I'm a little Tea Cup...

I think my favorite genre of Hamilton watches would have to be the WWII military models.  I must be an old soul, I guess.  I think the 1930s and 1940s would also be my favorite time period.  I like the movies from the time as well.  Maybe it's because I like to imagine my grandparents when they were young and just starting out their adult lives, finding each other and starting their families, which would eventually result in my being born twenty some-odd years later.

I think I also really appreciate the idea of our nation coming together, putting aside our individual preferences and rallying behind the common cause of fighting fascism.  We are a nation of immigrants but we were all Americans and acted like it.

Of course, there was a lot of crappy things back then too - and we didn't treat all Americans equally.  I wouldn't argue that it was the best of times... perhaps it was just a simpler time and we still had a lot of growing up to do as a nation.  Still do, apparently.

Hamilton was not immune from the need to rally behind a common cause.  Normal watch production was rededicated to military efforts and hundreds of thousands of time pieces were manufactured for our nations military and our allies.  Hamilton even produced watches for Russian forces!

Some civilian watches still slipped through though, often using movements from excess inventory left over from the 1930s.

Back in 2013 I did a detailed post about understanding the various military models.  Check that out if you haven't already seen it.

The first military watch Hamilton produced was the model 27013, aka, the "Tea Cup".

There were no catalogs, per se, that detailed the Hamilton lineup but there are military publications that Hamilton produced to detail the parts required and how to service the movements while in the field.

The 27013 is called the tea cup because the case back snapped into the bezel and was shaped like a bowl, or tea cup.

The 27013 used the 17 jewel 987A movement that was introduced in 1937.  Other military models also used the 987A, and others used the sweep second version, the 17 jewel 987S.  US Navy and Marine Corps models used a special 18 jewel version, called the 2987.  I like the 2987 models the best, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

The Ord Dept examples are the most abundant - as I said, well over 100,000 examples were produced.  Tea Cups are a little less common but still out there in the wild.

I was recently sent a Tea Cup in serious need of some TLC.  The owner purchased it, where else, on eBay and the seller had a very detailed description but even so, left out certain issues they no doubt were aware of, but at least the did say it needed restoration.  

The crystal is a deep shade of amber and that's something a collector should be on the look out for.  Back in the day certain plastic crystals degraded over time, turning yellow and also outgassing a chemical that would corrode the metal it was exposed to.

The watch has the pop-off back and is properly engraved with the requisite markings for the Ord Dept specifications.

With the movement removed from behind the crystal, you can see the hour and minute hands are rusted solid.  Fortunately, it appears the second hand was spared any corrosion.  The dial and hands have what I would assume to be old radium lume.  It's best to leave this material alone but as long as you don't eat it, there really isn't much to be worried about.

I suspect the eBay seller knew that this movement is missing the pallet fork and pallet bridge.  They probably also knew the balance staff is broken.  So basically this watch requires extensive repair or just a replacement movement.

I happen to have a 987A that I was saving for another project but I'll dedicate it to this project instead, it's a worthy cause.

Everything gets completely disassembled and cleaned.  I'll install a fresh Dynavar mainspring to power the watch.

The reassembled movement is bright and shiny and ticking away with a nice motion so it's off to the timer to listen to the ticking.

Not too shabby... it's running a little fast but that's an easy tweak to slow it down.  Everything else looks great.

A new old stock vintage canvas strap completes the final assembly.  I was also saving this for a rainy day but I guess that day is today.

I was able to remove most of the offending rust on the hands and their rustic appearance matches the dial really well.  A new crystal is a huge improvement over what I started with.  With a functioning movement and vintage strap, this watch is ready to go into harm's way... and by harm's way, I mean dinner and a movie.

1970 Pan Europ I

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but imitation is also just a form of fashion and style of the day.  So it's interesting to see how Hamilton's watch designs evolved over the years and one could debate "who did it first" and who were fast followers.

For example, Hamilton had a line of rose gold models in the early 1940s, but so did other brands at the same time.  Everyone seemed to drop the trend after WWII so if you see a rose gold watch, regardless of brand, it's probably from the late 1930s or early 40s.

Today, Hamilton is owned by the same company that owns Omega, along with several other highly regarded watch brands... the Swatch Group.  I find that interesting because back in the 1980s Swatch watches were very popular but they were also pretty disposable quartz watches.  It's almost as if Yugo owned General Motors today... that would be crazy!  I think the story is a lot more complicated than just that.  The Swatch Group is more like a conglomerate of brands, acquired over the last 50 years, perhaps with a somewhat humble origin, but certainly now part of a premier family.

Hamilton and Omegas connection goes back quite a ways, certainly to the early 1970s.  In 1971, after production in Lancaster was shut down, the Hamilton brand was purchased by SSIH (Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère), a Swiss holding company that was originally formed by a merger between Omega and Tissot in 1930.  In 1984, SSIH merged with ASUAG (another major Swiss watch industry group) to form what is known today as The Swatch Group. 

I find it interesting that some Hamilton models remind me of Omega models from the same timeframe.   Is it just a result of the fashion of the times or was there more to it?

A good example is the 1970 Pan Europ I.  It was produced through 1974.  There was also a Pan Europ II, which was similar but cased in yellow gold electroplate.

Originally priced at $100 on a leather strap, in later years the price increased and the opportunity for a bracelet was added.   Its the equivalent of about $850 in today's dollars.

There are several models with Pan Europ on the dial, but only a Pan Europ I and II share the name.  Some Pan Europ models were introduced in the 1960s, so I suspect the line was partly intended for international markets.

