1955 Lamar

Ah, the perils of buying project watches.  Sometimes you get a lot more than you bargained for.

I recently came upon what I thought would be a promising project watch.  It's a new model for the blog and I thought I might get a deal on it since it had some issues.  The seller listed it as "for parts".

The model is called the Lamar.  It was first issued in 1955 and produced in 1956 as well.

The Lamar was an entry level Hamilton and produced at the low end of the price spectrum at $62.50 for the model on a strap.  That's still about $590 in today's dollars when adjusted or inflation.  It featured a gold filled bezel with a stainless steel back.  The dial is sterling silver and the numerals are solid 18K gold.

Tucked inside the Lamar you will find either a 747 from the last production run or the 730 movement which replaced the 747 in 1955.

As I said, my project watch had some obvious issues.  For starters, it's missing the 9 from the dial.  The case is a bit dirty and the crystal is beat.  I've seen worse but this watch must have been a railroad model - as it proved to be a train wreck.

The case back is stainless steel so it shows very little wear.  In fact, I think it still has the original brush stroke texture on the back.

The number 9 is missing in action.  It's not inside the case, unless it's under the dial.

The 17 jewel 730 movement is a fine movement.  It's basically a shock jeweled 747 and shares most of the same parts, other than the balance jewels.   If you look closely you might be able to see there's no hairspring!  The hairspring stud is there and so is the collet, but the spring itself is gone!

The inside of the case back makes it easy to identify the model.  This is an unusual case maker, I don't recognize the maker mark.  Turns out its a case maker called Pioneer Watch Case Co in Mount Vernon, NY.

Normally you pull the hour and minute hands and then remove the dial.  The dial lifts the second hand off.  Not in this case though... the arm of the second hand came off but not the post.  It's still stuck on the 4th wheel bit.  Hopefully it will slide off when I pull the 4th wheel out from behind the main plate.

With great care I line up the two parts of the second hand and I will use a stake to press them together again.

I can get the numeral 9 from another donor dial.  This font is a little unique... notice the flat 3.  Since the 3's on the two dials match the 9's should too.

To get the 9 off, I need to look for the tiny rivets on the back of the dial and then push the number out from the back.

Once the number is pushed out I can get some fine tweezers under it and lift it the rest of the way off.

Success!

Now I just need to line up the two posts of the number with the two holes in the dial and press it down.  A little UV glue on the back will keep it secured.

A new crystal is definitely in order.  This crystal is the proper cylinder style, rather than flat glass.

I happen to have a 747 balance with a bad staff, perhaps I can move the hairspring to the balance that came with the watch?  I give myself a 50:50 chance of success.  The hairspring is actually matched to the mass of the balance and if the two balances are different, the hairspring may be too short or too long.  With luck it will be somewhere around the right length.

Darn!  My balance is also missing the impulse jewel on the roller table.  Oh well, I'll have to move the roller table from the balance with the broken staff as well as the hairspring.

A staking set is the best way to remove the roller table.  The balance is held in a special device and a stake punches the balance arbor down and out of the table.

Ta-da!  Now I need to do the same to the other balance and then reinstall the new roller table on the balance below.  Then I can install the hairspring.  I marked the balance wheel with the direction the impulse jewel was facing so I can install the new roller the same way.

A couple of stakes in my staking set, along with very careful alignment, allows me to tap the roller on the new balance staff.  I just tap it down until it seats.

Now I flip the balance over and line up the hairspring with a good guess of where the stud should be relative the impulse jewel.  Then I press the hairspring collet on and hope it will be "in beat" or lined up properly.  I can adjust it later if needed.

Okay, my "new" balance is ready for installation.

Ready for installation... oh wait, what's that?

Check out this poor little pallet fork!  Anything look unusual to you?  It's not supposed to be bent like that.  Now I know what happened to the impulse jewel... it broke off when someone jammed the balance hard enough to bend the pallet fork around a banking pin!

With a replacement pallet fork and the rebuilt balance installed, the watch is now ticking away with good motion.  Time to find out what the watch timer thinks.

Hmmm... well it has good amplitude, I'll say that for it.  The beat error is a tad high but the watch must be running slowly enough to not register a time... maybe 10-15 minutes slow per day?  It could be super fast too...you can really tell from the pattern but the fact there's an amplitude and a beat error indicates it outside the range of seconds per day the timer can display.  I could put hands on the movement and see what is really happening over time.  However, I think it's time for Plan B, a donor balance from a parts movement.

My replacement balance runs fast but the beat error is a bit high.  So I'll have adjust the hairspring.

Alright!  Things are looking good now.  One final tweak to slow the watch down and this movement is finished.

Well, I have to say that it was a lot more work than I bargained for but this 60+ year old Lamar is back in action and looking great.  There are couple of minor spots on the dial but most people I know born in 1955 have a few spots too.  So this watch looks great!

1965 Accumatic A-653

It's funny how some models you would think are fairly common can be few and far between in real life.  Take, for example, the 1965 Accumatic A-653.  It was introduced in 1965 and made through 1969 but up until recently I had never seen one.

Of course, I can't say that my seeing watches is the standard for rarity.  However, I haven't even seen a photograph of one, any you may not have either... until now.

