1960 Sea Rover

The vast majority of Hamilton models came in four typical case materials... solid gold, gold filled, rolled gold plate or stainless steel.  Sometimes they're a combination, like solid gold with a stainless steel back.  There are a few rare circumstances where platinum and sterling silver were also used.

However, the least common case material is chromium plated nickel silver.  There are only two models that used this material.  One is the 1959 Sea Scout and the other is the 1960 Sea Rover.

The Sea Rover was produced for two years and in the second years it was the Sea Rover B - if you look closely, the Sea Rover B has an all stainless steel case.

The Sea Rover came with a choice of black or white embossed dials with a unique textured finish that reminds me of a scallop shell.  The watch was available with either a matching bracelet or a strap.

Behind the dial is a Swiss made Hamilton 671, at least in one of the models.  I'm not sure if thats the original or the B-model grade.

I recently picked up a Sea Rover and although it was in terrible shape, I bought it anyway since I've never seen this model before.  I don't know if the Sea Rover is "rare" but it's definitely not a common model.

As received, the watch appears to be "rode hard and put away wet".  The crystal is cracked, the dial and hands are very dirty, the dial has a faint radium burn from the hour hand and the crown is worn to brass on the side.

The back isn't much better.  The sides of the watch are heavily worn.

Fortunately I was able to open the case back without much difficulty.  This style of case back can be tricky to open.  The 671 inside appears to be in good shape, albeit a little dirty.

Here's something you don't see very often on pre-1969 Hamiltons... the case was made in Germany.

Everything is cleaned and dried before being reassembled.

The movement is back to running order and looks promising while in the movement holder.

Sure enough, just a little tweaking to the regulator is needed to bring the beat rate in line.

A new crown, fresh crystal and a nice strap complete the restoration.  This model has a special crystal that accepts a reflector ring.  I'll have to see if I can find one but in the meantime the basic PHD-style crystal I installed looks pretty good.  The dial and hands cleaned up nicely - I was glad, as getting this dial redone would be a challenge I bet.