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New photos,16 size Hamilton dial-genuine? "Click" to Login or Register 
posted
This dial fronts a 975 Hamilton 17 jewel Hunter configuration in a triple hinged C.W.C.Co. case in pretty good condition.
- movement serial # 1577032 circa 1924

Is this dial genuine, period correct or a reproduction. Iv'e had this watch for about 8 years and and am just now getting around to asking about the dial.
Any input would be appreciated.

 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
IHC Member 1291
Picture of Buster Beck
posted
Rick it's obviously a "conversion" dial without a seconds bit to use a hunter movement in an open face case. A lot of watch companies made conversion dials usually to move hunter movements that were overstocked in their inventory to go in open face cases which were becoming more popular.

What material is it made of ? Have you had the dial off ?

It appears to be period correct for the movement from 1924 that it is on.

regards,
bb
 
Posts: 6376 | Location: Texas in the USA | Registered: July 27, 2009
posted
Hi Buster and thank you. It's so nice to draw from the "Books of Knowledge" from this site. I have not had the dial off but to me it appears to be enamel. I brought it in a couple of years ago to have it checked out and there are a couple of worn parts that need to be replaced at some point and I never thought to ask about the dial composition. I bought it at an auction years ago simply because I liked the dial and case knowing nothing about a pocket watch. Courtesy of this site I know considerably more now by comparison and still some big gaps yet but have the benefit of the knowledge and experience of the members here to fall back on.
Once again thank you.
Regards
Rick
 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
IHC Member 1610
Picture of Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.
posted
I have a 975 that was converted to a open face model like Buster said. Mine is a fancy metal dial with no seconds chapter signed Hamilton.
 
Posts: 3850 | Location: Georgia in the USA | Registered: September 22, 2011
IHC Member 1291
Picture of Buster Beck
posted
Thank you Rick. Probably having a look at the back side of this dial would give us a better idea of whether it was made after Hamilton closed or not.

I lean toward aftermarket, but I can't be positive without seeing the back. A lot of aftermarket dials I have seen had the same slightly "off white tint" to them which yours appears to have.

regards,
bb
 
Posts: 6376 | Location: Texas in the USA | Registered: July 27, 2009
IHC President
Life Member
Picture of Lindell V. Riddle
posted

Like Buster pointed out that one looks like an oddity to me.

We must immediately consider the fact Hamilton's Grade 975 is a Hunter Movement meaning that when the movement left Hamilton in the 1920s we would expect it to have fronted a dial with the pendant at number 3 not 12 and it also would have had a seconds register.

So, there are reasons to believe the dial in question is not original and it is of course obvious the 4th Wheel Pinion (what drives the seconds hand) is not in evidence on this movement. Hamilton was known to sell leftover stock to their dealers at greatly reduced prices and the alterations to this movement are not what we expect to find on a Hamilton Watch. But, there are unscrupulous re-sellers who like to play tricks by putting together an odd-looking watch they then fraudulently claim is a "rare and valuable" item.

Look very carefully at the number "6" and you will see it is "different" in this instance a bit bolder and darker than the other numerals in addition to the shading difference Buster pointed out. Harry and Buster are right about there being after-market "conversion" dials but the term "after-market" implies non-original rather than being from the original product manufacturer.

Most of the "conversion" dials are metal like Harry's and were often made up by dial refinishing companies.

I cannot recall any Hamilton watch that originally came with the font or dial signature we see on Rick's example that did not have a seconds register. Checking my collection even the 2974B Comparing Watch which fronts a dial with this font had a seconds register in addition to the later style Hamilton signature.

My thinking is the dial in question may turn out to be contrived using computer-generated scan of a Hamilton C.P.R. or "Canadian Pacific Railway" style number 577 dial with an inverted (upside-down) "9" inserted as a "6" to replace the seconds register when the dial in question was printed.

Seeing the back Eek of Rick's dial could prove very interesting.

Lindell

Wink


This 1924 issued "C. P. R. Dial" is Double-Sunk with seconds register...


 
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
posted
I had to look twice at that one , the 6 is bolder and darker , I would love to see the back also . Harry do you think your dial is by hamilton ?
 
Posts: 1574 | Location: Maryland in the USA | Registered: June 04, 2015
Picture of Clark Reed
posted
I am surmising.... that the reason the 6 is bolder and darker is because the CPR D/S dial shown here does have the seconds bit and perhaps the maker of this dial somehow copied it and then had to add the 6 because the CPR dial does not have a 6....


