1963 Alan

To me, one of the most ubiquitous styles of watches are the squarish, TV-shaped models from the 1960's.  I've heard fellow collectors poke fun at the myriad round models that all "look the same" but there are a lot of non-round models that look mighty similar too.

For example, there is the Drummond, Gary, the Thinline 6500, and the Talbot, and the list could go on and on.  In fact, I can add another one now - the 1963 Alan.  It was produced through 1967.

Like many of the TV-shaped watches, the Alan features a 10 yellow rolled gold plated bezel with a stainless steel back.  The dial radial finished dial has engraved hour markers with applied numerals.

One of the things that sets the Alan apart from other, more common, models is it features an American-made 8/0 sized 730 movement.  That would make the Alan a higher-grade model than it's counterparts with Swiss-made movements.

My project watch arrived in the typical fashion.  Everything looks to be original, although the crystal is a little beat up and ought to be replaced.  The grey and burgundy strap will definitely have to go.

The stainless steel back is unengraved and unremarkable.

The dial is original and shows some minor spotting.  It might clean up but if not, it will have to do - as it would be a challenge to get an equally pearlescent look from a refinished dial.

The 730 movement is in great shape.  The 730 is a shock-jeweled version of the 747 that was introduced in 1947.

While everything is being cleaned, I'll prep a new glass crystal for installation.

The reassembled movement is ticking away and ready to go on the timer.

Un-oh... this is not what a well-running watch should look like.  There should be two, consistent parallel lines.  Something inside is making extraneous noise.  It could be a tiny piece of lint or something hairspring related.

I re-cleaned the hairspring and demagnetized the movement and it's running much better.  It started off (on the right) running slightly fast but a little tweaking to the regulator slowed it down.

The new glass crystal is slightly domed so it makes the finished watch a challenge to photograph.  My camera just doesn't do this nice-looking watch justice!  The dial cleaned up slightly but the minor spots are still present.  Nonetheless, for being such an unassuming style, it's a nice looking watch.

1953 Gilmore

I think it's rather interesting that Hamilton introduced "new" models in the 1950's that seemed to be inspired by previous models from the 1940's.

A while back I did a post on the 1939 Brock.  It's a 14K watch that was made through 1952.  In 1953 a very similar watch in 10K was introduced - it was called the Brockton.  You see Brocks and Brocktons for sale all the time.

A less common pairing is the 1946 Gilbert in 14K and the 1953 Gilmore.  The Gilbert was made until 1951.

 In 1953 the Gilmore was introduced, but in solid 10K.  It was only available for one year.

The Gilmore looks a LOT like the Gilbert, although the Gilmore is a little bit larger since the 12/0 sized 754 movement inside is wider than the 14/0 sized 982M in the Gilbert.

The Gilmore features a sterling silver dial with solid 18K numerals or 18K numerals and squares on an optional dial.

The 19 jewel 754 movement is a "medallion" movement like the 982M.  It's basically a higher grade version of the 19 jewel 753 movement... which replaced the regular 982.  The 980 was replaced by the 17 jewel 12/0 size 752 movement.  All three 12/0 grades were replaced in 1955 by the 22 jewel 770 movement.

Since the Gilmore was only made in 1953, you should expect to see a 754 inside.  If you happen upon one with a 770 inside, you'll know it's not original to the watch... not that it should matter much to you, unless you are a true purist.

I recently snagged a Gilmore and to be totally honest, I thought it was a Gilbert with an incorrectly refinished dial.  If you look closely the seconds sub register differs slightly between the two models.  I figured, "Oh well, I'll just get the dial redone to look original".  However, then I realized it was, in fact, a much less common Gilmore, with the correct dial.

As received it was rather dirty and the crystal had some minor issues - especially in the corners.  The strap was a rather cheap chinese leather of some sort - so that will have to go.  A fine watch like this deserves something from the reptile family, in my humble opinion.

The watch case is rather crisp.  The back has a brushed look - and that's what they looked like when new.  Whether this is original or not, I don't know.  But it's definitely in great shape.

Without the crystal in the way, I can tell that the dial is original and in great shape.  Hopefully some of the markings from the glue on the crystal will come off.

The 754 movement has a dull haze over it - an indicator that it hasn't been cleaned in quite some time.  I think it's interesting how the enameled printing is orange - that's to indicate the "gold status" of a medallion movement.  It makes it rather difficult to read though.

