1955 Automatic K-454 (Sputnik)

If you were a watch designer you had a lot of opportunity to be creative.  Obviously you had the shape of the case to play with, but you could also utilize the strap or bracelet, the shape of the bezel opening, the material of construction, the design of the crystal, the dial, and even the hands to play with.  For example, Electric models often has a special second hand with with lightening bolt incorporated. 

Of course, traditional fashion could dictate the rules a designer might adhere to.  After all, the design had to appeal to customers to a degree that enough watches would be sold to justify the design.

In fair balance, all the watches couldn't look the same, or even look like every other watch brand's line up, otherwise it would just be a matter of price (which eventually became the situation).

The 1950s must have been a fun period for Hamilton designers.  They has a lot of models to work with.  To put it in perspective, in 1935 there were 23 wrist watches in the model line up.  Twenty years later there would be 88, and it would continue to grow for the next 15 years!

One of the 88 models offered in 1955 is the Automatic K-454.  It's a very popular model and you'll see why.  It was offered for three years.  It features a 10K gold filled bezel and a stainless steel back.

The K-454 is also known as the Sputnik to watch collectors.  The Sputnik was a Russian satellite launched in 1957 that featured four prominent antennas protruding from a round sphere.  The K-454 design featured four golden arms radiating from the center of the dial at the 1, 5, 7 and 11 positions that continued out the bezel as the lugs for the bracelet or strap.  The other hours had less prominent lines radiating outward.

It's a great design.

My project watch is well worn and definitely in need of some love.  I can see the crystal has a crack but otherwise it's not too bad.  The watch is not running.  The lugs on this model are fairly delicate and easily bent out of shape.  It's not unusual for one of them to be missing so you have to be very careful not to damage them.

The case back is typical for an Automatic K-model and unscrews from the bezel with a case wrench.

The Automatic K-series used three four different movements but the predominant caliber is the 661.  This movement was made by Kurth Freres (Certina) and was used in other watch brands as well.  The inside of the case back helps to identify the model.  This movement is in good shape.  The only issue I see is there's a screw missing from the train bridge (the empty hole next to the stem).  That will be easy to replace.

The dial and hands are in nice shape.  The hands and hour markers are luminous.

I found some rust under the winding wheel.  It's not too bad and it's a good thing this watch is being serviced.

I'll measure the old crystal to get an idea of what size crystal to install.

Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled.  I actually found the missing screw inside the movement.  That's most likely why the watch was not working - it would easily stop the movement if it got into the right place.  I have all the parts to reassemble the movement.

The basics of the movement are back together and the balance is ticking away with a nice motion.  Check out how much shinier everything is now that it's cleaned.

Not too shabby performance for an 70 year old watch.

Two case screws and braces secure the movement to the inside of the case and it's ready to close up.

The finished watch is a huge improvement over what I started with.  A new crystal and deep cleaning goes a long way.  I also relumed the hands and dial markers.  This watch is ready for more wrist time.

1955 Grenadier II

 In 1955 Hamilton introduced two very similar looking models, one called the Grenadier I and the other Grenadier II.  I've always thought they were interesting for a few of reasons.  First, the name is unusual - often men's models were named with men's names.  A grenadier is a term used for well trained, elite soldiers, who typically led assaults.  You might assume they were soldiers who threw grenades, which might be true, but grenadier is an old term that predates hand grenades.  Perhaps it is the other way around. 

The second reason I find the models interesting is they look so similar.  The cases appear to be virtually identical.  However, the Grenadier I has a sweep second hand and the Grenadier II has a sub-second hand.  The two models use different movements.  Another, similar pairing would be the Nordon and Langdon from the CLD line - they look very similar too but are different.

A third interesting bit of trivia is both models used "silhouette hands" where luminous paint was applied to the BACK of solid hands so they glowed onto the dial leaving a silhouette of the hands when it was dark enough to see.  The paint included radium which made the lume glow 24x7 and it tended to burn the dial after a decade or two.  So it's not unusual to find Grenadiers with trashy-looking dials. 

Both models were made for three years.

The Grenadier II also included solid gold markers with luminous dots.  I bet it was a very cool looking watch when it was new.  You just didn't want to eat it - as the radium would poison you.  Not to worry too much though, the case and the crystal blocked most of the radiation, as does your skin.

The 10K gold filled case was equipped with a stainless steel back.  It's a classic 1950s "flying saucer" design.  Both models were available with a bracelet and the bracelets were different, making the two models further unique.

I've had my project watch waiting in the wings for a LONG time, probably years.  I saw it in a pile of watches and thought, why not give this watch some love?  Looking at it, it's very dirty, the crystal is shot and appears to have paint rubbed on it, and the dial has a mild case of radium burn in the center.

The back unscrewed to reveal the gasket not fully seated.  Was it always like that or did it happen when I removed the back?  It's a very stiff gasket, I think it's been like that for a while.

The inside of the case back makes identifying the model easy - it says Grenadier II right there inside.  The four balls are recesses on the outside to engage a wrench.

1955 was a transition year for Hamilton and the 747 movement was phased out in favor of the 730, which is a 747 with shock jewels on the balance.  This is one of the last 747 movements made and I can tell because it doesn't even have a serial number on the barrel bridge.  After 1955 Hamilton stopped putting serial numbers on movements.   Some of the enamel has come of the printing on the bridges, I'll see if I can reapply it.

