1962 Sea Skip

Sometimes the Hamilton catalogs teased customers a little by showing a "coming soon" type of listing.  A good example is the Sea-Skip.  It was shown in the 1961 catalog but it showed it was scheduled for release in 1962. 

I did a post 10 years ago on the 1961 Sea Skip but I think it's fair to say it's really a 1962 model.  It was produced for three years though so it could be a 1963 or 1964 model as well.

Originally it was presented as coming in a stainless steel case with either a white dial or a grey dial.

That description seems to have been carried forward with the catalogs showing both versions.  There are only two manual winding models with sweep second movements in a stainless steel case and numerals at 12 and 6.  So it's not a difficult model to identify.

I recently had the opportunity to work on another Sea Skip and it's a little different than the other one, so I thought I'd show it as well.

As received, it's had a hard life.  The crown is missing and someone added a red second hand at some point.  More worrisome is the grey textured dial has something going on.  It's a little hard to tell though, as the crystal is very beat up.

The first major difference between this example and the other one I did, is this watch came in a one-piece case that opens through the crystal.  The other has a screw off back!

Once I lifted off the crystal, the movement and dial come out the front of the bezel.  Looking at the dial, it's clear that the finish has been compromised.  In fact, it looks like it's pealing off like sun burned skin.  I wouldn't dare trying to clean this dial.

Behind the dial is a manual winding 688 movement.  This is a classic ETA movement and not too different than today's modern Hamilton movements.

Once I lifted the hands off I looked at the dial from the side and it was covered with dusty flakes.  I literally blew air at it like blowing out a candle and the end of the Hamilton logo disappeared!  That sucks but leaving loose particles floating inside the case isn't good either.  It doesn't take much to stop a watch or screw up it's timing.  Sometimes when the dial finish is compromised I will spritz it with fresh lacquer but I'm going to leave this dial alone.  It is what it is at this point and getting it refinished will not turn out well, based on my prior experience with textured dials.  

This is an important lesson though - this finish loss is due to moisture getting inside the case.  If you see moisture inside the crystal, you should get the watch dried and serviced immediately.

Fortunately, the movement did not have a lot of rust inside, other than the female portion of the two-piece stem.  The stem is very worn and will need to be replaced in order to fit another crown to the case.  At this point everything is cleaned, dried, and ready to be reassembled.

My new stem (left) is rust-free and the prongs are tight so it will grasp and hold the male-hub that is screwed into the crown.  I'll need to carefully trim the male hub to the proper length so the crown fits properly.

Before I can work on the crown, I have to finish the movement and at this point it's reassembled and running with a good motion.  It's off to the timer to see how well it's ticking.

Not too shabby... it's a little slow and amplitude is low but I haven't wound it up fully since there's no crown.  I can tweak the regulator and bring the beat rate up a little.

There... just a smidgeon fast.  I'll leave it here for now.

A new crystal is in order and this case takes a smaller crystal than the Sea Skip I did 10 years ago.  So at some point Hamilton must have changed case designs or this case was swapped - but it's a good match for the catalog image.  It's a mystery, that's for sure.

The finished watch is back in the case and secured behind the crystal.  The new Hamilton crown is a good fit.  It's too bad about the logo but it was bound to come off eventually - once the finish goes, the printing is done for. 

Let me know in the comments if you have a Sea Skip in your collection and if it has a one piece case or a two-piece design like in my 2015 post.

1958 Norman

Hamilton had a special group that focused on watches for awards and presentations.  The awards division could create special models or customize dials to make the award with special.  The back of the watch could also be engraved with a unique presentation.  

The main intent though was to provide awards that the recipient would not find in their local jewelry store.  So awards watches were often modified slightly or based on models that were discontinued and no longer commercially available. 

One of obvious tells of an awards division watch is if it says "Masterpiece" on the dial.  Even if the back is not engraved, you can be sure that it's an award watch.

Its not always obvious though.

I recently had a project watch that was based on the 1958 Norman.  The 58 Norman is the second model to utilize that name.  It was produced for three years and was originally offered on a bracelet or a strap.

In 1960 the Norman was offered just on the bracelet.  The dial is sterling silver and features solid 14K gold markers and dots.

My project watch is obviously a Norman, based on the dial but it features the company logo of Blaw-Knox, which is still in business.  They make construction paving equipment.  My project watch has a beat up crystal and is missing the second hand, so I'm sure it can tell a story.

The case back has some wear, most significantly at the crown but also on the opposite side - perhaps from someone trying to pry the two-piece case open.  The presentation has been worn down a bit but I can see it's a 25 year award watch from 1962.  The Norman was discontinued in 1960, making it a good candidate for an awards division model.