The A-653 is shown in the catalog to have a rolled gold plate case, which is odd because it has a 5 as the second digit of the model number and that usually means "stainless steel back".  It's also interesting because the model actually does have a stainless steel back.  I guess that because it's a one-piece case it was easier to just say it's a RGP case than to say "one-piece case with RGP bezel and stainless steel back".

Being a 1960's Accumatic you could probably guess what movement is going to be inside... a 17 jewel Hamilton 689 or 689A.

My project watch doesn't have an original bracelet but there aren't too many other Accumatic models with an all-numeral dial.  The catalog shows something going on around the perimeter but it's not distinct enough to say what it is... is it a gold chapter ring?  Hard to say, unless you see the watch in person and it's, in fact, a textured band.  This watch does not have an arrow-tipped second hand like the catalog shows but that's not too unusual.  Hamilton was known for using whatever hands they had available, especially during the busy seasons of preparing for Christmas and graduations.

The back is stainless steel and bears the tell-tale scratch marks of someone trying to get it open.  This is a one-piece case though and it doesn't separate.  The movement comes out the front once the crystal is removed.

Here's a closer look at the unique dial.  I wouldn't want to try to get this dial refinished, fortunately it looks great.

There's a movement ring that surrounds the movement but it's not secured by any clips.  It just slips off.  This movement has a 689 oscillating weight but a automatic framework from a 689A.  I wonder if it started out this way?

The crystal didn't look too bad while it was on the watch but looking through it now you can see that it's a bit crazed.  A new crystal will be a huge improvement, even if unsuspected.

30.6mm will do the trick.

Everything is taken apart and throughly cleaned.  I know I'm not the first watchmaker inside this case as there were a couple of screws in the wrong places.  The screws are all very similar but not identical.

The movement, sans the automatic bits, is now ticking away with good motion.  Let's see what the timer thinks of it.

Not too shabby.  The beat error is on the high end of my tolerance (I like to see it under 3.0 and the lower the better).  Since adjusting the beat error is so easy on this movement I would feel guilty not reducing it further.

Okay... 0.3ms is very good and even the amplitude came up a little bit.

The photo may not look it, but this watch is really sharp-looking with a genuine alligator strap in blue.  It may look like a common watch but it's uncommonality (is that a word?) is celebrated but an unusual strap choice.

1960 Thin-o-matic T-403

Asymmetric models are among the most sought after and popular watches in Hamilton's 1950's and '60's era.  There are Electric, manual wind and automatic wind models with asymmetric cases.  Even the Thin-o-matic line has a couple... one of them is the T-403.  This model was produced from 1960 through 1963.

The T-403 reminds me of a shark, probably because of the swooping shape of the lugs.  It also has a "War of the Worlds" look to it, if you look at it from the side.

It definitely has very unique styling that you'll only find in this era.  In 1962 the model was offered with either a yellow or white gold filled case.  Oddly, the white gold filled model didn't get white (silver) markers and hands - it had yellow hands.  The yellow version has yellow markers but black hands... go figure.

Its also interesting to note that the 1962 version was less expensive than the model when it was original introduced.  You don't see that very often.

 My T-403 project watch came to me courtesy of a fellow collector.  He has some fantastic examples and often shares some rare pieces with me - which is great because that means I don't have to find them in the wild.

As received, you can see it's the white version so it's either from 1962 or 1963.  The crown is not original and some moisture has gotten inside but otherwise it appears to be in good condition.

The back is flat and since the watch does not say Automatic or Thin-o-matic on the dial, you wouldn't really know if this is a manual wind watch or an automatic.  The overall shape of the back is a classic Thin-o-matic contour.

I use a special tool to separate the two-piece stem and pull the crown out.  Do you think a little moisture has gotten inside?  I would say, yes, most definitely.  I hope the rest isn't a mess.

If you're curious what tool I use, it's not very complicated.  It's just a tiny pry bar.

Next I'll pull the crystal with my crystal lifter.  Notice the evidence of water droplets inside the crystal.  It's also a bit beat up and my friend included a new crystal, so this will be replaced.

Phew!  The rest of the movement looks good.  Only the stem shows some rust, the rest is fine.  Of course, once I pull the dial and hands, I might find more rust on the other side.

This watch is long overdue for a cleaning - look at all the funk inside the case!

It's funny how there's a dramatic line of crud on the dial right where the white and dark sections meet.  The finish on this dial is probably compromised by the moisture so I will not try to clean it.  It's also interesting to note that there are only hour makers from 6 to 12... really funky design, don't you think?

It looks like the rust was limited to just the stem.  That's very fortunate.

While all the parts are in the cleaner, I'll get the new crystal ready for installation.  I suspect a 31.1 PHD style crystal would be a suitable alternate.

Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

I think I see how some moisture gets into the case - there's a hole in the joint between the stem tube and the case.

Micro-rotor movements can be a pain to reassemble and they definitely aren't good projects for a novice.  Eventually all of the parts go back on and the watch is ticking away on the timer.

It's running a bit fast but you can see the regulator (above) is set toward the fast side.  I will move it back to the center.

There... not too shabby.  I might tweak it up a little more, to say, 15 seconds fast per day.  That way when it settles down it will be spot-on.

WOW!  What a trip to the spa makes!  It's hard to believe that the watch below is the same watch I started with.  The dial is still a little dirty but some of the funk is gone.  The hands are clean and the crystal is spotless and  that helps a lot.  This is an uncommon watch and I'm glad I've finally gotten to tackle one.