1955 Stormking I

If you had deep pockets but not a lot of space and wanted to have a nice Hamilton collection you could try to find all of the solid 18K models.  There are only about 15 of them, if you include some real rarities but you'll find a cool dozen in the Hamilton catalogs.  One of them is the 1955 Stormking I. 

The Stormking I looks a lot like the other early Stormking models II through IV released at the same time.  However, the Stormking I has a unique dial with a silver pearled track, gold applique arrows and solid 18K numerals and markers.  The case is solid 18K gold and the back is stainless steel.

Tucked inside the case is an 18 jewel US-made 735 movement, unless it's an early 1955 model that received the last of the 748 movements.  The Stormking was produced through 1957 so you're more likely to see the shock jeweled 735.

One of the unique features of the model is it originally had "silhouette hands" where radium was applied to the back of the hands so the hands would be back-lit by the glow of the radium on the dial.  Of course after 60 years the radium can take its toll on the dial.

My project watch looks pretty good.  In fact, my camera really doesn't do the watch justice.

It may seem "cheap" to put stainless steel on the back but when you consider how soft gold can be, stainless steel really isn't a bad choice from a wrist wear standpoint.

As expected, this example has a 735 movement inside.  This movement was introduced in 1955 and replaced the 748 movement.  The only difference between the two is the 735 has shock jewels to protect the balance staff.

The inside of the case back makes identifying the model as easy as can be... the name is stamped inside.

The dial would be very hard to refinish correctly - look at all these details.  There are a couple of slight scratches but otherwise it looks good to my eye.

Everything is cleaned, dried and ready to be reassembled.

The movement is bright and shiny now.  Let's see what the timer thinks of it.

Not too shabby... I can slow it down a little but it should settle down a little on it's own after a while.

And here's the finished watch ready for it's pillow-shot.  You have to be careful polishing 18K watches too - it's very easy to soften the sharp edges if you're not careful.  This watch looks great, even in my merciless light tent.