1957 Drew

 It's not so bad...

That's what Hamilton executives must have said to each other in the mid-1950s when Hamilton some models started to be outfitted with Swiss-made movements.  

It may not seem like it today, but after WWII the watch industry in the US was under tremendous price pressure.  European was still recovering from the destruction of the second world war.  European watch companies made excellent time pieces at very low prices - and that drove a price war in the US market. One by one, American watch companies found they could not compete and either closed their factories or "sold out".  

Some US brands had already been using Swiss-made movements for decades - like Gruen.  Pretty much all the US brands introduced Swiss calibers in order to offer models at price points that could compete.  

Sound familiar, it should.  The cycle has been at play ever since - just the countries have changed.  Once Europe recovered, Japanese makers entered the market.  Today, a large portion of "fine watches" feature movements made in China. 

The preeminent brands still make their own movements in house - like Rolex.  However, the industry today is still very competitive and watches may vary in size, shape, and the name on the dial but in many cases (literally and figuratively) the movement inside comes from the same factory.

Back to Hamilton in the 1950s... times were getting tough.  People started to want a TV, perhaps a second car, one of those fancy refrigerators, and to send their kids to college.  Watch companies had to offer quality watches at competitive prices.  One way to do it was to contract with a Swiss-make and purchase "ebauches" (A-Boo-Shays), or mostly-make movements where the final 10% could be done in-house.  It's not unlike buying a Chevy 350 but changing the intake manifold and changing the cam shaft.

How would the Hamilton market react?  Executives hedged a little by reintroducing the Illinois Watch Company brand that was acquired at the start of the Great Depression.  It had been a couple of decades but people still remembered that Illinois watches were high quality.  So Hamilton introduced Illinois watches with Swiss-made movements at their lowest price points and included them in their catalog.

Somehow, the world kept spinning and people bought them.  Executives then tempted fate a little further and put Hamilton Illinois on the dial... fingers crossed.

People bought those too.  Turns out time is time and if your watch keeps time accurately - that's what people value most, especially if they have money left over to buy a 16" television.

Hamilton introduced Automatic watches the same way and every Hamilton automatic made since 1954 has featured a Swiss-made movement - even up to today.

In 1956 Hamilton switched over to Hamilton branded models.  In some situations only the name on the dial changed.  They found they had to use up the Illinois-branded movements they had before switching over to Hamilton-branded movements.  When the shape of the movement was different, it required a different case back.  As a result, in 1956 there are a bunch of "B" models.  By 1957 the movements changed and the B was dropped. 

My project watch is a great example.  It's a new model for the blog - a 1957 Drew.  The Drew was an entry level model and priced just under $50 on a strap.  That's a little under a $600 in today's currency - not a cheap watch by any stretch but it was the least expensive of the lineup. 

The Drew B was introduced in 1956.  The case and bracelet were the same but the dial was slightly different with markers and 12 instead of numbers.  The seconds register is a wide cross hair vs the small crosshair in the 1957 version.  Lastly, the hands are pointex or alpha style.  Tucked inside the Drew B is an Illinois-branded 12/0 sized caliber.

The Drew was made for 12 years and the 1958 catalog is a little crisper.  Notice the hands are baton style.  That is very unusual but correct for this model.  The Drew was made for only two years - 1957 and 1958.  There's nothing to identify further which year was which.

In addition to the Swiss caliber inside, The case has a rolled gold plated bezel and the back is stainless steel.  The dial is embossed (stamped).  So designers of the entry level models did everything they could to keep the price point low.

My project watch arrived in typical "as found in a drawer" condition.  It's a little beat up but not terrible.  The bracelet is an after-market one-size-fits-all Speidel which will eventually wear grooves into the lugs.  It's definitely due for a trip to the spa. 

The stainless steel case back is unremarkable.  Stainless steel can take a beating.  There's a little lip at the bottom of the photo - looks like a reflection - which I can use to pry the back off.