The dial has a bit of dial rash and the tip of the missing second hand has swept a scratch into the finish.  I may be able to clean it up a little but it is what it is.  I definitely don't want to risk losing the logo.  Notice how flat the dial is... there is no contour whatsoever.  It's just a simple sterling silver disc.  Even the markers and dots are flat.

Behind the dial is a 22 jewel 12/0 size 770 movement.  This is the top of the line Hamilton caliber used from 1955 through the end of US production in 1969.

The 10K gold filled case back doesn't have any service marks inside.  I wonder if it's ever been seen by a watchmaker before now?

I neglected to take my usual disassembled photo but all of the parts are thoroughly cleaned and reassembled with fresh lubricants.  The reassembled movement is ticking away with a decent motion and sitting on my timer.

Yikes, it's running very slow but the other specs look okay.  I wonder if the hairspring isn't in the regulator?

Sure enough... looking closely from this angle I can see that the outside loop of the hairspring has come of the of the two pins of the regulator.  The two pins (fork) adjust the length of the hairspring so that if you move the pins toward slow you lengthen the spring and if you moved it toward fast you'd shorten the length.  If the hairspring isn't in the pins then it's length is defined by the hairspring stud and that's as slow as it will go.  I need to put the hairspring back into the regulator and try the timing again.

Okay... now the watch is running a little fast but a large beat error was introduced.  I'll need to adjust the position of the balance relative to the hairspring stud to better center it and reduce the error.

I'd rather be lucky than good - and in this case it took only one tweak to get it near perfect.  The closer to zero the better but 0.2ms is pretty much spot on.

I installed the dial and hour and minute hands and then fit a new second hand.  It's about as long as the one that left the scratch so I should be good to go now.

Metal bracelets can take their toll on lugs - eventually they wear grooves into the lugs as shown below.  I personally prefer a leather strap unless the bracelet is the original design in the catalog.

The finished watch now looks great with a new crystal and everything cleaned up.  The dial still shows some scrapes but that's just part of it's history.  A fresh black leather strap completes the restoration and this 1962 Norman is ready for wrist time.

1951 Grover

I recently had an interesting project that I thought would make a good blog post.  

It's a 1951 Grover, a model that was produced through 1953, if you include the movement change to the Grover B.

Originally it was outfitted with the 14/0 sized 17 jewel 980 movement and sometime in 1952 it was changed over to the 12/0 sized 17 jewel 752 and a B was added.  It was available on a bracelet or a strap.

My project watch arrived with a 3 pack a day nicotine habit, based on the golden tone of the dial.  It should be a two tone white / butler finished dial but this one has an even pee-yellow patina. 

The glass crystal has some scratches but more disturbing is the crown has lost it's gold layer at the knurling, so it's just a simple brass color now.

Aside from the typical grime of a dirty watch, the back is otherwise unremarkable.  Overall the case is in really good shape.  This model often shows a lot of wear near the crown and on top of the prominent lugs.

Well this is an interesting find... there's a 980 movement inside but it's from 1936.  So this is obviously a replacement movement.  Based on the overall look of the movement I would say it's been a long time since it's enjoyed a trip to the spa.

The inside of the case back is clearly stamped Grover, making identification of the model very easy.  This was a trend that started in the late 1940s and continued for about 10 years.  

The early 14/0 movements had a split set lever bridge.  Not too long after this model was made Hamilton changed the design to a single piece bridge.  If this set lever yoke ever breaks, it could be tricky to find a replacement as you'd need to find an early 980/982 to scavenge from.

I don't normally see how a movement runs before I service it but the little voice in my head told me to give this one a try.  It runs but it's more accurate to say "it ticks", it's definitely running very poorly.   Hopefully the spa treatment will improve it.

The inside of the movement definitely looks like it's been a while since it was cleaned.

30 minutes later, all of the parts are now cleaned and dried.  I also cleaned the dial and the nicotine is now gone.  It looks like a brand new dial now!

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a good motion - let's see what the timer has to say about it.

It's running slow, which isn't surprising based on the position of the regulator.  The beat error is well beyond my personal specs of 3.0 ms or less.  So I'm going to have to remove the balance and try to adjust it.  These really old balances (pre-WWII) can be very finicky.

It took some trial and error but I got it to 3.0ms and I'm going to call that good enough.  Every attempt at adjustment is a roll of the dice and I could easily damage an otherwise fine hairspring by being greedy.  It's not much of an adjustment to get below 3.0 but I could easily screw it up with one false move (ask me how I know).

I replaced the crown and installed a fresh glass crystal.  This "1936" Grover is now ready for 2026 and looks fantastic.  What a huge improvement over what I started with, don't you think?