Does anyone know anything about the history of the Hamilton 996? I know that it was a 19J watch manufactured only in the short span between 1915 - 1926. I ran a keyword search for it but only came up with 4 hits, all of which were offering one for sale. Why does anyone think Hamilton chose to offer this movement, in light of the fact that they already had the 992 and the 950? Was it more expensive (and of better quality) than the 992 (even though the 992 is 21J), and if so was it meant to fill a price niche between the 992 and 950? Or was it meant to fill a niche between Hamilton's 17J and 21J offerings? I really like the look of the movement demaskeening, which seems more intricate than that on the 992, and it also appears that it came with a motor barrel. Just curious as to what Hamilton had in mind when they put the 996 on the market. Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

They are beautiful. 19J motor barrel is about as good as it gets mechanically. Combine that with top flight damasceeneing and it doesn't get much better.

I have no idea what the history is, but feel they are a great value... not necessarily from a resale perspective... but from the perspective that you get a lot of watch for little money.

I have similar feelings regarding the South Bend 217... a lot of watch for the money.

I certainly agree with Paul’s assessment of the 996. I don’t know what the actual reason was for Hamilton bringing out the 996 but I think, based on prices, that your suggestion that they were filling a niche probably must have had a lot to do with it. Looking at the retail prices in 1916 for RR grade movements, the 17J 972 was $24, the 19J 996 was $28.50, the 21J 992 was $32.50, and the 19J 952 bridge model was $40. Of these only the 996 and the 952 had Motor Barrels which was a selling point even though not a real time-keeping advantage. The 996 was the most successful in terms of production of the three Hamilton 19J RR watches with a total of 23,500 built compared with 5,644 of the 952L and 6,600 of the 18s 944.

Robert brings up a great point.

We, as collectors and investors, tend to covet low production numbers and unique variants.

That serves me well and I wholly understand the concept for coins, stamps...

But with watches, it seems to me the low production models either missed the mark from a marketing perspective, failed to deliver on value as compared to a competitors model or had some sort of fatal engineering/reliability issue.

For the 996 to sell three and four times as many units as it's most comparable cousins, tells me that it delivered in both value and performance.

The production numbers and hence, the current availability keeps the price lower than is fair for the value of the item based on fit, finish, performance, raw beauty and craftsmanship.

Found this old post on the 996, I never had one but found one with bad photos and a base metal case for $100. Dial and hands look good, movement does not appear to be a victim of corrosion of such but more than likely will need to be serviced but it appears they are on the lower side of production for Hamilton and very nice looking movements.

Claude, these are a really sharp looking Hamilton.I have one myself, the only thing they lack is a gold center wheel. I think they are one of Hamilton's best.They are eye candy for sure!

It has an unusual dial, the serial number dates it around mid-1918 it has a block "Hamilton" font dial, the dial does not have red min markers but has bold gothic numbers with inward pointing diamonds but the second hand sunk is the oddest it has an inside railroad track in seconds, with the seconds numbering of 60-10-20-30-40-50 with slashes at the 5-15-25-33-45-55 sec positions. I have a couple of 990's so the 996 should be a nice addition.

I love the 996’s.. I have 3 and think they are some of the best looking Hamilton’s made!

I would like to hear the history of the 996, any findings would be appreciated.

Can you post pictures of the 996 Claude? It would be nice to see the dial, that sounds like a later early 30's dial like those on 992-992E.Some 996's had "made in U.S.A.on them, mine does.I believe they did that for export...Another nice 16s Hamilton that's worth finding is a 17J 954L, they have a sharp damaskeening pattern too, gold settings and 5 positions.They aren't any too common.

Here is the a shot of the dial, will end up changing it to a correct style gold case but overall the watch is not bad for $100. Watch arrive today and the dial is a metal high visibility type dial that Elgin, Waltham and others started to make available in the later 1910-1920 range as an option for RR service, not sure if it is Hamilton original but the name lettering and numbering look very good.

Looks like you did alright on that one, I don't know who made those dials, but there are a lot of them out there.Nice watch!...Ted.

Here is my Hamilton 996 in a Hamilton Presentation case.

And the movement....

The 996 has a different motor barrel from the 950 or 952. I,m not sure what the major mechanical differences were; it may have been a simpler design or less expensive to manufacture. The 996 shares the same basic design as the 992 and is a more robust design than a bridge model. 19 jewels for railroad service, cheaper to produce thus more profitable and obviously commercially successful. (I like the damaskeening which is similar to that of the 18 size 23J 946, which was Hamilton's most expensive movement, I believe. That may have boosted sales).

In my 23 years onsite, there has always been a demand for the 996, as said above, not a hi dollar resell watch, but I like to have one available to make some collector happy. Just a nice Hamilton!

They are nice

I think around 1910 if the internet has any value the ave wage as around 22 cents/hr, so in hours from the prices given earlier this is the cost in at the 1910 average hourly rate

972 = 109.09 hours or 2.73 work weeks (40hr/wk)
996 = 129.55 hours or 3.24 work weeks
992 = 147.73 hours or 3.69 work weeks
952 = 181.82 hours or 4.55 work weeks

So most watch companies were trying to find a spot as more and more railroads were pushing for watches better than 17 jewels that workers could afford. If I did my math correctly you can see that the 952 vs the 972 was twice the amount of work weeks. Probably 40 hours is understating the average work week during that time but as a reference point it should be ok.

I purchased a Hamilton 996 years ago from Tom Dunn at timemachinewatch. It's a very handsome watch in a beautiful case. Here's a photo of the watch's face:

Jim Cloud

And here's a photo of watch case back with a highly stylized personalization by the original owner.

James Cloud

Finally, a photo of the watch's movement.

James Cloud

I had heard that the Hamilton No. 996 Was Popular in Western Canada with the Watch Inspectors, and the employees that carried them. Here is one of mine, with 24-hour dial, and Canadian 24-hour Watch Hands.

Hamilton Grade 996, with Bezel off.

Hamilton Grade 996 movement

Hamilton Grade 996 movement close-up.

Very attractive Larry
If you decide to part with.....
Love the history
Mike