The dial is original, to my eye anyway, and it's got a speckled patina probably from moisture at some point.  I won't do anything to the dial as embossed dials rarely, if ever, can be refinished well.  This dial shows nothing but good honest wear and is perfect as it is.

Inside the movement is a Hamilton 673 movement.  This is an 11.5 ligne caliber based on an A. Schild AS1200.  I can see a couple of service marks inside - two services over the last 68 years... probably long overdue.

 

A lot of times with this movement the set bridge / yoke breaks - that's the part that holds the watch in the setting or winding positions.  This one is still intact.  I can see a little oil near the barrel - I wonder if someone's been poking around in here?>

All the parts are removed and if you look closely the main plate is stamped AS 1200.

Everything is clean, dried, and ready to be reassembled.  It's much more sparkly now.

The movement is ticking away with a nice motion.  I think the timer will agree.

There's nothing to complain about here.  I'll slow it down slightly but this is excellent.

The final assembly is looking as good as it runs.  The baton hands really make this model something unique.  A nice leather strap is a huge improvement over the after-market bracelet.

1955 Viscount

One of the frustrating aspects of vintage watches is when you find evidence of a valuable watch getting scrapped.  The most obvious evidence is a loose movement and dial for sale.  

I don't feel any obligation to save watches from destruction - they're not living beings, after all.  However, I feel sad that someone didn't value a valuable watch and poten heirloom. 

Almost everyone who contacts me has the same story... "I inherited my father's (grandfather's, great grandfather's, grandmother's, etc) watch and I'd like to learn more about it."  I love getting those messages because it shows that watches can convey the connection between generations after an ancestor passes.  A vintage watch can be a personal treasure that is priceless to the owner regardless of it's retail value.

When I see a scrapped watch it makes me wonder what sad story is behind it.  It's easy to imagine an original owner who had no children, no nephews, perhaps no one at all who cared that they lived or died.  Someone received the watch and thought, "I don't care about this thing, I wonder how much I can get for the gold".  

It's also possible the recipient is the one with the sad story.  Perhaps they fell on hard times and the only thing between them and their next meal was selling grandpa's watch.

Or, worst of all, perhaps the watch was stolen from it's owner and the gold case scrapped for pennies on the dollar.  That thought really pisses me off.

So like I said, knowing the value of vintage watches has it's perils.

I was recently asked to take on a very interesting project.  It's the opposite of the scenarios above.  In this example, the case and dial exists and the rest is missing!  This watch belongs to the original owner's son and he wants to restore it so that his own son can inherit it.  These are the best of stories and a very worthy cause.

The watch is a Viscount.  It was introduced in 1955 and made for four years.  It's a popular model and can sell for over $1,500 when it's in great shape!

In 1958 the dial was modified slightly to include a diamond-shaped gold marker added below the Hamilton name.  This figure was added to all of the models in the "Masterpiece" line.  So if you see this marker you know it's a 1958 example

One of the obvious things that make the Viscount so interesting is the case.  The bezel has an open triangular lug that requires the strap to have a V notch to accommodate the spring bar that passed through.  It's a very unusual design and that's what makes it so valuable.

My project watch has what appears to be a solid gold bracelet.  That's a valuable addition as long as the length works on your wrist.  If you look at the dial you will quickly tell that it's rotated 90 degrees.  That's simply because there is no movement inside.

What came with the watch is a tiny quartz movement.  I wonder what the story is with this watch... why would someone try to outfit it with a quartz movement, especially one without a second hand?  Perhaps it just came along for the ride.

The Viscount case is solid 14K gold and other than a slight dent in the back, this example is in pretty good shape. 

There are a ton of prior service marks inside the case back.  The shape of the opening is a clue that a 12/0 sized movement should be the powerhouse for this model - specifically a 770 movement.  The dial has been refinished at some point and the pattern is missing the lines that should crisscross the center.  The seconds register should also be a simple cross hair design.

