hello all. I know this is a kind of question that may best be answered by personal preference but.....is there a "best" year for 992/992B as far as quality goes? thanks

For me it's been the earlier models with the nice demaskeening and the 2 screws on the crown wheel. I find the later 992B look very clean and industrial and have lost their flair, but hey that's me all over

I agree with you Roland. we have lost a sense of style and class in some things.

Heck. we've lost our sense of style and class in everything.

By "best" do you mean mechanically the best or aesthetically the best? You'll get different answers depending on which one you're talking about.

I'd think that the "best mechanical" 992 is probably the 992E variety. I don't recall the production years off the top of my head, but I'd think somewhere in the middle would be good.

As far as aesthetics go, the best looking movements are the model 1 variety with the fancy damaskeening. No doubt about it. They didn't come in the more emblematic factory cases that the model 2s (eventually) did, but they're very cool to open up and look at.

None of this is to downplay the model 2 (straight line damaskeening) version, though. They're fine watches too, and the later ones came in Hamilton factory cases. Mine is in a BOC #2 case and I absolutely love it. The bar damaskeening isn't as flashy as the pattern version, but it's actually quite striking in and of itself.

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the various varieties of 992s. If I had the money I'd love to own one of each.

Two screw version would be my pick, but I would probably spend a bit less and get the 990 which in my book is a better watch.

I agree with you Claude. the 990 is a nice piece of work. forgive my ignorance, but is there a lot of difference mechanically between the 990 and 992? I have read there is and isn't.

I concur with Chris that mechanically a 992E is nice. Here's my other 1921 model 4 which isn't as fancy to look at compaired to my earlier 992, but I think after WWII they got more plainer, yet mechanically more robust.

Roland.

Looks like your 992 is very close to mine in serial number, Roland. Mine also has the wavy line pattern on the winding wheels. It's a fantastic watch. One of my favorites in my collection and my daily cary watch.

I think the earlier 992's with fancy damaskeening, especially those that are fully marked, are the best.They are easy to find and are more reasonable to buy than the 992B's.The "B"s ,while they are mechanically the best watch money can buy, and I don't mean to offend anyone, look like a dollar watch compared to any 992.When they came out, it seems like Hamilton had lost something in the finishing department.The same thing happened with the Waltham Vanguard and Elgin's B.W. Raymond.The newer they are, the less quality finish they have!

I am not sure how much better the 992B watches were! They were adjusted to one more position but that would be pendant up, dial up dial down, then the pendant at 3,6,9 and (would have to check for the correct priority)the difference between the pendant at 3 and at 9 was probably very little and I tend to think the adjusted 8 vs 9 position was a bit of a marketing strategy in the order how much does 23 jewels have an advantage over 21 jewels. The later ones had the special allow hairspring and balance but for the average collector that never takes the watches out in extreme cold and extreme heat that is probably not any advantage either. I would buy what attracts you, if nice looks attract you then go with the earlier versions, if technical specs attract you then swing for the later 992? versions I like the looks, the gjs, the nice DMK effect. The 990's were better watches for several reasons, they started with DR, the early 992's were SR, the 990 had gjs the 992 didn't, 990 had gold train, and poised pallet fork where the 992 didn't and in the Hamilton line in the early days the 990 was about 10-20% more costly depending on year, the last year of the 990 was 1919 and the price difference was about 10% when they first came out it was close to a 20% difference. Either way both are nice watches but the later 992's just never attracted me in the same boat as the later BWR's or Walthams.

Some of the early Hamiltons were beautiful movements and they were good timekeeping railroad grade watches such as the 994 the 990, 996, 950 and of course the 992s... but The best ones were the 950B and 992B and how can one say that the 950B is not a beautiful movement..

You can take five 992Bs or five 950Bs that still have all the original parts and have not been messed up by someone, take them all apart at the same time mix up the parts then put them back together and you will come up with five 992Bs and five 950Bs that will all run. There is no way you can make this work with the earlier grade Hamilton watches.

Since we're on 992B's the earlier years had gold center wheels and gold jewel settings. At some point (roughly C100000) they lost the gold center wheel. Later year 992Bs also lost the gold jewel settings. The earlier models have porcelain dials. The latter melamine dials, which are no where near the quality.

