1938 Gilman

I recently did a post on a 1940s Martin that was outfitted with an early 1930s movement.  That's pretty unusual for sure.  However, taken in the context of the time period, is it really?  We're talking the end of the Great Depression and a world at war.  If you were lucky to have a fine watch, you probably didn't have two.  Getting it repaired to work properly was probably more important than having it entirely correct for a future collector.

My next project could probably tell a similar tale.  It's a Hamilton Gilman - a super nice solid gold model that was introduced in 1938 and made through 1946.

If it looks familiar, it could be due to the close resemblance to the 1938 Dickens produced at the same time.  However, the Gilman is a little larger and cased in solid gold, so it cost about double the price of a Dickens.  The Gilman was equivalent to almost $2,400 when adjusted for inflation.

The Gilman spans the year 1940 so you will likely see one of two movements inside, based on the year.  Prior to 1940 solid gold models received the 19 jewel 982 movement, while the gold filled models were outfitted with the 17 jewel 980.  In 1940 the premier 982M (as in medallion) movement was introduced and solid gold models received the 982M.  That enabled the 14K gold filled models to receive the 982 and 10K gold filled models were powered by the 980.  The 982M and 982 used all the same parts but the fit and finish of the 982M was produced to tighter tolerances.  Given the choice between a 982 and a 982M, I'd probably prefer the 982M because it's prettier to look at.  However, it really doesn't matter too much.

My project watch could tell a few stories, I suspect.  It's not running and it came presented on a solid gold mesh bracelet with an engraving on the clasp from 1948.  It would appear to have been awarded to a fireman.

The upper left of the bezel appears to have a prior repair from damage at some point.  I restored another Gilman in 2014 with a similar issue and the nice thing about solid gold models is they can be fixed by a talented jeweler.

The case back snaps on firmly and looks great.  It has a slight dent near the crown but otherwise is unremarkable.

Well this is interesting... the nicely damascened movement inside is a 980 caliber.  So this is an obvious replacement.  Looking at the serial number, it was produced in 1949.

Check out the back of the dial... I would wager that the original movement was a rusty mess.  It was probably easier to replace the movement than it was to repair what was damaged.

The front of the 980 movement is defect-free so the rust on the dial definitely didn't come from this movement.  What's different between the 980 and 982 (or 982M)?  Simple... two extra jewels that cover the escape wheel pivots.  All of the other parts are the same and interchangeable between the calibers.  So unless this watch was supposed to go into a museum, I wouldn't stress too much over it not having the correct grade movement inside.  It's just a part of this watch's story.  Maybe you could make up a heroic tale like the movement was damaged after rescuing six orphans from a fire in 1949.

The barrel already contains a white alloy Dynavar spring so that's a nice find.

All the parts are cleaned and readied to be reassembled.  The backside of the large ratchet wheel shows some prior rust but there's none on the barrel bridge.. kind of makes you wonder but there's no concern.  It's a good reminder to always keep vintage watches away from water and if you get them wet, you probably should get them serviced.

Assembling the 14/0 movements like the 980 can be a challenge for new watchmakers, especially getting the train bridge to seat properly.  Getting the three pivots lined up can be a challenge if you don't have a gentle touch and a lot of patience.  Once you get all the wheels aligned, they should spin freely and then you can install the pallet fork. 

At this point the movement is back in running order and has a good motion.  Lets see what the timer has to say.

The timer agrees that this watch is running great.  Reducing the beat error to zero would be a nice finishing touch but it's also a great way to screw up a nicely running movement.  The added juice just isn't worth the squeeze, in my experience.

A slight polish to the metal and the plastic crystal and this watch is looking as good as it runs.  Replacing the crystal with a proper glass crystal would be a nice improvement but plastic has it's place sometimes - at least scratches can be polished off plastic.

What's your opinion... should this watch have a 982M inside or is the 980 good to go?

1941 Martin

When it comes to vintage Hamiltons, there's a lot of focus on rarity.  Some watches almost achieve unicorn status - everyone has heard of them but few have seen one.  At the other end of the spectrum is ubiquity.  I've never really thought much about what model is the most common.

