1960 Sea Ranger

One thing Hamilton did very well in the 1950's and 60's is create unique and futuristic designs.  Perhaps inspired by the space program or sci-fi movies, these innovative watches were often in the family of "asymmetrics".  Asymmetric watches are not a uniform shape or might have different lug designs on top and bottom, etc.

Many of the coolest asymmetric designs are electric watches but there are quite a few mechanical and automatic models as well.

One example of a mechanical asymmetric is the 1960 Sea Ranger.  Although the crystal and dial is oval shaped, the top of the watch is a differently shaped than the bottom of the watch.

Produced from 1960 through 1962, the Sea Ranger came with Hamilton's 12/0 sized, 22 jewel 770 movement under the hood.  It's actually a fairly large watch.  The "weather proof" aspects of the watch come from the case design and gasketed crown.  The two piece case opens from the front and the stem is a two-piece design.

I've only had one example and I tried to change the crystal in it three times.  The crystal appears to be press fit into the bezel and after cracking three crystals I finally gave up and put the old one back in.

It's a sharp looking watch and collecting all of the mechanical asymmetric models would be a fun but expensive challenge.