I thought the members might enjoy seeing pictures of my recently acquired 18 size 23 jewel Special Railway. This watch was in the last run made by Hampden and I am amazed by it's condition.

A nice case for any watch and apparently original to this one.

A classic Hampden Montgomery Dial.

Nice looking movement and dial like the elk on the case.

Here is a list I posted earlier

I think production is closer to 2,200
23j 18 Size Hampden
Grade Movement Blocked Serial
Numbers

New Railway RRG
ON3L-5 Position 2,200
ON3L-Adjusted 5,500
HN4L- Adjusted 800

Special Railway
ON3L -5 Position 3,300
OT3L- 5 Position 250
ON3L-Adjusted ????
OT3L-Adjusted 7,500+
HN4L-5 Positions 250
HT4L-Adjusted 2,025
HT4L-5 Positions 400

George R Calhoun
(Pvt Label)
OT3L-Adj 50

ON=open face, HN=Hunter
OT or HT=tuo tone

Bob

Thanks Robert for your list.

I regret that my computer is down today, it broke something and will not go on internet. So I am using Marjorie's Laptop which is a little more cumbersome, but I wanted to add that I looked up Deacon's watch and it falls into a mixed run of 1000 movements which was the last Hampden production 18s. They were produced in the 1917 - 19 time frame and consisted of a mix of 21 and 23 Jewel Special Railways and some John Hancock 21 Jewels.

Now I could be wrong, but I am only going by the records of the blue book which seems to record known movements and has that credibility..

That is really a beautiful watch! Wasn't Hampden the first to start the "jeweling up" process in the 1890s? Did this happen because synthetic jewels became available?

Hello Steve, I know Hampden was the first with the 23j 16s and they are considerably rarer than Hamilton, Illinois and Elgin. My understanding is that they did push the jewel wars and I think it may have something to do with Mr. Duebers long standing fight with the other makers who tried to put him out of business. Hampden spent considerable time and money establishing the right to the Railway trademark in 1901 and that did not endear him to the competition. Regards, Deacon

Nice watch Deacon.I have one just like it, same damaskeening, but gold lettered.Mine is just under 3 million serial no.They are still America's most under-appreciated watch!Regards, Ted B.

I forgot something, we all know Hampden had the first 23-jewel watch, but they had the good sense not to get involved in the ridiculous overkill jeweling competition that Illinois,Seth Thomas, etc.got into.I believe that any 17-19 jewel is better than any of those 23 and upwards ones were.Supposedly, Keystone Howard even came out with jeweled banking pins.How senseless is that?

Thanks Ted for your nice comments. I agree that the higher grade Hampdens are under-appreciated but that allows us to acquire them. I have been keeping a rough count and as much as I like the 950 Hamilton they are for sale about 100 times more often than the Hampden 104. Yet the 104 is maybe 1/3 the price of the 950.

Thanks Deacon, your're absolutely right.I hope to someday be able to get a 104 5th. model, I have a 105, New Railway Wm. McKinley ,and a 19J Railway.I wish there was a Hampden club!

Ted, The Hampden club is an excellent idea. Anyone else interested in a Hampden club or does one exist already?

I'm disappointed that this thread ended where it did. A Hampden club or Hampden dedicated Web site is a great idea.

Chris since I have a few Hampdens to go with my Elgins I also agree. It would be nice if there was a section for Hampden and then and a post showing the grades and then you could post your pictures under each model/grade.

That would be great. As I work my way through the various Hampden related threads I see that there's a pretty healthy backing for that very idea. Maybe someone will make this happen at some point?

Wonderful idea and how would we go about doing it?

One of the board admins would need to set up a sub-forum. Either that or we could start a general Hampden thread and request that it gets stickied at the top of the Pocket Watch discussion forum. A dedicated sub-forum would be pretty swell, though.

Thanks, Lindell. Excellent information. That's how I'd do it on the board I manage as well.

Because I'm a newly registered member here I think it would be better if someone else spearheaded this effort. If someone wants to follow the steps Lindell outlined above, I'd fully support it.

Richard! I love your Hampden 23J Railway! I'm sure I'd have to put on my shades if I saw that case outside in the sun. I love these cases (mainly as engravers works or art) as much as the watch itself.

I would participate in a Hampden sub group here. As a token of my interest, I post the following three pictures of another nice Hampden.

Picture #2 - closeup of movement. Serial number is 1500729.

Clean dial for Hampden Railway Special, 23j.

I would like to see a Hampden forum on this great site
Tony

I would be supportive and would contribute to a Hampden pocket watch group.

Larry Buchan

Everyone who hasn't done so yet, jump over the the Hampden Fans Unite! thread and express your support for a sub-form there. The site admins are looking at that thread to see how much interest there is in setting up such a thing. It's a good amount of work for them, so they need to assess how popular it might be before they commit the time and effort.

Thanks!

Hello all of you Hampden fans! I have been occupied with moving my 92 year old mother into assisted living after a rehab stay and I apologize for not getting on board the Hampden bandwagon. I would be happy to help with a Hampden site. Orphans always need help, except maybe the Menendez brothers.