Sometimes Hamilton marked in the inside of the case back with the model name - but most of the time that's not the case (pardon the pun).  The serial numbers inside the case back don't really mean anything when it comes to identifying models.  They can be helpful though, in guestimating how many watches were produced... assuming you can collect enough examples.

12/0 model movements can often be a little tricky.  Depending upon the contour of the dial, they may include a spacer plate.  Seems simple enough, I know, but anytime I reassemble one of these watches I always have to think, "Exactly how does this plate go back on again?".  I took this photo partly so I could refer to it later, and also to show you it, thus killing two birds with one stone.

While everything "cooks" in the ultrasonic, I'll prep the case for a new glass crystal.

The haze is now gone from the movement and the balance is happily purring away.  Now the movement goes onto the timer to see how well it's running.

Not bad... 6 seconds fast per day, good amplitude and acceptable beat error.

Everything goes back together, including the spacer plate (I'm glad I took that picture...).  A new genuine lizard strap completes the restoration and a fresh glass crystal makes everything look tack-sharp.

The crystal on the Gilmore and the Gilbert is supposed to be domed, like this.  It give the watch a nice look and it protects the case from wear too.  This turned out to be a great looking example!

1955 Surf

Hamilton was a little late to the stainless steel game in wrist watches.  Hamilton first introduced stainless steel into their lineup in 1941 with the Lexington.  I guess stainless steel was perceived as being "cheap" so Hamilton only used 10K gold filled cases or better.  In fact, if you see a Hamilton watch with a 987 movement in a rolled gold case - you know it's not an authentic model.

But the 1950's was a different story.  Hamilton had to compete in a very difficult market with European makers that had very low price points since their economies were still recovering from WWII and labor costs were so low.  Hamilton introduced lots of watches with stainless steel - even watches with solid 18K gold bezels and stainless steel backs!

One of the "styled in stainless" models was the 1955 Surf.  It was produced for three years.

Originally, the 1955 model came with a rhodium-plated, applied gold numeral dial.  The numbers are solid 18K yellow gold but plated with rhodium to appear silver.  For some reason (probably costs), the dial on the Surf was changed to a different layout and featured embossed numerals and markers with a pearled-track.  It stayed that way through 1957

Behind the dial you will find a US-made 8/0 sized movement - either a 747 (in the 1955 model) or a 730.  The 730 is a shock-jeweled upgrade to the 747 chassis.  It shares most of the same parts with the 747 - the principle difference is the balance jewels are shock protected to spare the delicate balance staff pivots from drops and banging into door jambs.

A friend of mine recently picked up a Surf and asked me to give it some love.  As received, you can tell right away that something is amiss... what's with the CLD (sealed) on the dial?  It's pretty obvious that this dial is an old, and incorrect, refinish. 

The back of the Surf is comprised of a cover and a threaded ring that holds the cover down over a gasket.

This watch has a 747 - which isn't a surprise since it has the AGN dial on top.  You can tell it's one of the later 747's too - because there is no serial number stamped on the balance bridge.

Other than the dial pattern being off, the rest of the front of the watch is fine.  The hands can be relumed when the dial gets refinished again.

As if the CLD wasn't a good enough clue, the scratches on the back of the dial are a clear indicator that the dial has been redone.

The movement is disassembled, cleaned and oiled and goes onto the timer.

A little tweaking to the regulator brings the beat rate in line.  The beat error of 3.5ms is at the high end of my spec limit.  If it was easier to adjust I would try to reduce it.  However, this style of balance is a challenge to adjust the beat error and I'd risk screwing up an otherwise fine balance.  A higher beat error really just means the watch will stop a little earlier than a watch with a lower beat error.  So it will have to do - as is.

Everything goes back into the case.  The Surf features a reflector ring in addition to the crystal - so a lot of thought went into the aesthetics of the watch's design.  The crappy finish on the dial though is a distraction from the watch - so I'll get the dial and hands redone.

It turns out, there isn't an exact match for the original AGN pattern for the Surf so I had to go with something that was a close enough match.  The main difference is in the seconds sub-register and the luminous dots at the hour markers.  I think it looks much better this way though, than with that CLD in the middle and pealing lacquer.  This style of luminous leaf hands are very funny when they're set to the typical presentation time of 10:12... they remind me of the Chesire Cat peaking out from the dial.

And just for comparison's sake, here's a wrist shot of a Surf that I used to have.  It has the correct dial pattern for the 1955 version of the Surf.  Notice the seconds register is slightly different.

UPDATE: 

Here's an example of the marker-dial version of the Surf.  This model may not be the most interesting out there but it sure is uncommon nonetheless.