Everything has been cleaned and is readied to be reassembled.  I removed the lume from the hands and from the dial markers.  No point in having lume on a watch with solid hands.  The empty dots look pretty cool as is.  Notice the balance wheel design - the swirly arms on the balance wheel were a form of shock protection for the balance staff before the advent of shock jewels.

I applied black enamel to the bridges and let it dry, then wiped it down with mineral spirits, leaving some paint in the lettering.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a decent motion.  Let's see what the timer thinks of it.

Oof - the beat error is a tad high.  I'll have to adjust the hairspring collet on the balance staff.

Whoops, wrong direction.  The beat error got worse - I'm trying to get it close to zero but at least under 3.0ms.

Fifth times the charm, I guess.  I'll leave it here for now.  I'm not sure why the amplitude dropped but it's still high enough to be okay.

I poked and prodded the gasket back into shape and into its position.  Now I can close up the case.

This watch turned out really well.  I like the open gold markers without lume, the look like little O's.  The dial will be forever toned thanks to the years of radium exposure but it's not a distracting mess.  I still don't recommend eating the watch though.

1960 Thin-o-matic T-403

When it comes to styling, it's a tough call which period is more dramatic, the 1930/40's or the 1950/60's.  

The former benefited from the art deco era and in addition to interesting case designs, models often featured different dial patterns to choose from.  The cases had a lot of style, with flairs, moveable lugs, stepped features, and long curves to fit the wrist.

20 years later, watches took on a futuristic look as if they were designed for the space age... with curved fins, flying saucer shapes, and the bracelets that were paired with the watch could echo the design aesthetic.

From a style standpoint, the most popular designs are the asymmetric models.  These are most often attributed to the late 1950s or early 1960s, but the earliest asymmetric model was actually introduced in 1928 as the Hamilton Spur.  A few years later, the Brooke was introduced.  So you might say the designers of 1950's models were really just getting back to their Hamilton roots.

Of course, a lot of things changed in the 1950s, including the introduction of the world's first electric watch.  Watches like the Pacer and the Ventura led the asymmetric revolution.  Hamilton introduced a few automatic models too.

In 1960 the first automatic asymmetric models hit the market.  One of them was the Thin-o-matic T-403.  This model was produced from 1960 through 1963.  Initially, the T-403 was cased in 10K yellow gold fill.  The dial had two colors, white and gold, with radiating black lines and the hour markers were embossed gold color.  The slender hands were black, although the catalog doesn't seem to show that detail.  However, catalog does accurately depict the lollipop hour hand.

In 1962 a white gold filled version of the T-403 joined the yellow gold filled version.  In addition to a white (silver-colored) case, the two tone dial featured a gray and white dial.  The dial still featured yellow gold embossed markers though, and the lollipop hands where changed to yellow gold.  So it's one of the few white gold models with yellow gold hand and markers.

Regardless of color, the model doesn't appear to have been paired with a bracelet, just a nice lizard strap.

Tucked inside the case is a pink micro-rotor movement, the 17 jewel 663 movement.

My project watch came paired with a vintage Kreisler bracelet.  I don't know if it's original to the watch but I bet I could peruse the catalogs and spot a few models that used it.

The dial has some bubbles on it and I assume it's from moisture getting inside.  When I turn the crown to wind the watch it's feels a little "crunchy" and I'm hoping I don't find a rusty mess inside.

The crystal lifted off way to easily, I think it's just large enough to stay put but it's not large enough to create a good seal.  You can see some moisture damage to the left side of the dial.  It's not repairable other than getting the dial refinished and I've never had luck getting an embossed dial refinished perfectly,  So this dial will have to do.  It's not that bad, really, but it's not perfect.

I can see a bunch of watchmaker's marks inside the case back so this watch has had a lot of care.  I actually recognize one of them!  That's a first for me (it's not my mark).

The 663 movement is in nice shape - thank goodness!  I've done several of these movements recently.  They take a bit of time.

The crunchiness of the winding could be any number of things.  The first hear involved is the clutch.  This part engages the stem and when the stem is turned the clutch either engages the winding pinion or the setting wheel, depending on if the stem is pulled out or pushed in.  The winding pinion is what transfers the winding motion of the stem to the back of the movement and the mainspring.  So the crunchiness could be between the clutch and the winding pinion.  However, there are several other wheels on the back of the movement that ultimately engage the mainspring.  Any of these gears could be the issue.  I have found that these movements, in general, are a little more crunchy than other non-micro rotor movements can be.

The inside of the case back shows the tell tale signs that there's a micro rotor movement inside.  The small oscillating weight can slide of it's arbor and rub the inside of the case.

Look how many parts have to be removed in order to get to the mainspring barrel.  You pretty much have to tear the movement down in order to address a mainspring issue.  The important thing to remember now is to put the barrel back in after the center wheel.  I've learned this the hard way in the past.  Normally the barrel goes in after the train wheels.  

Everything is cleaned and ready to be reassembled.  It's a lot more sparkly now.

The movement is almost fully reassembled but it's far enough along to test the time keeping.

That's not too bad at all!  I'll leave it as it is.

Everything goes back into the case and I installed a fresh crystal was was one size up from the last crystal - it's now providing a much tighter seal.  I also ended up changing the winding pinion and the winding is a lot smoother now.  It still has the typically rattle of a micro rotor when you wind it manually but it's much better than it was.