Hamilton Gothic or Old Engish Signature on Dial

September 26, 2011, 22:42

Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.

I have spent the last few days going through the site looking up information about Hamilton dials. I have also had a lot of help from some very gracious members. My new question that I have not found an answer to is this; I have a Hamilton 16s 4 foot dial that has neither the Scipt Signature or the Block Signature. It can best be descibed as Gothic or Old English and it is all lower case letters. The "H" is not capitalized. Could this be a Swiss dial?

September 27, 2011, 00:31

Lindell V. Riddle

Hello Harry,

A picture of your dial would narrow this down pretty quickly.

To that end I photographed a 950 Pendant-Set with Double Sunk four-foot "Old English" dial from my collection, that image is below this posting. There was a very similar Single Sunk version sold in out IHC Trading Mart in August, here is a link to that item... Hamilton 17J 972 RR "Old English" Dial [SOLD] Let us know if either of these matches with the one you were asking about. I also have a three-foot version of this same dial and if I remember my research correctly this style dial signature was available through the first decade or so of the Twentieth Century, primarily on "dress watches" whereas a bolder dial is most often found on Railroad Watches to make it easier to read in adverse conditions.

Now, for those unfamiliar with the term "four foot dial" that is not the size in feet but rather it refers to the fact Hamilton oddly used dials with four rather than the conventional three feet on their early 16-size movements. They changed over to three feet somewhere around the 872000 movement number. The later three foot dials interchange between Hunter and Open-Face movements.

The signature you see below is what I would call "Old English" and that is considered a capital "H" in Old English Font for what it's worth.

Hope this information is of help to you.

Lindell

Hamilton "Old English" signature dial on 950 Pendant-Set...

September 27, 2011, 00:34

Buster Beck

Here's a listing from an old english style dial I sold recently with some perhaps helpful information :

Old English Hamilton dial

regards,
bb

September 27, 2011, 00:45

Harry J. Hyaduck Sr.

Hello Lindell,

Thank you very much for the reply. Yes the other dial is just like my 4 foot dial. It is not double sunk. I do not know what it came off of but the only 4 foot movements I have are all 974's. So I will asume it can go on any 974 pre 1910 which I have a few. Would that be a good assumption?

Thanks again for helping the new guy. It is nice to meet you.
Harry