1973 Auto Date Buccaneer

 Hamilton introduced calendar models in the early 1950s but if you if you see a Hamilton with a day and a date then you can be sure it's from the 1970s or later.  There are quite a few of them out there but, to be honest, I don't find them all that desirable.  It's not because I don't need to know what day it is, it's more a a result of the big and chunky 1970s styling.

Back in 2018 I did a post on a watch that looked a lot like an Auto Date Buccaneer.  Today I get to do another post on a watch that is much more likely to be a Buccaneer.  

The Buccaneer was introduced in 1973 and made for two years.  It came in a stainless steel case with a matching bracelet - yours for $110 - that's a little over $700 in todays dollars, and probably more like $1,100 once Trump is finished making America "great".

In 1974 the priced was increased to $120.  The Q/C II means the watch has a quick change setting capability so you can set the day and the date without moving the hour hand.  The stem has the positions... the winding position, then you pull the crown out a little to set the day in one direction or the date in the other.  Pull the crown out all the way and you can set the time.

My project watch arrived sans bracelet but appears to be in decent shape.  Stainless steel cases can usually take a beating and this one shows it's seen some action over the last 50 years.  I can tell from the catalog image that the bezel originally had a brushed finish.  That could be restored but I don't have the wheels to do it.  A good cleaning might be the best place to start.

Interestingly, this case back has the number 820002-3, which is different that the watch I did in 2018.

Based on the deep scratches on the case back, I'm going to assume the case back in on tight so I'll hold the case in a vice and used extra downward pressure on the case wrench.

Here's another interesting find, this watch has an 826 movement in it and not the 825 that I found in the 2018 watch.  All these ETA movements look very similar and share a lot of parts but they are not all the same.

Looking closely at the hands, they were very close to the dial.  That was a little odd.  I have to pull them anyway to remove the dial.  The dial is held on by two clamps that look like a backwards question mark.  You rotate them out of the movement and that releases the dial feet.

Uh-oh - the other side is missing it's clamp.  So there's nothing holding the dial in place.  The hands were close to the dial because the dial lifted off the mainplate.

With the dial out of the way you can see the calendar and date wheels.  They take up of the entire surface of the main plate so I'll have to figure out some way to secure the dial without using sticky "dial dots".  You can tell from the two wheels that the date rotates clockwise and the day rotates counter clockwise.

The day wheel just lifts right off to reveal the complications that change the day and the date.  There's a lot going on under the dial, that's for sure.

Disassembly starts with removing the hour wheel - this is what the hour hand is attached to.  Once its out of the way you can see the cannon pinion and minute wheel.  The cannon pinion drives the minute hand and the minute wheel synchronizes the hour wheel.

Piece by piece, all the parts are removed.  At this point you can see the little u-shaped spring that presses on the index lever on the left side of the movement.  This spring has a tendency to fling off into the ether and disappear forever - great care has to be used to not lose it.

Finally - the majority of the parts are removed from the front of the movement.  I'll take out the balance jewels once I remove the balance from the other side

The rotor and framework are held on with two screws.  Once they are out of the way the movement starts to look like your garden variety ETA movement.  Should be smooth sailing from this point.

Here's another interesting twist... there's no markings on the mainplate to what ETA caliber this is based on.  I expected to 2780 but there's nothing at all.  I can also see the post that the missing dial foot lever would attached to is also missing.  So I may need another mainplate to address the dial foot situation.

I have another Auto Date movement to see if I can use as a donor.

There's no rotor on it so I don't know if this is an 826 but it sure looks similar.

Nope - this setup is different from my project watch - I'd rather not get change out all of these parts.  That could be a larger can of worms.

While everything is in the ultrasonic, I'll install a new EverTite crystal with a silver (white) reflector ring.  The original crystal had some deep scratches that would be difficult to polish out.  A new crystal will be a nice improvement.

Everything is cleaned and ready for reassembly - there are a lot of parts in this movement, half of them are just for the day and date complication.

The basic movement is back together and running with a nice motion.  Let's see what the timer thinks of it.

It's running a little fast but the amplitude is great.  The beat error is well within my personal specs but I should be able to easily adjust it.  Notice the beat rate is faster than the usual 18000 beats per hour most pre-1969 models have.

Well, it turns out the hairspring stud won't move any further in the direction it needs to go so if I want to reduce the beat error I'll need to pull the balance from the balance cock.  That would really tempt fate so I'm going to let sleeping dogs lie and just slow the watch down a smidgen.  The beat error will have to do.

I advance the time until the date changes and then can set the hands at midnight.  After working with the movement and hands, I can see the dial is too loose without something to hold the dial feet.  So I need to think of something else to try.

The movement has two half-rings on the circumference that hold the dial off the movement.  I'll use a few sticky dial dots to hopefully hold the dial down on the side without the dial foot lever.

You can see the four round dots applied to the movement.  I'll fold them over to double up the thickness.  Once the dial is pressed down, it should be enough to hold the dial in place.  The round hole between the dots is where the dial foot goes through the movement.

Well this was more of a project than I was expecting but I think it turned out well.  Only time will tell if the dial stays in place.  If it moves the day of the week wheel will probably stop working and eventually the hour hand will hit an hour marker.  We'll just have to see... there's not much I can do without another 826 movement.

1952 Boulton B

Other than the railroad pocket watches, I think the most prolific Hamilton model is the Boulton.  In fact, it's still being made today!

There should probably be an asterisk after name though, as the model changed a little over the years.  When I think about the Boulton I equate it to the Volkswagen Beatle - even though it has changed a lot over the years, you know a Beatle when you see one.

