1966 Dateline T-675

There's been a longstanding gap in the Hamilton catalogs - the 1967 version is missing.  I don't know if there never was one or if the 1966-1967 version simply covered both years.  Regardless, there's a fairly scarce model called the Dateline T-675 that doesn't show up in the 1966 catalog.

The Dateline T-675 came in a 10K rolled gold plated case.  There's not much known about it other than an example has been found with the original sticker on the case back - thus identifying it.

My project watch came courtesy of a friend of mine who said he "had his grandfather's Hamilton watch somewhere" and after several years of looking, he finally found it.  It wasn't working and was obviously well-worn.

The main concern is the case back is worn all the way through, presumably from winding although there's some wear to the opposite side too.

The single-piece case opens through the crystal.  It looks like there was an attempted repair at some point using silver solder.  There are several prior service marks inside the case.  There are two numbers inside the watch.  The upper one starting with P is unique to this example and the other one is the model number.  Notice it's 997266.  The 66 indicates this model was introduced in 1966.  Why it's not in the catalog is a mystery.

The crown is an obvious replacement, as it has a Bulova Accutron logo.

The female side of the two piece stem is retained in the crown and one side has broken off.  So I'll need a new stem to go with a proper crown.

Tucked inside the case is what I believe is a Hamilton 619 movement but to be honest, it's hard to make out the number.  It looks like pretty much every other pink Buren micro rotor movement except this one has a calendar complication on the front.

The dial side of the movement has a lot going on.  Two screws secure the framework that covers the parts that advance the date wheel.  Remove the screws and you can lift off the cover.

There's not too much to this complication.  As the minute hand moves it advances the hour hand.  The hour hand rotates the gold wheel on the right and eventually it extends a finger to sweep the date wheel counter clockwise.  The silver lever on the left is held in place by a spring in the cover and it indexes and centers the wheel in the date window.

The hole in the case has resulted in rust in the barrel bridge.  One of the screws is rusted in place and won't come out.  Hopefully my ultrasonic cleaner will shake it free.

Yeah, this hole is definitely going to be a problem.

While everything is being cleaned I'll prep a new crown and a female stem for installation.  I'll have to trim the threaded end to the perfect length to match the male side while it's installed in the case.

All the parts are cleaned and ready to be reassembled - there are a LOT of parts in this movement but practice makes perfect and I won't have any left over.

The ultrasonic allowed me to separate all the parts in the barrel bridge.  Now I can reinstall them.

The movement is mostly reassembled and powered up with a few turns of the mainspring.  Now I have to reinstall the balance jewels and then add the balance.  Notice the Buren caliber stamped under the balance is 1009 - that would be helpful if I needed parts.

Voila - my camera has frozen time but the movement is ticking away with a nice motion.

Not too shabby - I'll leave it here until it's ready for reassembly.

The reassembled watch has one major issue left - I have to address the hole in the case.   I'll have to consult a goldsmith or two.

I had two jewelers turn me down and not be able to repair the case.  It's back to plan B... either I fill it with an epoxy of some sort or I try to do it myself.  The challenge with solder is it won't fill a hole.  It will fill a gap in a seam but it won't close a hole. 

I have nothing to lose and need some gold so I stripped an old dial of a few of it's solid gold numerals.

I melted the numerals with a butane torch and hammered them into discs.  With the case fluxed, I'll try to solder the gold with gold solder and see if I can close the hole up.

Well... that's not too too bad.  I'll have to keep at it.

After about 10 attempts I'm starting to see some progress.  I wouldn't say this was easy but at least I haven't screwed it up yet.

Alright, my finished project appears to be sealed but I'll put a dollop of epoxy on the inside just to be safe.

My finished project looks fantastic from the front.  It will be best to keep a close eye on the case though and keep the watch well away from water.  This was a nice save though of a very uncommon Hamilton model.  Hope fully it will be good for another 50 years.