This has been a very challenging year for me and my family. There have been many demands for my time in a myriad different directions. The one thing I have not been able to do is work on watches. However, it's now December and I'm finally off for the rest of the year. I still have a ton of things I need to accomplish but I've found some time to work on the long queue of projects on my work bench.
The oldest, and first in line, is a 1948 Dennis. The Dennis was introduced in 1948 and produced through 1951. It has typical 1940's styling and is rather small by today's standards. I would describe it as "sleek" and "refined". It was offered only with a sterling silver dial, outfitted with applied solid gold numerals.
The case is 10K yellow gold filled and that would imply it has a 14/0 sized 980 movement with 17 jewels. The 980 movement is essentially the same as the 982 movement but lacks cap jewels on the escape wheel. All of the other parts are interchangeable.
My project watch is "well worn" and shows it. The lens on my camera was smudged, unbeknownst to me, so my photos are a bit soft. My apologies.
One of the interesting aspects of the Dennis is it has a fairly narrow lug width and takes a 9/16" strap, or 14mm in today's parlance. That's typically the realm of ladies straps today so you have to find a "Long" strap to outfit a Dennis for a man's wrist. In this watch's situation, a one-piece nato-style strap has been added. I think these straps look a little too casual for a fine dress watch but my main concern is they add a lot of wear to the case back too.
With the strap removed you can see the wear that a nato-strap can inflict. It's not a concern for a stainless steel case back but for gold filled you would eventually regret this application.
The dial is an older refinished dial. It's close to being correct but the seconds register is a little too narrow. The green silhouetting around the numbers is a tell tale sign that moisture has gotten into the case. There's nothing I can do about it, as cleaning a refinished dial can often result in removal of the printing. The second hand is black and is clearly a replacement.
My camera lens is dirty but it's clear enough to show that the crystal on this watch is long overdue for replacement.
The inside of the case back makes identification easy - it's clearly marked "Dennis". There are loads of watchmaker marks inside so this watch has been well cared for as well as well used.
The 980 movement is highly damascened - an interesting attribute since only watchmaker's would appreciate how well made Hamilton movements are. Some of the black enamel has fallen out of the engravings - that happens after repeated cleanings. The movement looks good overall - just some rust on the stem and keyless works.
The back of the dial has numbers scratched in. That's a clear sign that the dial has been refinished at least once. The numbers don't represent anything to anyone other than whoever refinished the dial.
While the parts are being cleaned, I will prep a new glass crystal and white alloy mainspring for installation.
Everything is cleaned and dried before reassembly.
My blurry camera photo has frozen the balance in time but the reassembled movement is ticking away with a nice motion.
Overall it's running great. The beat error of 3.1 is just outside my upper spec of 3.0ms. That's a measure of how well centered the balance is relative to the pallet for. It can be adjusted but doing so also risks goofing up an otherwise fine balance. In this case my instincts are to let sleeping dogs lie.
A new 14mm strap and a nice crystal go a long way toward improving the appearance of this Dennis. I was able to clean up the dial a smidgeon but it will continue to show the water damage unless it gets refinished again. But when you reach the age of 76 you might show some spots too. To my eye, it's just part of the appeal of a vintage Hamilton watch.