What's more concerning is the dial feet that secure the dial to the movement are gone.  So there's nothing to hold this dial down once it's installed.  I have a solution for that.

A donor 770 will be the new movement to power this Viscount.  This is a 1960's movement based on the glucydur balance but a 770 is a 770.  There are no serial numbers to date movements from this era.

Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

The 770 is arguably the best that Lancaster made when it comes to wrist watch movements.  It's a solid design and easy to reassemble.

This movement is running great.  I'll leave it just as it is as it should settle down after a little while.

I'll use "dial dots" to hold the dial on.  These are tiny two-sided stickers that you apply to the movement and then press the dial on to hold it.  They will keep the dial in place and allow a future watchmaker to remove the dial when it needs to be serviced again.

I'll use four dots. All that remains is to pull the beige covers off to reveal the sticky side the dial will attach to.

A new set of hands completes the restoration and with a proper stem and crown this watch is ready for wrist time again.  The dial isn't perfect but only a purist would notice or care.

The Hamilton Field Guide is available!

I have exciting news!

I think every vintage Hamilton watch collector has thought about how to organize a collector guide.  It's incredibly helpful to know what you're looking at when you find a vintage Hamilton in the wild or if you're handed one as a family heirloom.

Identifying models is one of the primary reasons why I started my blog.  It's also the most common question that I am asked, and I'm asked it pretty much daily by people around the world.

One of the original "silver backs" of the Hamilton Watch community, Rene Rondeau, created a book that is now decades old and long out of print.  For many years it was the best reference book out there and copies on eBay sold for 10x the original sales price.   For all it's goodness it had many omissions and even Rene would agree it was due for an update.

There are really two challenging aspects to creating a reference guide.  First is to gather the requisite information... what is it, when was it made, etc, etc.  The second is how to describe it - and that's more challenging than you'd immediately think.  It quickly feels like you're looking for a needle in a stack of needles.  You have to be very specific.  For example, what is the case made of, what is the shape of the dial, are the hour indices numbers or markers, is there a second hand, what movement is inside?  You could go on and on in order to narrow down the possible options.  After all, there are 974 models to choose from!  (Even more once you consider awards division, European models, et al)

Lastly, you'd have to find a way to make it available.

At long last, that day has arrived!

A very talented and committed collector, Andrew Krug, has accomplished the un-accomplishable and created a soon-to-be released book, "The Hamilton Field Guide".  The book will be available on or about July 7th on Amazon.

In addition to the book, Andrew has created a fantastic website... HamiltonFieldGuide.com.  This website will help you identify an unknown model and learn more about it.

The focus of the book is the myriad non-Electric models.  That's mainly because the Electrics are already well documented by another resource that Rene Rondeau authored, "The Watch of the Future" and there's little to be added.  It's available here... https://www.hamiltonwristwatch.com/book.html

When it comes to identifying a model, let's pretend we want to identify the K-407 in the photo above.  How would you describe it?

Well, it's round (circle), it's got a sweep second hand, if you had it in your hand you'd know it's 10K gold filled.  The dial markers are gold and there are numbers at 12 and 6 only.  We know it's an automatic (says so on the dial).  We also know there isn't a date complication.  That's probably enough to get into the ball park but you could go further like if it had diamonds or you knew the movement caliber inside.

Once you click "search" the results show up below.  You could have multiple pages to scroll through but with just what I've entered above you can see we have a match with the second option below.

If you click on the watch you're interested in you will get even more detailed information.  In addition, if you look below, Andrew has graciously provided a link to my blog.   So if I've documented the watch you'll get as much detail about the model as there is available.

This is a tremendous resource and it demonstrates what a fantastic community the Hamilton watch collectors have created.  Andrew has done a yeoman's job pulling together these resources and I congratulate him on an incredible accomplishment.  We all walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before us.  Some have gone on to their eternal reward but their efforts still benefit us all.  

I hope you'll reward Andrew's effort by purchasing his book! 

I'll update this post once the link is available.