Hi everybody -

I'm new here and have spent my first couple months reading through some of the threads posted here; the amount of give-and-take in the discussions is very impressive.

Pictured below is my first pocket watch: a simple Hamilton 974 with moon hands (I seem to be a sucker for that look). The Shugart Guide doesn't show that hand style on any of the Hamiltons pictured - but they do show up in the Rockford section. I've seen them on a South Bend 219 and a couple of Elgins so far. Are moon hands genuine to Hamiltons? Or are they aftermarket replacements? Can someone fill me in?

Thanks - Eric

As the Hamilton 974 was a very popular "carry watch" made in both Pendant and lever setting types, the hands could suffer much accidental damage if in the lever settging models, and these may well have been replacements. In any event, Hamilton advertised moon hands on 16 size watches as early as 1919 along with their "antique roman dial", etc., etc., In your case there is no reason to suspect the Moon Hands were not delivered with the watch, even if the seller added them at the buyer's request who, having seen the Hamilton ads wanted that "look".

Eric,
I believe the moon hands could be correct. I have these hands on my 974 and 975 watches/////.
Tony

Thanks for your input, gentlemen.