I have been asked by a friend to find a 992B manufactured in 1959, the year of his birth. I assume that serial numbers C495,000 to C510,000 would cover this. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Depends on who you ask, but the very latest info is listed here in the 992B research forum. Here is the link

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=3206049661&f=254108073&m=864108073

Well, I don't know what to think. The 185 list, Cooksey's list, and the Oldwatch.com list all disagree as to the numbers for 1959!

There have been several lists published. Each later edition based on more complete information, factory documentation, and dated examples that come to light.

As an example, Terry has or has access to several 992b's with the original sales slips. If these pre-date the serial #'s in the published list, then the list needs to be updated. This is the purpose of the latest revised list (see the link above).

You may want to reverse your hunt... go find a watch first, then look for a list that matches it to 1959.

Jerry,

Charley said it very well, as new information becomes available we can then focus far more clearly. Our current 992B listing is based line-by-line on Hamilton Factory Records through 1954 followed by the latest information available including documented examples and other reliable sources. Still, toward the end it is a "best-guesstimate" and will continue to be a work in progress. I urge you to read some examples posted in the 992B Research Forum. Based upon considerable research it is reasonable to believe the 992B production numbers for 1959 are correctly within the range C455001-C461700 we have specified.

Most serial number lists you'll find are way off the mark. To illustrate, here's a true story. Several years ago I bought a fully documented Hamilton 922 number 3011700 with an April 25, 1932 presentation. The Hamilton list in the "Complete Guide to Watches" indicates 1938 for production of that particular serial number. But how could my watch have been presented six years before it was built? That was my first-ever question to Cooksey Shugart. Mr. Shugart explained to me his list was arrived at by taking 525,169 which was the last Hamilton serial number he was aware of, dividing it by the number of years Hamilton was in business then assigning the same production to every one of those years. Many of the lists you'll see in books and on web-sites use similar guesswork.

Hope this helps,

Lindell