1964 Sea Guard II

I've documented about 635 Hamilton models, maybe a little less if you exclude the pocket watches.  That's still well-past halfway towards finding them all... or at least 95% of them.  One of these days I need to make a list of the ones I have yet to find.

There are 47 "sea-somethings" or models with the word Sea in the beginning.  You could make it an even 50 if you add the three Sea-Lectric I, II and II-B but I've excluded the Electrics from my hunt.

One of the models I can now check off is the 1964 Sea Guard II.  It was produced through 1967.

The Sea Guard II is a rather simple-designed model with a monochromatic color scheme but I'm sure it looked sharp with it's original bracelet.  Like most Sea-somethings, it was positioned at the lower end of Hamiltons models in the "Fine Watches" collection featuring Swiss-made movements.

Tucked inside the case you'll find a Hamilton 688 manual winding movement also based on the Hamilton 61 caliber.

I recently came upon a Sea Guard II in need of some TLC but mainly it just needed a new crystal.   As you can see below, the radial-finished dial has four simple hour markers at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions and very slender hands to match.

The stainless steel case is a one-piece design that opens though the crystal.   The case back is unremarkable and consists of pretty much nothing but some trace DNA of a previous owner.  That will come off in the ultrasonic.

The movement looks great and other than a little rust on the female side of the stem, it looks brand new.  Of course, that doesn't mean that it doesn't need to be cleaned and oiled.

The 688 is basically a manual version of the 689 with the exception of all the automatic bits.  It's a very straightforward movement and ETA's manual winding movements today have very similar designs.

I'll take the opportunity to redo the luminous paint on the hands and the dial so that they will glow in the dark again.

The reassembled movement is ticking away on the timer.

On most watches I would be quite happy with this performance.  However the 688 is so easy to adjust that I'd feel guilty if I didn't lower the beat error a little.

There... nothing wrong with this performance.  It should slow down closer to 0 seconds fast per day once everything settles back into place.

A new crystal and a new strap were all that this watch needed to look like new again.  It's a very simple watch but it's very sleek and modern looking too - a perfect 1960's design.

1964 Dateline A-475

When calendar watches were first introduced into Hamilton's model line in 1954 they were included in other model lines and just called "Calendar".  They were few and far between.

Eventually there were calendar models in the K-series, the Thin-o-matic series and the Accumatic series.  In 1963 Hamilton consolidated models with date complications into the Dateline series.  There are A-models like the Accumatic line and T-models and TM-models like the Thin-o-matic line.

One of the early Dateline A-models was the 1964 A-475.  It's interesting that it was introduced in 1964 since there's also a Dateline A-476, but it came out in 1963.  Maybe the A-475 wasn't ready yet?  It was produced for only two years.

The Dateline A-475 came in a single piece 10K gold filled case with a very simple dial and a separate chapter ring that goes around the outside perimeter of the dial.  It looks very similar to other models like the Dateline A-275 - except the A-275 is solid 14K gold.  It also looks like a 1963 Dateline A-576, but that's in stainless steel.

The A-series models use ETA-based automatics and in the Dateline A-475 you will find a 17 jewel 694 movement.

I don't think you see the Dateline A-475 very often.  That's probably because there were a lot of other options in the 1964 line-up and it was only made for a short while.  My project watch has seen a lot of use over it's 53 years of existence.

The Speidel bracelet is not original to the watch but it's obvious been on there a long time.  Either it, or another bracelet, has worn a groove into the lugs of the case.  It's for this reason that I personally prefer straps.  Leather straps don't tear up lugs like a metal bracelet will.

The back of the case shows considerable wear through and the gold layer is missing in a large section.  That must have been one hairy arm!

Models with reflector rings can be a challenge to open.  The best way is to separate the two-piece stem and remove the crown, then blow air into the case to pop the crystal off.

My air pump has failed to work.  It doesn't seem to pressurize the case.  I suspect the crystal is leaking the air.

The wear is limited to the outside of the case.  The inside looks fine and I don't even see any watchmakers marks.  I wonder if this watch has ever been serviced?  The hole at the top is to center the reflector ring so the indices line up correctly.

The 694 movement is in great shape with no rust.  That's always good to see.  You never know what you'll fine when you open a "waterproof" case.

There are a couple of minor scratches on the dial so at some point this case has been opened.  I don't think the dial or hands have ever been relumed though.

Everything gets taken apart and throughly cleaned.  The movement was fairly shiny to begin with but it really sparkles now.

The partially assembled movement is ticking away with good motion.  It's off to the timer to see how well its working.

Well, it's running a little fast and the beat error is sky-high.  I'll run it past the demagnetizer and re-clean the hairspring... maybe I got a little oil on it.

A little more cleaning and then some tweaking of the hairspring stud reduced the beat error to zero.  Now to reduce the beat rate by slightly moving the regulator index.

There... pretty much right on the money now.  I'm not concerned about the amplitude as I didn't wind the watch very much since there's no crown attached to the stem.

Once the rest of the movement is reassembled it can go back into the case.  The reflector ring drops in on top of the dial and the little post goes into the hole at 12:00 to align it correctly.

Before I can put the hands on I will need to advance the time until I see the date change.  Then I know it's midnight.

The crystal that was on the watch appears to "fit" but the profile of the side is very straight.  Typically there's a slight ledge that the crystal needs to anchor into in order to get a good seal.

I'll install a new crystal with a 30.8mm diameter and see if that's a better solution.

Notice the profile of a PHD crystal is angled to wedge into the ledge.

The case polished up nicely and a fresh alligator strap looks much better than that rickety old Speidel bracelet.  There's not much I can do about the wear on the case back but at least you can't see it from the front.  This is a very clean and sharp-looking design.  The Dateline A-475 didn't stick around very long, but there are a lot of other models with very similar designs that came after it.  Perhaps this was their inspiration.

1930 Coronado Hinge Repair

Two very popular, and expensive, early Hamilton wrist watch models were the 1928 Piping Rock and the 1930 Coronado.  Both models were produced mainly in solid 14K white or yellow gold (although a handful of 18K yellow gold and platinum Piping Rocks were made, including for Tiffany & Co).

One of the unique attributes of the Piping Rock and the Coronado is they each feature moveable hinged lugs so the case wraps to your wrist.  They also feature very plain dials accented by numerals highlighted by black enamel on the bezel.  Of the two models, the Coronado is much scarcer and harder to find.

I've featured both models on the blog already but I recently rejuvenated a yellow Coronado.  Since I've shown the model before I didn't take a lot of photos of the process.  Only approximately 1,540 yellow Coronados were produced so it's definitely a rare model.

As I reassembled everything, including a new glass crystal, new mainspring, new set lever, new crown and a fresh alligator strap with new female spring bars, I thought the finished watch turned out fantastic!

Then my heart sank when I realized a portion of the upper hinge was broken!  The left side would lift off and only the right side was actually attached.

The hinges on the Coronado and the Piping Rock are just like door hinges in your house.  They consist of two sides joined together by a rod going through each section.  Over time the rod can corrode, wear, weaken and eventually break.  It's not an uncommon problem unfortunately, and I've seen examples for sale that have been really buggered up in attempts to repair the issue.

Fortunately, I sent my example to a very talented artist & jeweler named Lance Heck in Laguna Beach, California.  Check him out at www.lanceheck.com

Lance was able to replace the rod in the upper hinge and restore this beautiful Coronado to showroom -like condition!  I highly recommend his talented services if you have a challenging case problem.