It could be the Boulton, because it was made for a really long time.  It could be the Dodson, it was made for quite a while too but no where near Boulton status.  Another likely nomination would the 1941 Martin.  

The Martin was introduced in 1941 and made through 1948, albeit with a slight interruption to fight WWII.  The model is one of a handful to have also been made in rose gold, or Coral gold, in Hamilton parlance.

The coral models were short lived and didn't come back after the war.  However, the yellow gold filled version did and they made a ton of them.  Production records might reveal exactly how many were made but I can say, at least anecdotally, that it's an extremely common model because I have probably two dozen empty Martin cases from prior project watches where donor movements were needed.

The Martin is easy to spot thanks to the prominent round lugs that look like semi-spheres in each corner.  The bezel is shaped like an old TV, probably better described as a cushion.  It was cased in 10K yellow (or rose) gold filled and featured solid 18K numerals on a sterling silver dial.  The coral version has a salmon-colored dial the numerals and hands are rhodium plated to appear silver in color.

I recently had the opportunity to work on a Martin and it had some interesting features that I thought I'd share.  As received, it was not running and it has a prominent plastic crystal that seems to magnify the dial a bit.

Crystals come in a variety of styles and this one is totally incorrect.  Technically its a "cylinder" meaning it has curved walls from one edge to the other.  Usually the curve is from top to bottom but this one goes side to side.  There's probably another watch model out there (not a Hamilton) that would use this crystal.  This crystal meets the dimensions for the bezel opening though so I guess it works.

One of the reasons I have so many donor Martin cases is the round lugs and the case back are very prone to wear through.  This case doesn't look too bad and the bulbous crystal protected the lugs from shirt sleeve wear.

Inside the case is a 987F movement.  Based on the serial number, this movement was made in 1930... well before the Martin was introduced.  So someone swapped out the original 987A with an earlier 987F.  The 987A came out in 1937 so even a 987E would have been a closer choice.  However, you do what you gotta do sometimes, I guess.  

There's no notch on the side of the dial by the 3 to indicate that this dial is refinished but I can tell by the looks of it that it is.  Also, the seconds register is missing the bold marks at the 10 second intervals - another classic tell that this is a refinished dial.  It looks pretty good though, overall.

The back of the dial has a layer of glue to hold the rivets on the gold numerals and keep the numbers from falling off.  That's another sign that the dial was redone.

It's dirty, but this watch already has a white alloy mainspring inside.  I don't know if it's the correct mainspring, but it won't be set in the tight coil like a blue steel spring would be.  So I'll reuse it.

While the parts are being cleaned I'll prep the bezel for a new glass crystal.  This bezel is damaged in all of the corners.  Maybe that plastic crystal didn't fit after all.  The crystal is supposed to fit along the ledge inside the bezel opening and without a ledge, there's nothing for the new crystal to be glued to and water will easily get inside.  The solution is to swap bezels with another donor Martin.

Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled.  This is sort of a fork in the road moment.  I can reuse this 987F for a Martin or I could dig out a 987A movement to use instead.  That would save the 987F for a 1930's model in need of a movement.  If it were my watch, that's what I'd do but it's not my watch, so I will "dance with the one who brung me" and use the 987F... it's part of this watch's provenance anyway.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a good motion.  Things are looking promising.  Lets see what the timer has to say.

Whoa... this isn't good.  Let's run it through the demagnetizer and try again.

Well, that's a little better, I guess.  At least it's in the ballpark, anyway.  I'll have to remove the balance and adjust the hairspring to reduce the beat error.  My goal is to get it under 3.0ms and 6.9 is way too high.

There... that's much better.  A slight tweak to the regulator will slow it down a smidgeon.  The amplitude is a little low but I haven't wound it fully yet since the stem isn't installed.

With a new glass crystal and a fresh leather strap, you'd never know this 80 year old watch is running with a 95 year old movement.  The replacement bezel looks just as good, or better, that what I started with and it supports the crystal as it should.

The Martin is a nice looking model.  I can see why Hamilton made a ton of them.