My project watch is in decent condition and looks good good overall.  Stainless cases can take a beating, which is a nice feature.

The case back is where I see a similarity to Omega.  Other Pan Europ models have a similar pegasus rendition on the back cover and it always reminds me of the Seamaster logo you'll see on the back of Omegas from the same period.  Coincidence?

Behind the dial you will find the 21 jewel 64A movement.  This ETA based caliber is essentially the same as what was used in the Accumatic Dateline A-series of movements but with four additional jewels in the reversing wheels of the automatic framework.

A couple of screws secure the movement to the inside of the case and then I can remove the dial and hands.  The dial is a complicated design and the chapter ring is integral to the dial.

The crystal is a bit crazed so I will replace it while the movement gets cleaned in the ultrasonic.

The most challenging part of this movement is removing and reinstalling the index lever and spring for the date wheel.  The little U-shaped spring loves to disappear into the ether and if it doesn't disappear, sometimes it sends the lever off instead.  In fact, the lever is missing from my photo and I found it on the back of the date wheel.

Everything gets cleaned and dried before reassembly.

Reassembling the basic movement is very straightforward.  This similar design is still used in modern Hamiltons today, albeit with some improvements here and there.  The balance is reinstalled and comes right back to life - time to see what the timer thinks.

Well, that's not bad at all.  However, I can easily fine tune it from here.

First I'll reduce the beat error - see how the two lines approach each other.

Then I will carefully tweak the regulator to slow the beat rate down to a pure 18,000 beats per hour.

After about 10 minutes for looking for that stupid index lever again, I got the dial back in place and advanced the time until the date wheel indexed.  Then I know it's midnight and can reinstall the hands.

A new crystal completes the restoration of the 50+ year old watch.  It now looks great again and is ready for more wrist time.

1948 Barton

 If I were just starting to get into Hamilton watches, my advice to myself would be, "just focus on solid gold models".  Of course, with gold still over and $4,100 per ounce, that would make solid gold purchases a little on the less common side, at least it's not over $5,000 like earlier this year.  People must be buying diesel, instead.

So why would my advice be that, you say?  It's mainly because the cost to maintain a solid gold watch is the same as the cost to maintain the least expensive RGP or stainless model.  However, the maintenance cost to total value is a lot more favorable.  

If you had a collection of 10 solid gold models, worth something like $10,000.  Assuming you needed to service 2 of them each year (so that all of them are serviced every 5 years), then you'd be looking at an annual service cost of around $400.

If you had a collection of less expensive models, say $400 a piece, that would be a collection of 25 watches.  To get all of them properly maintained every 5 years, you'd have to service 5 per year, costing about $1,000.  That's 2.5 times the maintenance cost on a similarly valued collection.

The other important aspect is solid gold models are really, really, nice.  They are arguably the best that Hamilton made from all of the well above average models they produced - the best of the best.

If you were prudent enough to follow my advice, your collection would most likely include a 1948 Barton.  The Barton is a classic tank-style watch and it was produced through 1952.  It looks very similar to other 1940s models, perhaps most closely to the 1941 Gordon - but the Gordon was cased in solid 18K gold.  You can't go wrong with either, so if possible, why not get one of each?

Being in a solid gold case and a tank-style, you'd be correct to assume that the Barton uses a 14/0 sized Hamilton movement, specifically the 982M.

My project watch is in classic, "as found in a drawer" condition.  It shows quite a bit of wear and is soft on the edges but the best thing about solid gold cases is they don't wear through to show brass.  If you did wear a hole in one, a talented goldsmith could fix it for you.

This example looks pretty good, albeit with a beat up crystal and an unfortunate scratch on the dial.  Still, I hope I look this good when I'm pushing 80 years old.

The crystal is a high walled cylinder style.  It's got quite a few edge chips so I'll replace it.

Perhaps the best part of this example is it's a ghost of Christmas past.  If I had to create a small Hamilton collection, I'd curate one with solid gold watches with Christmas presentations - it doesn't get better than that unless it said something like "To my darling.... " those are always special.

One thing I think is interesting about this design is it appears that the hidden lugs could be flexible.  They're not, but sometimes in watch designs they can be.  The lugs on the Barton are fixed in place.

The crown is a replacement and it's lost it's gold layer on the outer surface so it appears to be silver.  A detail like this is a bit of a distraction to my eye, so I'll install a proper Hamilton crown in it's place.

The inside of the case back is stamped Baron and is presented along with quite a few previous watchmaker's marks inside.  This watch was well cared for over the years.

If the engraving on the case back didn't give it away, this is a 1950 example and by the end of the 1940s the 982M design lost it's solid gold medallion in the train bridge and received an engraved M in a circle in it's place.  It's not as pretty as the earlier version of the 982M but it was still the best the Lancaster factory could produce.

Despite the myriad prior service marks, this mainspring barrel still has a blue steel mainspring inside.  It's likely set into a tight coil and lost most of it's potential energy.  I'll replace it with a fresh white alloy Dynavar spring.

I'll prep a new glass crystal for installation while all the parts are in the ultrasonic.

I'll also prep a new mainspring.

Everything is clean and dry - time for reassembly with fresh lubricants.

The movement is now back together and ticking away with a brisk motion.

Well, that's not too shabby... it's right on the money.

I've been working on building out a collection of Hamilton crowns... I'll post about that in the near future.  In the meantime, here's a sneak peak.  I'll pick a nice 14/0 crown from my stash.

The finished project now looks as good as it runs and it runs fantastic.  This watch is now ready for another 80 years of wrist time.