This is the case my 1913 Hamilton 992 came in. IMHO it is or was a very ugly case. Nothing special just a base metal case with a separate dust cover.

It had what looked like brass showing through the back cover. I remembered a sterling ring I had made for a lady and she had put it in some cleaning solution and the ring looked like it was silver platted bare metal. I re polished the ring because it was showing .925. It turned out great. The copper in the ring bleached to the surface from the cleaner she was using (household cleaner).

I decided to polish this and see if the brass was leaking to the surface of if it was actually worn.

It is marked Keystone Base Metal and I have seen these cases go for $60 to $80 on Ebay. I don't know why but they do. They are not even highly policed but they look like they are suppose to have that dull finish.

Well mine has a very high polish now. It is like a mirror! It looks great. BUT I probably ruined it because I don't think it is suppose to be polished like this but that is the only way I could get rid of the brass showing through.

I have seen a lot of Hamilton's mounted in a case like this. I had suspected this was a military case but I do not know. If anyone can shed some light on this case I would certainly appreciate it.

Front

Front again

Rear

Dust cover

Harry those cases are actually good cases for the working man and were quite popular for recasing. As you probably noticed they will take a lot of abuse and were usually nickle silver or nickle plated brass. A gold or gold filled case will not stand up like yours will and there is nothing wrong with polishing it in my opinion. The military used similar cases as they were less expensive but strong. You often see Hamilton ordinance cases with a worn inscription and evidence of hard use yet the movement is fine.

Thank you once again Deacon. Yes this case is very sturdy and to tell you the truth I like it now that I put the mirror finish on it. I need to put a 974 or Hampden in it.
Thanks.

I've seen these cases as "18 size wannabe's", where it's sized inside for a 16s, but the outside is an 18. Weird. But Deacon is right, these were extremely strong "beater" cases, along the same lines as the great big nickel "turnip" cases from the early part of the century. Regards, Brad

Thank you Brad. It is a big heavy case. I guess my 992 was a real working RR watch because that was what was in this case.

I have a military Hamilton 2974B that uses the same case, all of them do. I thought it was used only for this model because of the extra protection provided by the "dust" cover in a marine environment. I could be wrong since there is nothing engraved on the back of yours.
Peter

Hello Peter,
I had thought the same thing except as you pointed out it had no engraving on the back. As many people as there is on this forum there is always someone how knows the answer. It sure polished up nicely though.

Is this one the same case? I got this last summer with a 19 j BW Raymond and I was impressed with the way it polished up too.

The back