1/9/2024 0 Comments Hamilton pocket watchThey united the company with the Aurora Watch Co. went bankrupt in 1892, and the owners sold their business to Lancaster businessmen. The table at left shows the years each of the movements were produced (up to the 1960s).The Keystone Standard Watch Co. The production dates for movements during Hamilton’s golden years are widely agreed upon. Movement serial numbers are documented and can help you with your search - particularly if you are trying to figure out if the correct movement is matched to a particular case. Movements might have been changed during the life of the watch, and Hamilton was known to use earlier movements in later watches (the WWII Cushion being a prime example, where mid-1920s movements were placed in 1940s watches!). These resources represent many man-hours of work and are invaluable to Hamilton afficionados.Įstablishing the vintage of your movement can help you to narrow things down to a particular range of years, though it is significantly less reliable. An archive of dial blueprints, which can assist with matching models with dial designs.An archive of photos of all the various models (where no photo is available, they show the image in the catalog).A “ model finder” thread that allows you to match case shape and materials to potential models.Scans of the Hamilton catalogs from 1910 to 1968. The Vintage Watch Forums have several very helpful resources for model identification, including: To a lesser extent, dial features, like the placement of the second hand and the shape of the sub-seconds (if any), are also very useful indicators. Pay close attention to things like the shape of the shape of the lugs, or the lines (or lack thereof) on the case. All watches of a particular model had the same case style (though the material may vary, i.e., yellow gold vs. The key to the identification process is to pay attention to details. When it comes to identifying the model of a particular Hamilton, the bottom line is: It’s all about the case - movements don’t determine model, case designs do. Those watches, while not displaying the Hamilton mark on their face, are legitimate Hamilton products. Hamilton did produce some models for the jeweler Tiffany & Co. Watches with dials that state “Hamilton movement” are not Hamilton watches rather they are watches that have been created by taking Hamilton movements and putting them into third party cases.(Note that Hamilton did not sign crowns with the Hamilton “H” until the 1950s, so you should not be seeing a signed crown on a pre-War model). The presence of a signed crown will add another piece to the puzzle. The inside of the case back will typically be marked with the name “Hamilton” the exterior of some case backs are also marked (particularly with models after the mid-1960s). The case back can also provide insight into the manufacturer. The only exceptions to this are the related or subsidiary brands, like Illinois (discussed further on the “ About Hamilton” page). Until the late 1960s, all Hamiltons are marked clearly on the dial with the word “Hamilton.” In the late 60s and thereafter, a few models reduced the brand mark to the Hamilton “H” logo, but the mark still always appeared on the dial.
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