and cleaned in the ultrasonic.  I'm also replacing the plastic crystal with a glass version.

The mainspring was "set" (below) so that will be replaced by a fresh one.

With the help of my larger mainspring winder, installing a new mainspring was a breeze.  I'll have to rebend the center to latch onto the arbor so that it will catch and wind.

The first thing to be reassembled is the keyless works.  This assembly of four pieces is what engages the stem and puts the watch in either the winding mode or the setting mode.

The rod goes down the center.  And the larger wheel is called the winding pinion.  The smaller part is the clutch and it slides back and forth depending on which mode the watch is in… winding or setting.

Here it is in place, along with some grease.  The movement is "negative set" so when it's at rest, the springs inside keep the parts in the time setting position.  That's why the clutch (below) is off to the left, toward the center of the watch.

With the keyless works in place, the next item on is the pallet fork.  It's a little anchor-shaped part that releases the energy stored in the gear train when the balance moves it.  It's what makes the tic-tock sound you hear.

With the pallet fork installed beneath it's bridge, the escape wheel and fourth wheel go on next.  Tweezer access from this side allows me to align each wheel's pivot with it's corresponding jewel in the train bridge.

Next to be installed is the third wheel, center wheel and the mainspring barrel.  These will be covered by the barrel bridge, as well the as keyless works.

The balance wheel needs to be reattached to the balance cock.  In order to do that, the hairspring stud needs to be re-secured, which is fairly easy to do on pocket watches since the balance is large (compared to wrist watches).

A couple of turns to the mainspring stores some power in the gear train.  That way when I install the balance assembly, the watch will come back to life if everything is lined up… which it is, below.

In order to wind the watch more fully, I need to reinstall it into the case so I can use the crown.  Without a dial installed you can see the clutch is in the time setting position.

When I push the crown in (below) the clutch moves over to the right and engages the winding pinion for winding mode.

With a full wind, the watch goes onto the timer.  It's running a smidge fast with good amplitude.  The beat error is "fair".  I can slow the watch down slightly with the regulator.

With the watch timed, the dial and hands go back on and it's back into the case for this movement.

And here's the finished product.  As you can tell from the dial - this is a great watch for a former naval officer like myself.  That's the reason I purchased this watch - I love this dial.  I've seen similar dials with "United States Coast Guard" across the top - very cool (if you're a Coastie - ha ha!).

The dial is a No. 46 etched dial with raised gold numerals.

This watch was engraved as a gift from "Grandmother" in 1933.  Sounds like a rather formal relationship to me… how about Grandma, Grannie?  Not in this case, apparantly.  Still, I bet "Grandmother" was very proud of her grandson when she gave him this.

The back of the case is very nice too with a single initial engraved.

It's a fine watch in excellent shape.  What more could a collector wish for?

1909 18 Size 926 Pocket Watch

Happy New Year to all my fellow vintage Hamilton enthusiasts and casual collectors!

Like a lot of folks, I got to enjoy some time off over the holidays which meant I could catch up on some of the project watches that I've had sitting on my bench for a while.  Check out my Etsy site if you think one or two might be of interest.

My passion for Hamiltons started with a couple of family heirloom pocket watches.  There's something to be said for the loud ticking of a pocket watch - reminds me of the end of "Sixty Minutes" after Andy Rooney would finish his bit.

Anyway - pocket watches are much larger than wrist watches and require a different set up in my "work flow" so I tend to get to them when there's a lull in the backlog.

One of my recent projects was a 1909 17 jewel 926.  This grade of movement was produced from the turn of the last century into about 1913 or thereabouts.  In an open-face configuration the 926 is used and when it's in a hunter-case (clamshell) a 927 would be used.  The 927 would have the pendant at the 3 position instead of the 12.

The 926 is an 18 size watch - the largest pocket watch that Hamilton typically made.  It's a step up from the 924 (and 925) in that the 926 was adjusted for temperature.

Now depending upon who you ask, the 926 is technically not a "railroad watch" - although you will often hear it described as such.

Back in the day, civilization was dependent upon watches and clocks to organize society and keep everything working smoothly.  It was not unusual for trains that went in opposite directions to share the same track - and the only thing that allowed them to move at full speed was the high confidence that another train wasn't already on the same track heading toward them.  That confidence came from everyone synchronizing their watches and their watches being accurate.

Different railroads established varying standards and the standards evolved as greater accuracy was obtained.  In a nutshell, a "railroad approved watch" needed to meet any / all of the following...

• Only open-faced models with the stem at 12 o'clock
• minimum of 17 functional jewels in the movement but later raised to 21
• 16 or 18-size only
• maximum variation of 30 seconds per week (approximately 4 seconds daily) 
• movement capable of adjustment to at least five positions - the positions a watch might normally have when in use… dial up, dial down, crown up, crown to either side, etc.
• adjusted for temperature and isochronism (accommodating the decreasing strength of the mainspring as it lets out)
• indication of time with bold legible Arabic numerals, outer minute division, second dial, heavy hands,
• lever-set, so there would be no risk of the watch time being accidentally changed.
• Breguet balance hairspring
• A micro-regulator adjustment for timekeeping
• double roller and a steel escape wheel

A 926 meets a lot of these requirements but not all of them.  The 940 grade is really the "entry level" of railroad approved Hamilton watches in the 18 size.

Anyway - in the early days of Hamilton watches, it was not unusual for the customer to pick out the movement they wanted and then choose a case for the jeweler to install it in.  Hamilton offered a limited line of Hamilton-branded cases too - but you'll find a broad variety of cases out there.

My project watch came in a silverode case - which is a nice way of saying "nothing special" other than an inexpensive alloy of nickel, copper, and manganese.  Different case makers called the alloy different things… silveroid, silverine, etc. but really there is nothing silver about it other than the color.

I have large hands and you can see that this watch almost fills my palm.  The case is about 60mm in diameter so this is a substantial watch.  You can see why the slightly smaller 16 size railroad watches became more popular with railroad men.  They're large but not quite this significant.

The 926 is elegantly damascened and highlighted with gold accents.  The balance wheel is about the size of my thumbnail and I find it fascinating to watch as it keeps beat at 5 times per second.

In order to get this watch to keep time I had to move the regulator all the way towards "fast".   I think most people like to see the regulator toward the center of the scale.  In order to move it to the center (and still keep time) I would have to either change the weights on the balance wheel or shorten the length of the hairspring.  Both are complex operations so I think the old rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" firmly applies.

The inside of the case back is clearly marked "Silverode".

The interesting thing about these old 18 size watch cases is they are often engraved on the back with interesting scenes like trains, large antlered deer, and in this case a village setting of some sort.

I think the best use of these watches today is for display under a glass dome.  The dials are as large as, if not larger than, a carriage clock.  They will run for about two days on a full wind though - so you have to visit them regularly to keep them ticking away.