The Boulton was introduced in 1940.  It used the 14/0 sized, 19 jewel 982 movement.  In 1952 the 982 was replaced by the 12/0 sized. 19 jewel 753 movement.  Because the shaped of the 14/0 movements is different than the shape of 12/0 movements, the case back has to be a different design.  In addition, the dial feet are in different locations.  Because of these differences, Hamilton denoted the new version as the Boulton B.  However, the catalogs still called it the Boulton.  From the outside it looks identical to the 1940 version.

Oddly, there is no Boulton in the 1953 catalogs but it does show up again in the 1954 catalog.  This time it showed up with a bracelet or a strap.

After 1954 the Boulton was discontinued for a few years and was reintroduced in 1960 as the Boulton II.  The Boulton II looks very similar to it's earlier brethren but the numerals are sans-serif and more modern looking.

My project watch is the earlier version and you really can't tell what variant it is unless you take a peek inside.  It's sporting an aftermarket bracelet and the plastic crystal is a bit beat up.  Other than that, it looks fairly dirty and it doesn't appear to be running.

The dial is a bit mottled but it's evenly mottled.  I'll give it a gentle wash but if it doesn't clean up easily then I'll leave it as is.  The Boulton B is much less common than the Boulton and finding a nicer Boulton B dial would be a challenge.  I believe this is an original dial since there's no markings on the side to indicate it's been refinished.  I'll take a mottled original dial over a nicely refinished dial - it's okay when a watch looks it's age.

Check out the inside of this case back.  It's clearly marked Boulton B.  It very dark inside.  I wonder if this watch was in a fire?  There's some wear on the back so this might be evidence of a soldering attempt.  Ultimately someone put some epoxy inside to seal up any gaps - as you can see by the wet-looking area at the bottom.

The 19 jewel 753 movement looks a lot like the soon-to-be-introduced 770 movement.  The 22 jewel 770 replaced the 12/0 movements (the 753, plus the black 754 used in gold models, and the 17 jewel 752 movement used in 10K gold filled models).  The main difference is the 770 introduced shock jewels to protect the balance.

With the dial removed you get a clear look at the main plate and the extra jewels over the escape wheel pivots.  Covering the escape wheel on both ends brings the jewel count from 17 to 19.

Here's a photo of the outside of the case back to show you where there was a repair made at some point.

While all the parts are being cleaned I will prep a new glass crystal for installation.

Everything is nice and shiny.  Time for reassembly.

The reassembled movement is frozen in time but ticking away with a nice motion.  The serial number on the barrel bridge dates the watch to 1952.

It's running a little fast according to the timer but that's an easy adjustment.

Too fast, too slow, too fast, too slow - eventually I got it dialed in to +5 seconds per day.  That's a good place to leave it.

A new glass crystal and a fresh leather strap make huge improvements to the aesthetics of this watch.  I like the mottled dial - it good honest age and the solid gold numerals all sparkle.

1953 Dixon

 If the Hamilton Watch Company ever went through it's "awkward teenage years", it would have to be in the mid 1950's.  That would make them late bloomers though, since men's wrist watches began 30 years prior.  Designs in the 1950s got pretty funky though.  If Hamilton ever made an "ugly" watch it was probably in the 1950s.

The 1953 Dixon wouldn't win an ugly watch competition but it does illustrate some of the unique attributes that watches started to exhibit... lots of angle, contours, and aggressive features - kind of like a dog with a spiked collar.

The 1953 Dixon is the second model to share that name.  The earlier Dixon was produced in 1935.  Other than the name, there are few similarities between the two model.  The 1953 Dixon was produced for three years.  

The watch was cased in 10K gold filled.  The dial is sterling silver and features solid 18K markers and numerals.  Tucked behind the dial is Hamilton's' 8/0 sized 747 movement.  I guess it's possible that a 1955 version might have a 730 movement - which replaced the 747 in 1955.

One interesting trivia item with the Dixon is in 1955 the dial changed.  Can you spot the difference?  The dial markers are squares and not elongated diamonds.

My project watch would appear to be a 1955 model, based on the dial.  It's a bit beat up and is missing the second hand but looks like it should clean up well.  The crystal is plastic - a good clue that it's not original.  It's also a "cylinder" and domed from top to bottom, while the catalog shows the crystal is flat.

The case back is engraved with a presentation from "Mom and Dad" from April 1955 - another good sign that this is a 1955 example.

With the bezel removed, you can get a clearer look at the dial.  I can tell from the finish that this is an older refinished dial.  I can also tell by the little notch on the side of the dial by the 3 marker.

The movement is a 747 caliber.  One thing that is interesting is the balance doesn't have straight arms.  Instead, they are curved.  This was an attempt at shock protection.  When the 730 movement was introduced, the big improves was actual shock protection for the balance staff.

The inside of the case back makes identifying the model easy - the name is right there in the back. 

With the dial out of the way, check out how dirty the movement is!  You can hardly see the pivot on the 4th wheel for the second hand, it's obscured by dust.

While all the parts are in the ultrasonic being cleaned, I'll prep a new glass crystal for installation.

Somehow during the cleaning process the outside layer of the crown lifted off.  This is due to the wear on the knurling.  Fortunately it's still attached so I'll secure it with a little glue.  Eventually it may need to be replaced but it should last for a while.

Okay - everything is nice and sparkly and ready to be reassembled.

With the watch wound up and the balance reinstalled the now-running watch is put on the timer.  A quick adjustment should be able speed it up a little.

There... 15 seconds fast per day is a good place to leave it for now.

The finished watch looks great with a new crystal.  A replacement second hand is a nice improvement too.  It's now ready for some more wrist time.