Internet Horology Club 185
Hamilton 993 Pendant-Set Question

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https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1086047761/m/9683926277

June 12, 2012, 15:03
Alex T. Houston
Hamilton 993 Pendant-Set Question
Recently I acquired a size 16 Hamilton 993 s/n 1556972. It is pendant set which, at first, required a good pull. This became more friendly after a clean and oil.

I understand only 2000 of this series was produced. Because it is "pendant set" I believe the watch, although possibly rare, can not be classified as "Railroad Standard" but I may be wrong.

Comments please.
June 12, 2012, 19:56
Buster Beck
The watch in question was made 1921-1924

So the answer is

It was "rail road grade" [RRG], which means the quality was there,

But it was not "rail road approved" [RRA], which means the RR's in that time frame would not have accepted it into service because of 2 reasons;

[A] Only lever-set watches were approved
[B] Only open-faced watches were approved OR
watches that "wound" with the stem at the
12 o'clock position.

The 21J Hamilton 993 pendant-set watch is not a "rare" watch. It is the hunter cased version of the Hamilton 992. It is not as common as the 992. It is uncommon, but it is not scarce.

regards,
bb
June 12, 2012, 20:05
Lindell V. Riddle

In addition to what Buster said...

Consider the fact that hundreds of thousands of the Hamilton 992 were produced, there were also more than 18,000 of the Lever-Set 993 which might then make the Pendant-Set version of the 993 at only 2,000 produced "uncommon" as Buster said and to others they may seem somewhat rare. Any way you slice it though, the Pendant-Set version of the 993 is certainly worthwhile, for that reason I have one, number 1555543 in my collection. It's a matter of how "rare" is defined, after all, some folks think all our watches are rare.

Wink