1941 Essex - Rose Bowl Watch

The country was on the cusp of a world war, and although the year would end with a "day of infamy", it would begin with the Rose Bowl on January 1st, 1941.  The 27th showing featured the undefeated Stanford Indians vs no. 7 Nebraska.

Stanford would defeat the Cornhuskers 21-13.  

I recently had the opportunity to work on a Hamilton watch that was awarded to the teams.  It's based on a 1940 Essex.

The Essex was an interesting model.  It featured looped lugs that were fixed to the case.  The strap was intended to extend over the outside of the loop so the watch would "curve to fit the wrist".  The design continued through 1946, with a few years disrupted by production to support WWII needs.

The Essex is cased in 10K yellow gold filled, or in 10K rose gold filled for the accompanying Coral Essex, introduced the same year.  The 10K gold filled case implied the movement inside would be a 17 jewel 980 movement.

My project watch is an interesting example.  The case lugs have been modified at some point so that the outer loop was removed.  I've seen modification several times and I always wondered if it was the result of a damaged lug or if the fixed-lug case design just wasn't comfortable on the wearer's wrist.  I suspect it would be the latter, as not everyone's wrist is the same size and it's not a one-size-fits-all application.

As received, the crystal appears to be a new addition, as there's not a scratch on it.  The dial, on the other hand, is obviously original and shows a bit of finish loss.

The case back is engraved with a unique football shaped presentation.  I don't know if this watch awarded to both participating schools or just the winning team, but the case does have the final score, along with the player's name and position.

The original owner liked to go by his nickname "Duke" and was the quarterback for the famous "Wow Boys" Stanford Indians Football Team in 1940-41 as a backup to legendary quarterback Frankie Albert.  He was named starting quarterback and team captain in 1942 and led the Indians to a 6-4 season.  

Duke was drafted to the NFL (Chicago Bears) but declined the opportunity choosing instead to serve our country in the US Army Air Corps as a B-25 Mitchell bomber pilot in the Pacific theater. This watch was always nearby.  He passed away in 2012 just 4 hours shy of his 93rd birthday.  

He gave the watch to his father, for safe keeping, and received it back after his father passed away in 1950.  He continued to cherish the watch for the rest of his life.

I happened to have a Coral Essex case to show what the original lugs would have looked like.  A lot of times the strap can wear through the outer loop of the lugs.  If you have a good eye for detail, you'll note the Coral Essex has the wrong dial... note the seconds register.

I have a much nicer Essex dial I intended to use with this project but then I noticed there's a faint S on the dial.  I wonder where the coloring went?  Perhaps it's the rust color by the 8, but I think that's just corrosion.  This is the original dial though, you can tell by the number D87 at the bottom of the dial.  I won't do anything to clean this dial.  I don't want to make it worst.  The tale of the no 5 is bent though, I should a least be able to straighten that.

The 980 movement behind the dial is in average condition.  I don't see anything obviously broken but I'd wager lunch that the mainspring is set.  I'll have to take it apart to confirm.

The inside of the case back shows easily 8 to 10 prior watchmaker's marks inside.  This watch was well maintained over the years.

Yup, sure enough, the mainspring inside the barrel is a blue steel design.  It will be "set" in a tight coil and have lost the majority of it's prior potential energy.  I find that to be the case in the majority of 14/0 movements I see in the wild.

Everything is cleaned up and ready to be reassembled, including a new white alloy Dynavar mainspring.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a nice motion.  I can usually tell just by looking at the balance if there's an issue but the timer will tell me for sure.

Not too shabby.  The beat error is on the higher side but within my personal specs of 3.0ms.  The beat error is the measure of how well centered the balance is in terms of how far it swings to one side versus the other.  If it's perfectly centered the swing is the same to either side and the beat error would be zero.  A watch with a higher beat error will stop a little sooner than a watch with a low beat error but within 3ms, the extra juice isn't really worth the risk of ruining the hairspring on the balance.

The finished watch looks great.  A replacement dial would look better but an original dial is only original once.  I did replace the hour and minute hands though - those look a lot better without corrosion.

This is a great family heirloom for the owner - I'm glad that I am able to keep it in good running order for him.

1963 Thin-o-Matic T-204

One of these days I'm going to have to count how many models I've captured for the blog.  There are just under 1,000 mechanical models and I've done at least 650 of them by now.  It's hard to believe I started this blog in 2012 and here it is 14 years later.  I've still got a ways to go to document all of them and I'm sure that I never will - as there are a quite a few "above my pay grade" as the saying goes.  Regardless, each new model is a fun accomplishment.

My latest new addition was only produced for a couple of years.  It's a 1963 Thin-o-matic T-204.  Originally offered in 1963, it was also marketed in the 1964 catalog for $160 - a real bargain, in my opinion.  Cased in solid 14K gold, it was priced at about $1,750 when adjusted for inflation.  Try finding a solid 14K gold watch in today's jewelers for anywhere near that price.

It's interesting to note that some models were intended to be worn solely on a strap.  Other times, a model could be presented on a bracelet that echoed or, at least, complemented the design, as well as the option of a strap.  The T-204 was offered with what appears to have been a large tile alligator (or croc) strap, and I'm sure it looked great.

The case is an interesting design.  I'm not sure how to best describe the shape.  Certainly the bezel opening is a circle and the knurled detail around the opening is also round.  The swooping lugs and flat portion for the strap seem to offer a barrel shape as well.  Usually I default to the bezel opening and I'd call this a round, or circular, design.

The case back is very flat, indicative of the type of movement you'll find inside.  The case back gives the impression this might be a two-piece design, where the case back might snap onto the bezel.  You'd be forgiven for thinking that, and based on a couple of prior case knife marks, it looks like someone has tried to open it a time or two.