Earlier factory cased 992 railroad models were offered in yellow, rose, white, or green gold filled depending on case model. At the end of the 992B's all you could get was yellow gold filled or yellow rolled gold. The 992B's were offered in stainless steel, base metal, nickel chrome, and a gold filled case with stainless steel bezel and back, although that case may say their base metal. I'm not sure about the solid gold (14K) case offerings but those are the costliest and highest quality cases. The 992E, with a gold center wheel, is the highest mechanical quality 992 with screwed in jewel settings.

The 992B is by far easier to maintain and service. Also, you can get away without winding a 992B for more that 48 hours which is a huge plus if you forget to wind it one day. My 992's wont run as long. As far as accuracy goes the 992 and 992B both seem to run about the same if they've been cleaned oiled and adjusted.

Samie,
I'll bet this "B" could also be mixed in with those five 992b's to be mixed up and reassembled. I've heard there were improvements to the balance but as far as I know the staff's the same. As well as this model having a different pattern it has my initials on the dial. LOL
Gotta love it,
RR

The comment that the Hamilton 992B or 950B were the best RR watches ever but I have always wondered if that was advertising and urban legend being passed on. Has any independent party ever taking equalivent models of Elgin, Waltham, Illinois (prior to being purchased by Hamilton) South Bend, Hampden (comparable movements in the same time frame) and did a independent comparison? Sometimes I wonder if it is like saying a 57 Chevy was better than a 57 Ford or a 57 Plymouth, a lot of legend with no independent factual testing. Would a 992 outperform a 21j 16s Elgin veritas, a South Bend 227 or 229, a Bunn Special. Would the 992B totally outperform an equally adjusted BWR(9)? With old tube radios the folklore is Zenith being the best, which in reality it is passed on urban legend.

Sacrilege! I'm covering my Zenith tombstone radio's ears!

Would it happen to be a "Walton"? The Robot black dials are like a "bug-zapper" to radio collectors- don't go near the light, but I can't help myself!!! zzzzap!

LOL

No, it's the 9-A-30-A. A rare import version, actually. Here's a page that shows one that's exactly like mine:

Zenith 9-A-30-A

Chris I just checked my 992E movement serial number 2648930 dates to 1936. The following is what I think is a funny story of how a green horn wrist watch collector got into collecting pocket watches.

When I joined ihc185 in Nov of 2007, most of the current posts at that time were about pocket watches. Just reading about what you guys were saying about pocket watches got me excited about getting a 992B because that seemed to be the watch most talked about. I looked long & hard at the 992 pocket watches that were listed on ebay. I had mostly been looking for a 992B. But I saw this 992E with a mo betta looking movement & I figgered that E comes after B so it must be an improved version of the 992 & better than a 992B. Made sence to me! It had a Hamilton model 2 case 14k YGF, perfect Gothic enamel dial & correct hands. So I bid on it & won. It didn't take me long after I bought the 992E that I found out that it was a bit older than the 992B. I was lucky but embarrased. So after that stupid mistake, I kinda got into learning about the watches in the technical library & participated in Ed's weekly quiz. I have since acquired 16 pocket watches & I blame ihc185 for all of it.

Here is a pic of my 992E

I have yet to add a 992B to my collection. I do have to wonder about the legitimacy of lumping the 992P,L,E into the same category as the 992B as the B is really an entirely different watch, connected only by Hamilton marketing to the original 992 series. I also wonder how much "real world" difference there is between the various 992 flavors. If they all keep time to within the railroad standard 30 seconds per week, is there really an appreciable or quantifiable difference for the end user? I've seen cogent arguments that the 992E is a better time keeper than the various models of earlier 992s, but the margin seems to be pretty small. The big differences between these movements seem to be somewhat cosmetic for the owner, but more appreciable for the watchmaker who has to work on them.

Or maybe I'm all wet...

thanks for all the comments. I have learned a lot just by reading what you guys write. I am very glad to contibute.

and by the way, I like the early models of 992 the most.

Having worked as an operating railroader for 30 years I've used the various watches in my collection in service. This includes a 992, several 992Es,a few 992Bs and a 950B.

Having them regularly serviced by the watch inspector they all performed identicaly with the exception of the 950B which I always had a bit of trouble with. It tended to run a little slow.

As an artist and visual guy I can say without a doubt my favorite in appearance is the early 992B with the heavy gothic numerals on an enamel dial in a model 11 case, followed closely by the extra heavy gothic 519 dial (second to the last) on aa 992E in a model 2 case.