Hi gents /ladies. I'm no Hampden buff and I picked up this 23j special railway this past weekend. Any input would be greatly appreciated, like...is the dial correct? Would this movement have come in a salesmans case? My guess is probably not, and is this a fairly common case? The case, dial, hands and movement are all in great shape and the watch is running fine.

dial, no flaws

without bezel

case Hampden Dueber salesmans

movement

Nice pick I'm no Hampden buff but I like this one.

thanks Pete, it also caught my eye and called my name.... not to pricey either so I took it home.

and looks like it is in salesman case.

Joseph I am a Hampden buff and everything about your nice watch is correct except that the case screws, while gold flashed appear to be flat heads and are probably from a 15 jewel like the John C. Dueber. They should be gold flashed but bevel head screws. Minor in my opinion and a very nice watch. By the way the designer of that movement went to Hamilton and was the designer, I understand, of Hamiltons 940 style movements. Gee, does that make Hamilton a lower quality maker?

Gold coloring looks to be in nice condition seems a lot of these have faded over the years.

thanks for the reply Deacon!!!!! Yup the case screws are flat, I'm just glad they are gold flashed and match. The movement is without jeweler slips and the demaskeeing is very well done,....and the tu-tone "gold" is very bold, a nicely finished movement. It sure is pretty and it does make a few of my "much more expensive" Hamiltons look like "Plain Jane". I did look through the archives and found your examples of the New Railway model, another fine example! Thanks again Joe.

thanks for the additional input concerning the gold color Rob. I appreciate the feedback especially since I haven't paid for it yet. My friend has a habit of letting me take the watch home for a few weeks to see if I like the way it runs, and coincidentially get way too attached to it at the same time. Funny how I never return any of the watches he lets me take home, guess his master plan worked again. I'm toast when it comes to a pretty pocket watch....hook, line and sinker, stick a fork in me, I'm done! Now how to tell the wife I'm about to add another one to the stable. LOL.... Joe

Really nice S.R., Joe!I don't know if you noticed, but some blacksmith punch-marked around the minute hand hole to tighten it up.Usually, they do that on the back of the hole, so it doesn't show.You got a keeper there, beautiful Hampden...Ted.

Thanks Ted, I seen the marks but didn't know what to make of them. Thank you for pointing that out!.....Joe

I just got a similar watch in a Silverode case, but, I'll bet I paid more.

I'm a betting man Mike, but I'm guessing we're not allowed to gamble on this site...lol I don't even know what this one cost, I haven't been told yet.It's part of the game..... anyone know how many 23j special railways were made? Deacon?

notice the difference in barrel Jewel size, the sapphire jewel on my S.P. is noticeably larger than the barrel jewel on Mike's watch. Wonder why...

Good eye Joe. It is a different size. Someone will know!

Joe I wish I had your eyes! The 18s 23j Hampden SR was a popular watch for Hampden. I do not know how many were made but it is something I will try to take a look at. Interestingly, for me, I have what I believe is one of the early 18s SR'S and what I think is one of the last SR'S from 1920. It features the all black lettering used on the latter models. I am not good at pictures but I hope to get pictures of all the Hampdens in my collection and put them up for club use. I have quite a few, with the emphasis on railroad grade. There is a considerable amount of information on Hamilton etc. but finding unknown or unrecognized Hampdens is intriguing and not always price prohibitive.

Hey Deacon, not sure if you want my eyes but you're more than welcome to try out my glasses.... I'm not sure what serial # Mike's SR is (Mike can you elaborate?)but I noticed both SR watches barrel jewel gold cup have the same outside diameter but the gold jewel cup on my watch has a larger inside diameter which accomidates a jewel with a larger OD. Both watches sapphire jewels have the same ID at the post. I noticed that your 23j New Railway has the same larger barrel jewel.

Joe, my SN# is 1,836,459 So I'm thinking it is newer than yours Case is screw back marked Nickel, and it's a Star Watch Case. I originally posted Silverode, but then I actually looked at it. (Don't ask me what an elephant looks like)

Thanks Mike, I think I figured this one out already. I searched around for pictures of said SR's and found that the earlier serial #'s have the larger barrel jewel, but I'm not sure where change occurred "production run" wise. Maybe Deacon can add some input considering he has a few more examples stashed away. regards Joe

I agree that the earlier ones seem to have the larger barrel jewel but I do not know where that left off. I just posted a list of my 23j 16s Hampden serial numbers on the Hampden site and plan to add the 18s 23j latter. When I do that I will see what I have to check about where the change was made in my collection.