I have a Hamilton and it is marked The Union Special. Serial # 424955. All the Price Guide says about this watch is The Union Special, 173. Does anyone know what the price guide is referring to with the 173?
I have it with my Hamilton 926's since it looks like a 926. This is the only one I have ever seen so I'm not sure if it has the correct dial. It has a DS non RR Track Roman Numeral dial.
Thanks for any info you can give me about The Union Special.

Harry

Harry, your watch is a 926 and is one of 1400 Union Specials made for H. F. Hahn & Co. in Chicago starting in 1904. Yours was finished and sold to Hahn on 5/31/1904. The Hamilton ledger just identifies it as 926GT. Halligan's notes on the 926 states that the Union Specials were fitted with DS dials (doesn't specify what type) and gilt trimmed. The one I have #618854 has a DS dial with Arabic numerals and red 5's with Hamilton in script.
I have no idea what the 173 in the price guide means since the most of the other similar named grades list the grade # they are based on.
They are very pretty movements and relatively scarce with only 1400 made. Here is mine.

These are "Private Label" movements dressed up to attract retail buyers of lower priced watches. Private Labels are a particular "niche" item and some may find them interesting.

But none of that changes the fact that a Grade 926 (like its companion the 927 Hunter) is neither Railroad Approved or Railroad Grade, these were watches intended for those whose work did not require a watch capable of passing the requirements of Railroad Time Inspection. These are listed as ""The Union" on page 229 of the 2013 Complete Guide to Watches and carry a slight premium over the plainer looking but mechanically identical 926 and 927 Grades:

• JOIN, PAY DUES AND ORDER 2013 COOKSEY SHUGART'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO WATCHES HERE •

(Apparently there were overall some 81,000 of the Grade 926 and 46,000 of the 927 produced and those are listed on page 227 of the Watch Guide.)

Always remember in 18-size Hamiltons anything below the 936 were not Railroad Grade therefore the values will never be as high and appreciation will be considerably slower due to lack of widespread collector interest. The real enthusiasm in pocket watch collecting will always be in the Railroad Grade watches.

Don

Thank you Robert and Donald for this information. I now know some history to the watch Thanks.

I collect RR grade and non RR grade. And I collect mostly Hamilton 18 size. I have all the 18 size Hamilton's except grades the 7J, 11J, 922, 923, 933, and 947. I will probably never own any of these but my collection is pretty complete.

Thanks again,
Harry

I'll bet you know this already, Harry, from what you have, but generally speaking, and without exactly contradicting Don T., we all need to face the following: although RR-grade watches have always held value, the book value (for what it's worth) for a not-RR-grade 928 is nearly twice that of a 936.

How is that? Because other factors need to be considered, such as quantity made, dial style, and serial number place as it relates to production (assume equal condition).

Another obvious example for the quantity point alone: the grade 940 (RR watch) is common, and value is realtively low; the grade 932 (not RR grade) is not common and you will probably pay dearly for it - close to as much as you would for a 938. In fact, you might pay just a few hundred dollars less for a 933 as for a 938 these days.

And the quality point is arguable as well, really. A lot of watchmakers will say that a RR-grade 992 is a better movement than a 923. But what collector in his right mind would choose the 992 if both were offered at the same price?

So it doesn't hurt to look a little deeper and watch the realized prices, ie., do the homework. You might be surprised.

kh

Ken to your point I would comment, simply the price guide and current happenings do not always follow logic 100% of the time and either you or I can cherry pick situations as desired.

Staying with Hamilton, staying with rr grade/approved watches, even where the case is correct and time period correct, along with the dial etc I have purchase all of my 990's for less than any 992's that I own.

I don't mind, since the 990 was a better grade, rr approved, made in less quantity, better looking, better finished, better timekeeper as produced, so on and so forth.

In a nutshell the price guide and current buying habits in many cases defy logic, definitely are not accurate based on grade or production 100% of the time.

Reverse that situation, who would pay the same for a 993 vs a 991 in equal condition and cases, not many.

I find what Donald said basically true, again not 100%, but as a trend. There are many very nice low production, high grade 12 size watches that get passed by for the most part, and only a few will pull the same money of an equal grade movement that is rr approved in the 16s and and in many case you can toss in the 18s grades as well.

If you step outside the "Hamilton" world that opens up another topic.

I do pick up private label watches but mostly the ones that were sold in the states of Tennessee or Ohio for sentiment reasons and not that I believe they are worth more than the equal non-PL movement/dial. I do have some A.N. Anderson Elgin grades that were documented as being sold in low numbers such as the 353 that I feel are worth more, but the 353 is a low production movement that came in 3 signatures so having one of each signature GMW, ENWC, or Overland is a nice triple play.

btw Ken I am not picking on you, there are times that I see prices in the price guide and see buying habits on Ebay that leave a lot of ????? as to the logic behind it. In the case of the Union Special shown I would pay more for it for the following reason, it is a nicer looking movement than the 926, and would tend to group it into a DMK change rather than a private label. You have people go ga-ga trying to find a certain DMK run in a grade and pay extra for it even though the grade and quality of the grade has stayed the same.

My natural inclination is to move higher on the food chain rather than lower, so I go the other way and collect the 938/939 or the 942/943. These were slow-selling top-of-the-line models that are pretty hard to find and and carry a significant premium.


This topic belongs in the Hamilton forum, so that's where I'm moving it.

Well Ed, I do not have grades 929, 930, 932, or 933, so if you or Harry want to lighten your Hamilton collection and jettison those non-railroad grade watches, please let me know. If they are in good condition and original, I'm interested. And it's OK if they are private-label.


kh

The 929 is a fine movement

Grade
929
Total Runs
7
Total Produced
5,900
Start Year
1895
End Year
1900

cased

Fronts up nicely

Sometimes I wonder if the term private label gets a bit abused. Some will argue that the Elgin Overland is a private label, but few will put Burlington, Burlington Special or even Santa Fe Special into the private label group. Both Santa Fe Special or Burlingtons were special ordered from Illinois just like this Union Special was ordered from Hamilton, in greater numbers though. The name does not include the purchaser's name like most jewelers would have ordered them and the quantity is quite substantial from a single buyer. And if you really want to start a "Cat Fight" call Ball watches private labels which you could make a good case for.

1400 produced and unique look would grab my attention even if it was not adjusted to 3 positions or rr approved.

10 year old topic, and yeah, slow day……but were the 926 Union Specials single or double roller movements?

Regards! Mark

Single Roller to my knowledge Mark

Thanks, Bila!

The reason I ask is in looking at the Shugarts, they state the 936 was upgraded from single to double roller in the 400,000 range. My Union Special 926 is in the 500,000 range. I just wonder why Hamilton wouldn’t have done the same thing to the 926 they did 936 during the same time period?

Regards! Mark