1968 Accumatic A-606

How much wear is too much wear?  When I was in college I interned with Hewlett Packard, in Avondale, PA.  I got to work with some very talented engineers and it was one of the first, of many, experiences where I learned that I'm not as smart as I sometimes thought I was.  

I remember a lot of important lessons from those days.  One of them I learned while talking about old cars.  The lesson was to always buy a car with a good body and frame, as the mechanical bits were less expensive to fix.

I suppose that could be debated but when you consider the cost in time and money of a really good paint job, you can see there's a lot of merit to the point.

The same is true when it comes to vintage watches.  I often get asked about repairing cases or replating them.  In general, my response is "don't waste your money".  To illustrate my point, check out this "blast from the past" post I did over 10 years ago on "a 1940 Whitman"

Of course there's an exception to every rule and repairing a family heirloom would be money well spent.  However, if you're just a general run of the mill collector, "be patient and wait for a better example" would be my advice every time.

Lastly a word about plating... Hamilton's gold filled cases are usually marked 1/20 gold filled.  That means that 1/20th of the thickness of the case is solid gold - that's 5%.  Typical gold plating is 2-5 microns.  5 microns is the diameter of a human red blood cell.  A human hair is 75 microns.  So even the slightest polishing or wear would remove the plating you've paid so much to obtain.

Enough said.

So what's all that got to do with a 1968 Accumatic A-606?  Well, when's the last time you saw an A-606?  My bet is never, until now.  It's a one year wonder from the end of the era of Hamilton production in Lancaster PA.

The A-606 is a blingy model with a diamond-edge faceted crystal and a textured bracelet to match.  The dial and hands are black and gold.  I'm sure it was a real eye-catcher when it was in the jeweler's display case.

My project watch arrived in typical "as found in a drawer" condition.  It looks very promising except for one really important detail.  Check out the lugs.

This unfortunate watch was paired with a "one size fits all" Speidel bracelet with spring-loaded ends.  I see this very frequently.  The ends of the metal bracelet wear groves into the lugs of the case - especially when the case is solid gold.  This case is RGP but the lugs are still exceptionally worn.

All four lugs are almost worn through thanks to the terrible choice of a Speidel bracelet.

In this enlarged view you can see there's very little material left to support the spring bar of a proper strap.

The original crown is barely holding in there and you can see by the remnants of the H logo that it's an original Hamilton crown.  Its not unusual for the outer disk of a crown to come off once the knurling is worn through, leaving the base material showing.

It's hard to get a good photo of the black and gold dial markers.  This dial still has a lot of sparkle left in it.

Tucked behind the dial in the one-piece case is the typical 689A Hamilton movement used in most 1960's Accumatics.

I decided the owner of this watch should probably consider getting the case repaired before investing money in an overhaul, crystal and new crown.  The case repair could be a deal breaker.  

How much do you think an A-606 is worth?  You've got the initial acquisition cost, the overhaul, a crown, a crystal, a nice strap, and the repair of all four lugs to consider.  

If it was grandpa's watch it would be a no-brainer.  But if it's just an eBay special, what would you do?

1960 Accumatic X

Hamilton first introduced automatic models in 1953 with the Illinois line.  The automatic movements were made by ETA in Switzerland and imported to Lancaster, PA.

After a year Hamilton introduced their own branded models and quickly settled on Swiss-made movements made by Certina / Kurth Freres for the Automatic K-series models.

In 1956 they introduced the Accumatic line of automatics and this line went back to using movements made by ETA.  Accumatics and K-series models would be made together into the 1960s and the Accumatics took over from there on. 

Most of today's Hamilton movement are still made by ETA so you could say that the Accumatic line is still going 60+ years later.

One of the more scarce Accumatic models is the 1960 Accumatic X.  It was introduced in 1960 and changed in 1961 to the Accumatic X-B.  Presumably the movement changed between the X and the X-B, but it could also be the case design changed... I'm not entirely sure.

I haven't come across an Accumatic X previously, or at least I don't think I have.  The model is fairly plane-jane looking and would be easy to overlook as one of the other Accumatic models.

My project watch shows a lot of wear and you can tell by the somewhat crude H logo that the dial has probably been previously refinished.

I pretty much finished the project before I realized that this would be a new model for the blog.  So I didn't take photos of the movement disassembly, etc.  The movement inside is has a generic ETA rotor so I don't know for sure what the movement is.  I'm fairly certain it's a 677 like in this 1959 Accumatic VIII.

The case is a two piece design like the Accumatic VIII and the case back pops off the front.  You can tell from the myriad service marks inside that this watch has been well maintained.

The reassembled movement is running nicely.

The finished project looks a ton better with a new crystal.  The dial shows some toning, potentially from the old lume on the hands.  They've been cleaned in the ultrasonic and have fresh luminous paint so they look a lot better and won't harm the dial either.  

This watch came with an old Speidel bracelet with a "perpetual calendar".  You rotate the little wheels to roll the scroll to the proper day of the week that the month starts.  Who needs a Dateline when you have a perpetual bracelet?

1961 Pacermatic (Pacer A)

You don't get to see uncommon watches every day.  I guess that goes without saying, as they wouldn't be uncommon if you did see them every day.  I've already documented the 1961 Pacermatic but I had the opportunity to restore another and thought you'd like to see another one.

The Pacermatic is one of the mechanical asymmetric models and is extremely popular - so popular that they have been faked over the years.  It was only cataloged for a single year and it uses the same case the the Electric Pacer - so when it is "faked" it simply that a mechanical movement is put in an Electric Pacer case in an attempt to make an $800 watch a $3000 watch.

The Pacermatic is technically part of the K-series of automatics in that it utilizes a 17 jewel 667 movement like the other K-series models of the time.  The case is a two tone design with a yellow gold filled bezel and white gold filled lugs.  The dial says "automatic" and Swiss but is otherwise similar to the Electric Pacer.  To fake a Pacermatic you'd also have to modify the dial printing as well as the dial feet locations.

The back of this one has a presentation from Nonie and Grandpa so there is no doubt that this is a treasured heirloom.  The date of '63 isn't too unusual as models could sit on a jeweler shelf for a year or two.  This watch doesn't show too much wear, but it is a bit dirty.

The real tell for an authentic Pacermatic is the serial number of the case.  Cases for the Pacermatic came in two batches so their serial number falls into two ranges.  The case serial number should fall into the range of 528500-528800 (300 of in this run) or 637700-638200 (500 in this run).  Based on the range of the serial numbers, you can assume there were a total of 800 Pacermatics made.  This case falls comfortably in the middle of the second batch of numbers.

The 667 movement looks very good.  That's not too surprising as there are about 10 prior watchmaker service marks inside the case back.

The dial shows some rubbing on the right side.  I noticed the movement was a little loose in the case and could rotate a smidgen.  That will wear on the dial for sure.  It looks like the original dial to my eye.

The plastic crystal that came in the watch is beat so I'll replace it with proper glass crystal while all the parts are in the ultrasonic.

Everything is ready to be reassembled.

The basic mechanical movement is ticking away with a good motion.  Time to see what the watch timer thinks before putting the rest together.

Just a smidgen slow.  It won't take much of an adjustment to speed it up.

There... right on the money.

The finished watch looks fantastic with a new crystal.  This watch isn't perfect but it's an all-original version of a Pacermatic and would be the pride of any Hamilton collection for sure!