Clark Reed
 
Posts: 531 | Location: Anderson, South Carolina in the USA | Registered: April 09, 2013
posted
Hello all, as there is some interest here it would be my pleasure to call/take the watch to my watch repair fellow to take the dial off and will take some pictures. Currently he is up to his neck in clocks so it may not be right away. I will post here when I have some pictures of the back of the dial.
Thank you all for your comments.
Regards
Rick
 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
IHC Member 1610
Picture of Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.
posted
Kevin I believe it to be an original dial but I have no way of knowing. I bought the watch a long time ago for if my memory serves me right about $26. The seller thought it odd that it did not have a seconds chapter which peaked my interest. I have a post on it https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...703955667#9703955667 The dial was redone by International Dial Co.

 
Posts: 3850 | Location: Georgia in the USA | Registered: September 22, 2011
posted
Thanks Harry , does the 6 look bolder on your dial also ? or am I thinking too much ! That is a nice looking dial . i was just curious about it , I often look at old catalogs that had pages of dials that showed everything from masons to fishermen and wonder where they went .
 
Posts: 1574 | Location: Maryland in the USA | Registered: June 04, 2015
IHC Member 2030
posted
Mystery!
I like Lindell’s theory , please show back of dial.
Mike
 
Posts: 1114 | Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia in the USA | Registered: February 08, 2015
IHC Member 1610
Picture of Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.
posted
Kevin The 6 does look a little bolder to me also. Also if you look at the shadow on all the rest of the numbers the shadow is to the right and below the numbers. If you look at the 6 the shadow is above and to the left of the number. The International Dial Company told me they had about 1000 original Hamilton dial patterns and this is the way the finished it. I don't know if the 6 was added on or if the original template was that way. Here is what the original dial looked like.

 
Posts: 3850 | Location: Georgia in the USA | Registered: September 22, 2011
IHC Member 1610
Picture of Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.
posted
Mike here is the back of the dial. I have heard Lindell's theory from other sources and it does make since. Mine is marked "Made in the USA" also and one theory was that it was an overseas version and was converted for overseas as a lot of movements overseas do not have a seconds hand.

 
Posts: 3850 | Location: Georgia in the USA | Registered: September 22, 2011
IHC Member 1725
posted
Great photo of the dial Rick, might be my eyes but to me the "6" looks off center. It looks closer to the 29 min mark. It just doesn't look like something Hamilton would have done.

Does anyone else see it that way?

Tim
 
Posts: 376 | Location: Conover, North Carolina in the USA | Registered: July 07, 2012
IHC Member 1610
Picture of Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.
posted
Tim it looks centered to me although if you look at the space between the 6 and the 5 and the 6 and the 7 it appears closer to the 5. I believe it looks that way because of the shape of the numbers.
 
Posts: 3850 | Location: Georgia in the USA | Registered: September 22, 2011
IHC Member 1725
posted
I noticed that also Harry, but when I look at the bottom of the "6" the distance between the 29 min mark and the 31 min mark appears different.

Something just doesn't look right!

Tim
 
Posts: 376 | Location: Conover, North Carolina in the USA | Registered: July 07, 2012
IHC Member 1541
Picture of Lorne Wasylishen
posted
This is a shot of the 9 and rotated 6 on Rick's dial

 
Posts: 2093 | Location: British Columbia in Canada | Registered: March 02, 2011
IHC Member 1541
Picture of Lorne Wasylishen
posted
Side by side of Lindell's dial and Rick's dial.


Here's a spitball theory. Hamilton took uncut dials and stamped the 6 on them to provide conversion dials in order to sell hunter movements that were no longer in favour.

I admit they could have done a better job on the 6.

There are a few quirks about these dials that are similar.

The top of the 2 in the 12 looks a little fat.
The top of the 2 reaches to the left.
The 1 in the 10 looks slightly taller than the 0

 
Posts: 2093 | Location: British Columbia in Canada | Registered: March 02, 2011
IHC President
Life Member
Picture of Lindell V. Riddle
posted

This topic is getting a little hard to follow.

When the topic began it was about Rick Farmer's WHITE DIAL and the Harry introduced his METAL DIAL that was re-finished by the dial refinishing company that has many old-time dies to work with.

On the WHITE DIAL we have Clark Reed and I both surmising it is a recently created dial. I posted... "My thinking is the dial in question may turn out to be contrived using computer-generated scan of a Hamilton C.P.R. or "Canadian Pacific Railway" style number 577 dial with an inverted (upside-down) "9" inserted as a "6" to replace the seconds register when the dial in question was printed.

Seeing the back Eek of Rick's dial could prove very interesting."

