1976 GG-W-113 Military Watch

A while back I did a post on the Mil-W-46374B military wrist watch that was used by "ground pounders" in the US military during Vietnam and the decade following.  Hamilton was one of a handful of manufacturers that made Mil-W-46374 watches in a series of versions (B, C, D, etc).  As I said in that post, there was also a similar model called the GG-W-113 that was used by aviators.

Although the GG-W-113 looks almost identical to the Mil-W-46374, it contained a higher quality movement inside with a "hack" feature where the watch stopped when the time was set.

In the shot below, Lt Col Bob Krone of the US Air Force stands in front of his F-105 Thunderchief.  Is he wearing a GG-W-113?  No, probably not, as this photo was from 1966.  However, it reminds me of a joke... "What kind of watch would a man as tough as a Vietnam fighter pilot wear?"

Any darned watch he wanted.

Thank you for your service Col Krone.  Here's to you and those like you.

Anywho - the military watches like the GG-W-113 are fairly sought after.  They were even emulated by civilian models in Hamiltons line up like the L.L. Bean Field Watch and early Khaki series.  Unfortunately you will also see a lot of fakes out there so you have to be very careful if you're buying one.

I don't know a lot about GG-W-113's, to be honest.  I do know that they came with two possible movements, depending on era.  You should see inside either an 17 jewel 649 movement or a 685 movement.  Two mfg part numbers could be stamped on the case back, 92230 or 39986.  The case backs are also dated with a year of manufacturing and I've observed that the 92230 was used in the early 1970's and transitioned to 39986 towards the end of the '70s and used into the 80's.  Furthermore, I've read that 39986 may refer to the 649 movement and 92230 to the 685 movement... but I'm not sure about that.  I'll mention some other observations below.

There are so many fakes out there that my interest in this genre of Hamilton military watches is pretty low.  However, a fellow collector friend of mine was having trouble with his GG-W-113 so I agreed to take it on.  It was not working and the crown / stem was not connected.

Upon receipt, I was a little suspicious.  The GG-W-113 had fixed bars for a one-piece strap, at least in the 1970's, so the two part strap could only be installed if the fixed bars were removed or if the watch was a fake.  I can see by the angle of the crown that it's not connected to the movement... that, or it's irreparably damaged.

The markings on the case back look legit to me.  They're not uneven, sloppy or otherwise suspicious looking.  The 99230 is a 1970's number.  If this was a 1979 watch or a 1980's model, I would expect 39986.

The buggered up lugs look to me like someone drilled out the fixed spring bars.  The holes are way bigger than necessary, in my opinion, and actually limit what you could use to secure a strap.  Big, fat spring bars are required now.  That's actually a good sign that this is a legitimate model though - as a fake watch probably wouldn't have big ol' holes like this.

This female stem is damaged somehow, splayed too far outward to hold the male-side of the stem.  Looks to my eye that the stem is a larger tap than I would expect... maybe an 8 or even a 6.  The best I could do to replace the stem is to replace the crown with one with a smaller tap 10 stem.

This is a 649 movement... that calls into the question if 649's were used solely in 39986 watches.  It's definitely in at least one 92230 watch.  The movement is filthy - so that's a good sign that it's legitimate too... or at least a really old fake.

The dial feet on a 649 are held in place with spring clips.  You can see one has been swung outward, freeing the foot to allow the dial to be lifted off.

Looking at the dial-side of the main plate, you can tell (well I can, anyway) that this is an ETA movement.

With the barrel bridge out of the way, you can see the little golden clip used to stop the watch (hack) when the stem is pulled out to set the time.  Also, notice that the main plate is jeweled at the barrel arbor.  That's one of the 17 jewels inside the watch.

With the balance out of the way, just the pallet fork has to come out now in order for the main plate to be cleared of parts.  In this shot you can see that the 649 is based on an ETA 2750 movement.

Here's the inside of the case back - clearly this is a legitimate Hamilton watch case.

Everything gets thoroughly cleaned in the ultrasonic. This watch spent almost 30 minutes in the cleaner and two rinse cycles.

The 649 has a 21,600 BPH beat rate, which is visibly faster than the 18,000 BPH rate that most vintage watches utilized.  If I saw this fast a motion on a pre-1969 watch I would be really worried.

The timer tells me there's something not right inside.  Something is making extra noise.  It doesn't take much to make noise like this.  Re-cleaning the hairspring and/or running the watch through a demagnetizer normally clears it up.

Phew! It took a while but I finally got it dialed in.  Good amplitude, low beat error, running just a smidgen fast... just the way I like to see them after an overhaul.

I repainted the second hand white.  I don't think the red paint on the tip was original but I left it anyway.  I believe it actually should have luminous paint on it.  The replacement crown is a decent match but not perfect.  It'll have to do until my friend can find a stem to fit the original crown.  At least the watch looks and runs like it should now - so I'm sure he'll be happy with it.

1968 Sea Rover III

It's interesting to see how Hamilton had so many nautical models in their line up.  There are so many that many model names were used two or three times.

