1964 Sebold

1964 was an odd year for Hamilton watches.  There are quite a few "one year wonders" that were only available in 1964.  All of the M-series of watches were only available in 1964; such as the M-59-3, the M-69-2, and the M-89-3.

One of the other 1964 models only available or that year is the 1964 Sebold.

The Sebold comes in a one-piece stainless steel case with with a brushed dial and silver figures that are inset into the dial.  The dial has luminous hands with dots at the 12, 3, 6 and 9.

Tucked inside the case is Hamilton's 17 jewel 688 movement - this grade, made by ETA, is very similar to the ETA automatics used in the early 1960's, except the 688 is a manual winding movement.

I recently picked up a Sebold project watch and it came with it's original bracelet and box!  The seller listed it as "non-running" but it was running when I opened the box.  Maybe they didn't know they had to wind it?

The bracelet looked hardly worn but based on the grime around the circumference of the back, the watch definitely shows signs of being worn.  It was definitely well taken care of though.

With the crystal out of the way, a little grime is visible on the bezel too.  The movement will lift out the back now and pivot on the two-piece stem, as long as I align the male / female joint correctly.

The 688 movement looks pristine - there's not a spec of dust or anything on it.   But that doesn't mean there is still oil in the jewels.  Eventually the oil inside will evaporate and a watch will run without oil but it will be wearing itself out.  So overhauling a clean-looking watch is still a good idea if you don't know when it was last serviced.  There are no markings at all in the case back - so I think I'm the first person in 50 years to see the inside of this watch!

This particular style of movement is very interesting.  Unlike most traditional movements, the Center Wheel of this movement isn't in the center at all.  In fact, it's in the lower left of the photo below and you can see the golden wheel at 7:00.

Since the Center Wheel is usually what passes through the main plate (aka pillar plate), it's what the cannon pinion is mounted onto.  The cannon pinion drives the minute hand.

Anyway, this watch has a "Roskopf" cannon pinion.  You can see in the center of the movement the silver-colored cannon pinion has a larger gold-colored wheel attached to the bottom of it.  The gold wheel is driven by the third wheel and it will slip on the cannon pinion when the stem is turned to set the time - thus setting the time won't jam the gears.  You can also see my tweezers are pointed to the setting wheel.  When you pull out the crown, the stem will turn the setting wheel, the setting wheel turns the minute wheel and the minute wheel will turn both the cannon pinion and the hour wheel (not shown).

Everything is cleaned and readied for re-installation.

A few turns to the mainspring provides enough power to get the balance spinning once it's reinstalled.    The watch will start running if the balance is installed in the right spot - assuming there's not an issue in the gear train.  It's always a relief to see it start going as it means I'm in the home stretch.

A little tweaking to the regulator brings the timing right in line.

Since I have the original box to go with the watch, I can dispense with my usual "pillow shot" and showcase what is a very original watch, bracelet and box included!  It's hard to believe this watch is now 50 years old, that's for sure.