And then Clark apparently agreed, with... "I am surmising.... that the reason the 6 is bolder and darker is because the CPR D/S dial shown here does have the seconds bit and perhaps the maker of this dial somehow copied it and then had to add the 6 because the CPR dial does not have a 6...."

OH YES, and that is why I posted the Original Hamilton C.P.R. Dial which also appears here...

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...?r=39510695#39510695


REMEMBER we have now seen the back of Harry's refinished METAL DIAL which was redone in a slightly different pattern (it now has "shadowed" numbers which it did not have prior to the recent refinishing, so compare Harry's "before and after" images carefully.) and we know it was once the practice with metal dials to include dial refinishing as part of the watchmaker's servicing of a metal-dialed wrist or pocket watch.

In my opinion Harry's METAL DIAL is one of those sold to jewelers by after-market suppliers back in the 1920s and through the Depression Era. (Similar methods are used to make some of the counterfeit dials today.) Unfortunately, there is no way to determine the number of times a METAL DIAL may have been refinished.

Refinishing a dial alters it so that originality is forever gone. For that reason surviving watches with top condition original, not refinished metal dials command a premium with collectors. One more point, the metal dials when original, usually have markings on the back, those are usually obliterated as part of the refinishing process.

Back to the WHITE DIAL which some of us view with suspicion, Lorne posted an interesting comparison while I was typing and Lorne's comparisons, particularly the 9 versus 6 mockup are very interesting! (But I must respectfully disagree that Hamilton would have sold such a sloppy-looking dial as the WHITE DIAL in question.) Leading me to again show a 640X480 of the Genuine 1924 C.P.R. dial from my collection which has completely uniform, perfectly matched numerals posted long ago here...

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...?r=39510695#39510695

And shown again below, study this carefully...


 
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
IHC Member 1541
Picture of Lorne Wasylishen
posted
Ha ha, Lindell, I was editing out the photo from that thread and putting in your photo as you were posting.
 
Posts: 2093 | Location: British Columbia in Canada | Registered: March 02, 2011
IHC President
Life Member
Picture of Lindell V. Riddle
posted

Thanks Lorne, we are both putting a lot of late-night time Eek into chasing down the WHITE DIAL in this topic!

More of what makes this hobby fun!

Nice work my friend!

Lindell

Wink
 
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
IHC Member 1613
posted
This is a conversion dial I have in a drawer...I tried to sell it on the group a while back but noone was interested so I thought I just keep it ...Interesting conversation piece...What do you think about this one...Factory Dial???Looks like it might be to me but I am surely no expert..

 
Posts: 2006 | Location: Chesapeake City, Maryland in the USA | Registered: September 27, 2011
IHC Member 1613
posted
Pic 2

 
Posts: 2006 | Location: Chesapeake City, Maryland in the USA | Registered: September 27, 2011
IHC Member 1357
posted
Looks like the real deal to me!

Roger
 
Posts: 4088 | Location: Carbon, Texas in the USA | Registered: January 24, 2010
IHC Member 1291
Picture of Buster Beck
posted
I agree with Roger. The few porcelain conversion dials Hamilton made that I have seen had the porcelain on the back side also. Nice dial Gary !

regards,
bb
 
Posts: 6376 | Location: Texas in the USA | Registered: July 27, 2009
IHC Member 1613
posted
Thanks Buster and Roger...I was thinking this was a factory dial, but was looking for someone with a little more knowledge than myself to confirm...Thanks again, Gary
 
Posts: 2006 | Location: Chesapeake City, Maryland in the USA | Registered: September 27, 2011
posted
Hello, here are a couple of photos of the back of the dial. The back of the dial is glazed.
also a shot of the dial and watch back plate.
Rick

 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
posted
again

 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
posted
dial

 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
posted
plate

 
Posts: 535 | Location: Innisfil in Ontario, Canada | Registered: November 04, 2014
IHC Member 2030
posted
Thanks Rick, originator of this interesting discussion.
What are we seeing here seems to have come from the factory, in my ignorant opinion.
Mike
 
Posts: 1114 | Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia in the USA | Registered: February 08, 2015
IHC Member 1555
posted
I am still a bit skeptical with regard it coming from the Hamilton Factory, a Factory yes but maybe a Swiss based one (glass repo dial????) or maybe a re-fired dial to get rid of the subdial, as that 6 is definitely odd, which everyone has alluded to.

I would like to see that dial back in much better light and at different angles to see the glass enameling better.
 
Posts: 2260 | Location: Gladstone in Australia | Registered: January 14, 2011
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