Here is a nice Hamilton Swiss Movement Watch I thought might be a bit different. As you can see it is a beautiful BOC Case but it is a stem SET watch as well as stem wound. There is just enough clearance to pull and set the watch...
Posts: 77 | Location: Hartford, Connecticut in the USA | Registered: August 11, 2010
After the Hamilton Watch Company was absorbed by Swiss interests late in the 1960s they did some things we as collectors might find difficult to understand today.
I vaguely recall seeing advertisements in the 1980s or thereabouts for these watches being sold as a form of "instant collectible" in slick flyers, they were made to have the "look" of a late 992B although that is really where the similarity ends. Check page 231 of "The Complete Guide to Watches" and look for the bold type "Swiss Mfg." for current values on these "Adj. 2P" watches. Cases on the Open-Face version like yours were made using dies from the Case 17 we are all familiar with, by the way, that is an inserted spacer behind the movement.
As watches go these are credible timekeepers and an interesting curiosity.
I think they are a cool item,
Lindell
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
I think they gave that one the name "Broadway Limited".I too remember seeing those in magazine ads, really expensive too.I also remember seeing a quartz imitation RR watch at a K Mart with a copy of this Hamilton "Blind Man" dial.Have a nice Thanksgiving!...Ted.
Posts: 1323 | Location: Lebanon, Connecticut USA | Registered: March 28, 2008
I know when Elgin was trying to save itself and was producing watches in South Carolina they imported movements that were unfinished but imported from either France or Switzerland. Some may debate the level of finishing but they wanted to have un-finished movements since there were import tax breaks, finished vs unfinished, they were also marked unadjusted so the import duties were less also. The Elgins were marked "Cased and Timed by Elgin Watch co" in the same manner as the 571's and such. I would think that Hamilton also did the same. I have a few of the Elgins and they are nice watches, they show up as actual Elgin grades. There are other Elgins that were made after Elgin ceased being a watch company made by whoever purchased the name, these are not marked "Cased and Timed by Elgin Watch Co." I am not sure where this Hamilton falls, I think the grade 956 was the last of the Swiss or French based movements made in the SC plant. I tend to like these watches since they have some historical meaning but are usually passed over by most collectors and you can tend to pick them up cheaply. Waltham tried to set up a support company in Switzerland in 1952 to provide movement parts, I also thought that Hamilton had done something along this line also.
Posts: 1797 | Location: Michigan in the USA | Registered: September 19, 2009