Alas, this is a one-piece design and the movement is accessed through the crystal.  Interestingly, the watch has a presentation from October, 1962.  The new model year started in the Fall of the prior year so this watch was newly introduced in October of 1962.

The dial is an interesting textured, or linen design.  It's also not a luminous pattern.  You can see there's been some moisture intrusion that has compromised the finish.  Unfortunately, it's been my experience that these dial never get refinished as well as you'd like.  So there's not much I can do with this dial other than see if I can brighten up the solid gold hour markers.  

By the way, the hour marker at the 9 position is a a replacement... it doesn't match the other markers at 12, 3, and 6.  I'll have to look in my stash of old dials to see if I have a better match.

The inside of the case back shows the service marks of at least four prior watchmakers.  It also shows a the tell-tale rub mark of a micro-rotor movement.

Tucked inside the case is a 17 jewel 663 movement, along with a movement ring.  There does not appear to be any rust on the back - that's a promising sign.  However, the male stem sticking out of the movement is quite rusted.

The female side of the stem is retained in the crown.  It too is rusted and between the two halves, they've lost their grasp on each other.  When you pull the crown out to set the time, the crown will come completely out.  They are intended to separate, but not that easily - so I'll have to replace them.

And therein lies the rub... these movements use a special stem and the parts are getting very hard to find.  ETA movements are not as bad but these older Buren calibers are a different story.  Fortunately, I think I have the required parts on hand - otherwise this watch could have been unrepairable.

I this shot you can see the male-side of the stem.  Between this side, and the female fork-side, the two sections are meant to snap together and hold fast.

Here's s shot of a the new parts.  I'll have to trim the female side to the correct length.  I get one shot - If I screw it up, I won't be able to fix the watch.

Everything is disassembled and thoroughly cleaned.  So far, so good.  Now I just have to put it back together again.

Piece by piece, all the parts are reassembled and with a little tension applied to the mainspring, the watch ticks back to life.  Now to listen to the ticking to see how it's running.

Not too shabby - the mainspring isn't fully wound so the amplitude is a little low but everything is looking fine.  Adjusting the beat error on this watch is very tricky and the added juice is not worth the squeeze of trying to reduce it.  I could just as easily ruin the hairspring.  This beat error is well within my personal specs of 3.0ms... it may even improve after it runs a while.

I noticed during the cleaning that there's a rub mark on the automatic framework, caused by the motion of the oscillating weight.  When I went to reinstall the weight, I could see that it would hang up in this area.  That implies either the rotor is bent or there's been too much wear over the years.  I'll have to replace the framework and rotor arbor.

I saved the worst challenge for last - now I have to trim the new female stem hub to the correct length.

I left my first attempt a little long, just to make sure I didn't overshoot the mark.  Now I can whittle my way to (hopefully) a perfect fit.

The finished watch looks fantastic after a trip to the spa.  A new crystal helps complete the restored look and the best part is the crown won't easily fall off like it did before.  This watch is now ready for another few years of confident wrist time.

1968 Sea Scape III

 Hamilton offered all sorts of dial options over the years.  It's probably an interesting rabbit hole to go down and to explore the myriad dial patterns that were available in both the pocket watch and the wrist watch lines. 

You could even special order custom dial with your name, etc. as the markers - sort of like you can get vanity license plates today.  However, the figures would have been solid gold and riveted onto sterling silver dials.

One of the commercially available dial genres that you'll see fairly often, especially in the 1950s and 60's were masonic dial patterns.  The various figures represent various moral, ethical and spiritual principles that are important to the fraternity.

Typically a masonic dial was an option for certain models but in 1968 the Sea Scape III was introduced and it was cataloged to offer only a masonic dial.  This little asterisk in the catalog refers to waterproofness.

The Sea Scape III only shows up in the 1968 catalog so it was a short lived model.  Priced at $69.50 with the bracelet or $59.50 on a strap, it was an entry level model.  However, that's still well over $550 in today's currency - so it wasn't a "cheap watch".

My project watch arrived looking like it has seen better days. In fact, it appears to have been through the ringer... there is no crown, no crystal, no second or minute hands, and it's not working.

The dial and movement seem to fit okay in the case but there's no movement ring present - I don't know if that's because there wasn't one originally or if it's been lost along with the other parts.  The inside of the case back is unremarkable.  I think there is one prior watchmaker service mark inside.  The 923584 number is the model number, at least for the case, and the other number is a unique serial number for this watch.

Behind the dial is a Hamilton 688 movement.  I can't tell if it's corroded or just super dusty.  Either way it's going to get a trip to the spa.

While all the parts are getting cleaned, I'll prep a new crown and male stem hub.  The male side will snap into the female side that is retained in the movement.

This is a best guess at the length that is needed.  

I happened to have a set of hands for the 688 and I relumed them with modern lume will all the parts finish cleaning.

I found the escape wheel had a broken pivot but a donor movement saved the day.  Now I can reassemble the movement and see how well it runs.

With all the parts back together and lubricated, the watch is now ticking away.  Time to see what the timer thinks of the ticking.

Who-wee!  This is a brisk pace of 6 minutes fast per day.  Looking at the position of the regulator (above), I can see there's plenty of room to adjust it and slow the beat rate down.

Getting warmer....

There... I'll leave it running just a smidgeon fast for now.   Freshly serviced watches tend to settle down after a while.

The new hands, crystal and crown return this almost 60 year old watch to wrist-worthy condition.  I don't know how many Sea Scape III's there still are out there in the wild but I'm happy to put this one back into service.