A good example is the Sea Rover III.  The original Sea Rover was introduced in 1960.  A case change to stainless steel resulted in the Sea Rover B in 1961.  Then in 1960 the Sea Rover II was introduced. Finally, in 1968 the Sea Rover III entered the line up.

The Sea Rover III came in a stainless steel case with a matching bracelet or leather strap.  It was produced through 1969.  Inside is a manual winding Hamilton 688, produced by ETA.

I recently snagged a Sea Rover III project watch.  It was in good shape but looked a little grungy in the seller's photos.  I was hopeful I'd be able to clean it up nicely.

The case back is inscribed with a presentation that seems especially fitting.

The Sea Rover III opens through the crystal and once it's removed, the crown can be turned to reveal the opening in the two-piece stem.  Then the movement can be leveraged out of the case using the stem as a hinge.  You need to be careful to align the stem though so you don't break it.

Here you can see the female side of the stem.  This is what you look for when you turn the crown.  That ensures the stem can pivot on the male side attached to the crown.

The Hamilton 688 looks like an automatic 689 or 689 without it's rotor installed.

The crystal was a bit scratched but the real concern is the the dial is a bit grungy.  It looks like the hood of a white car that's covered in pollen after a light rain.  Little spots are evenly distributed over the entire surface.  With luck it will clean right off.

I'll get out a new crystal to install after everything is reassembled.

Everything is cleaned and dried.  I wasn't able to get the dial to look any better.  In fact, I was probably 5 seconds away from losing the printing in HAMILTON.  It's still there fortunately.

With the movement reassembled and running, it's off to the timer.

Well, that's not too shabby but I can slow it down very easily with a slight tweak of the regulator.

That'll do.

Everything goes back into the case and a fresh strap is installed to complete the restoration.  The hour markers and numerals are faceted so they are very reflective.  The dial is a little splotchy but at least the Hamilton logo is still mostly there.

1956 Gallant B - I think...

Hamilton made Hamilton Illinois-branded models from 1953 through 1955.  Hamilton Watch Co purchase Illinois Watch Co in the mid-1920's.  Illinois was an excellent brand, on par with Hamilton, and even though it had been a couple of decades, I guess Hamilton still saw value in the Illinois moniker.   So they reintroduced it in 1953 on a new like of watches with Swiss-made movements.

I've heard a couple of possible reasons for the use of the Illinois label... one was simply, "use it or lose it".  The had to use the trademark or lose the rights to it.  Another reason was a concern that if Hamilton introduced models with Swiss movements, that the panache of the Hamilton brand would be eroded.  So using Illinois as the brand was a good way to test the market.

I think that latter explanation makes sense because in 1953 the watches were branded "Illinois" and by 1955 the watches has "Hamilton Illinois" on the dial.  Then in 1956 Illinois was dropped entirely and some of the same Illinois-branded models became Hamilton-branded models with a new model name.  In many situations, -B models used up excess Illinois-branded movements and then the non-B models used Hamilton branded movements that were still Swiss-made.

Go figure.

Anyway, I recently found a watch that appears to be a "tweener".  I think it's a 1956 Gallant-B.

If you look closely at the shape of the lugs and case on the Gallant-B, it looks a lot like the Illinois Debonair G.  Even the bracelet is a match.  However the dials are obviously different.  The Gallant-B is a one-year wonder and was made only in 1956.  There is no Gallant.

Both watch models have 10K RGP cases with stainless steel backs.

So as I said above, I recently came upon a "tweener".  It looks like the Gallant B but it's still got Illinois on the dial.

The stainless steel back also says Hamilton Illinois.

The dial looks great and there's no indication that it's not original.

The inside of the case back often has a lot of info and many times the 4-digit number in an Illinois case represents the specific model.

It's interesting that Hamilton didn't identify the grade that Illinois-branded movements are.  The TXD on the balance cock is actually the import code for Illinois.  Swiss-made Hamilton movements have a different import code.  This specific Illinois movement is an ETA 1220.  So if it needed any parts I would order parts for an ETA 1220, rather than for an Illinois movement.

Without the dial in the way, you can see the dial-side of the main plate has a lot of familiar parts.  Even the shock jewels for the balance look like the same design Hamilton used on their American-made 730, 735 and 770 movements.

The ETA 1220 looks a lot like the 12/0 Hamilton 750 that was made in Lancaster PA.  It has a 4-wheel train bridge.

Removing the bridges reveals the gear train inside.  I have to pull the balance in order to get the 4th wheel and escape wheel out.

With the balance out of the way you can see the ETA stamp and 1220.  This is the typical place to look for info when you're trying to identify a Swiss-made grade.

Everything is cleaned and dried.  While the parts were being cleaned I polished the crystal.  It cleaned up pretty well but is a little cloudy and has a couple of minor, but deep, scratches.  So I'll replace it.

Everything is reassembled with fresh lubrication.  Now it's off to the timer to see how well it's running.

About a minute and a half fast per day.  A tweak to the regulator will slow it down

There, that's more like it... 16 seconds fast per day.  I should slow a little as it runs.

A new PK-style crystal in 28.3mm will do nicely to help showcase this newly refinished watch.

And here's the finished project.  Is it a Gallant B or a mysterious non-calaloged Illinois model?  My money is on Gallant B.