1975 Benton

When it comes to 1970s watches I always think,  "I like 'em big, I like 'em chunky".  Like Moto Moto from the movie Madagascar II: Escape to Africa.  Watches from the 1970s are a style unto their own and they are easy to spot.

Of course, 1970s models are probably still smaller than today's tuna fish can designs that you'll see people sporting.  I'm not really a fan of really large watches because they're all show and no substance.  I have found when you open the tuna can you'll find a tiny movement surrounded by a really large plastic space ring.

That's not to say that there aren't really great watches being made today.  I'm just pointing out that bigger isn't really a measure for better.  

However, in the 1970s watches did get a lot larger and featured very prominent metal bracelets, like you'd still see offered today.

A good example of this emerging trend was the 1975 Auto Date Benton.  It was introduced in 1975 and produced through the end of the available catalogs so presumably through the end of the 1970s.

It also goes by the model number 826019-4.  It was presented in a 14K yellow gold electroplated case with a stainless back.  In some years it was also available in just stainless steel with a gray dial so I presume the model number would be 826019-3.

The Benton is interesting it that it specifically calls out having a mineral crystal in the catalog ad.  So that could mean that replacing the crystal could be a challenge.

My project watch is another bowl award watch, this time from the 1979 Sugar Bowl.  It's missing it's metal bracelet and just to give you an idea of size, the lug width for this watch is a very large 22mm, approaching an inch!

The 1979 Sugar Bowl was a rematch for the 1975 Sugar Bowl pairing Alabama versus Penn State.  Penn State was ranked No 1 and undefeated for the season and Alabama was ranked No 2.

Alabama would go on to defeat Penn State (again) 14-7 in what proved to be an exciting 4th quarter.

This award watch is interesting because it lacks any of the usual markings on the case back to denote model number, etc.  It's also very unusual because the case back is secured in place by four substantial screws in each corner.

The case back has an unusual recess on the side near the crown, I guess it's to allow better access for winding.  It still features it's original crown.

Case back has the remains of a gasket that has turned to black goo.

I've been dreading opening this watch because it makes a crunchy sound when I tried to wind it.  It's not running and who knows what I'm going to find.  Looking at the movement, it's a 837 caliber.  It's based on an ETA 2879.  Based on the model number, you might expect to see an 826 inside, which is also a day and date caliber.  So it's possible earlier examples have a different movement inside.

This setup is also interesting... the movement is secured to a spacer ring by case screws and the spacer is secured to the case also with case screws.

The crown has come apart so the gasket fell out when I removed it.  I might be able to repair it.

The movement is removed from the spacer and now I can start to disassemble it.

The dial is held in place by two opposing J-shaped levers that press against the dial feet.  My screwdriver is pointing at one of them.  It's also pointing at an open hole - one of the barrel bridge screws is missing and I suspect that's why the movement is crunchy to wind.

With the dial out of the way, I can now see the day and date wheels.  This day wheel has two languages... English and French.  So you can pick the language when you set the day and when the watch advances days, it will skip to the next appropriate day.

The first part off is the C-shaped snap ring that holds the day wheel in place.

There are a lot of bits that work together to advance both the time and day and date complications.

Everything is disassembled and placed with it's proper hardware so after it's cleaned I can reassemble it with the correct screws.

While the parts are in the cleaner I will remove the gooey gasket residue and install a new gasket.

There... new gasket installed.

All the parts are cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

One of the challenging parts to get back into place is the pallet fork.  You should be able to see the pivot in the jewel before you try tightening the screw for the bridge - otherwise you risk breaking the pivot off.

The basic movement is back together and at this point this is your typical ETA manual winding watch.  Now it's off to the timer.

Looks like it's going to need some tweaking but it's easy to do on this movement.

There.... the timing is right on the money, although the timer didn't complete calculating the amplitude and beat error when I took the photo.

Everything goes back into the case and it looks a lot better now that it's cleaned.

The finished watch looks pretty good.  The crystal could stand to be replaced but that's going to be a challenge.  It may need to have a crystal specially cut to fit the case.  In the meantime, it's ready for some wrist time again.