A Hamilton 952 "Saved by the BOREL"!!

October 15, 2009, 00:20

David Abbe

A few months back I acquired a serviceable s/n840080 Hamilton 952 (these are the 'cheap' Jeweled Motor Barrel bridge models without any ?

? jewel caps on the Escape wheel and Pallet fork pivot jewels).

A few weeks ago, I finally had the chance to get into it and found the dial plate motor jewel was smashed to smithereens. I called Jim Peghini at his "Clock and Watch shop" (Jim was also our VP Manufacturing at ADE Corp in the 1980's) begging for a large plate jewel, and Jim (known for his pragmatic outlook) told me "Get a Seitz Jewel, thery still make them". After some hunting I found that indeed, Jules Borel had a Seitz p/n EA30714/86-230 IN STOCK!

So for $8.70 a brand new Jewel arrived here that fit the Motor Barrel pivot perfectly which I then had (Vladimir the Great does this stuff for me) fitted to the dial movement plate!

Ignore the Vo thing, it was supposed to be around jewel but moved sometime after I did the collage.

October 15, 2009, 00:26

David Abbe

Then I proceded to finish the thing . . . even specially re-poising the Balance wheel

October 15, 2009, 00:27

David Abbe

Nice Casework even with the July 4 1915 Birthday engraving to "Carl Young Kennedy from Father"

October 15, 2009, 00:29

David Abbe

The dial has some hairlines but 4 post Hamilton dials are hard to find anymore. Overall I LIKE IT!

October 15, 2009, 00:48

Tom Brown

Nice watch & work Dave.

There was a Carl Young Kennedy born July 4, 1894 & died July 31, 1971 in Brevard Florida at the age of 77. Looks like he was born in Maine & lived in Westbrook Main with his mother & father William & Mary.

Tom

October 15, 2009, 00:52

Jerry King

I like it too Dave....A very nice looking watch indeed....

You and your helpers have done a super job of restoration....another great save...!

Regards,
Jerry

October 15, 2009, 07:24

Ray Hallenbeck

Wow, thats a beauty Dave. Is the case Gold Filled?

Thanks,
Ray

October 15, 2009, 12:10

David Abbe

Tom, I rechecked the Birthday date on the watch and it is 1915 which would be Mr. Carl Young Kennedy's 21st Birthday. So thank you very much for the connection.

Jerry, Vladimir is a highly skilled Russian Trained Watchmaker who is my "last resort" when I am stuck on a problem. In this particular case with a jewel this large I did not want to take the chance of breaking it when it was pressed into the dial plate so Vladimir did it for me.

Ray, the case is gold filled. I would guess that "permanant" is another way of saying "25 year" or something to denote a little thicker Rolled Gold plate.

October 15, 2009, 12:26

Tom Brown

Your welcome Dave.

It would appear Mr. Kennedy spent a number of years with Oakhurst Dairy in Bath Maine as the manager. This image is from the 1936-37 Bath Maine city directory

Tom

October 15, 2009, 12:27

Tom Brown

The business is still around today & even has a fan club.

October 15, 2009, 15:02

Lindell V. Riddle

About the Permanent marking on this Hamilton case, that marking means this is the best of all gold-filled cases, the gold is heaviest on this model and the Hamilton crest makes it even more special.

The Hamilton 952 is one of my favorites, all the quality of the 23-Jewel 950 without the unnecessary cap jewels. It is great to see Dave saving another nice, original example and thanks to Tom Brown the history will now be with this great watch for the appreciation of generations to come.

In this topic we see what watch collecting is really about.