Here's a 992 that I bought before I knew the signs to look for. The movement is serial number 1623678 dating it to about 1922 and the case is serial number 0390312 making it an early model 2 dating to about 1926. Obviously there's a mismatch there, but is it large enough that it's obvious this is a re-cased movement or is it possible the two could be an original pair? Could the movement have sat in a jeweler's safe for a few years before being married to this case, or some other similar scenario? The case (rose gold) and movement are both in fantastic shape, as is the dial and hands. I'm not overly concerned about it being a mismatch given the closeness of dates involved but I'd like to get your thoughts on it none the less.

Yes, to the best of my knowledge the hands and dial are both appropriate to the movement. It's only the case that's a little off. As I said in my original post, the discrepancy of 4-5 years doesn't bother me enough to do anything drastic like re-case it.

The rose gold case is something to behold. It's very subtle and beautiful. Combined with the nearly perfect dial and hands, the whole watch just shines. Now that I'm becoming more adept as a collector I always notice the rose gold cased examples first. They're few and far between, particularly examples as clean as this one. The best part about this case is that the seller didn't even mention it in his description of the item. Opening the box and discovering that it was rose gold was a pleasant surprise.

Really nice 992, Chris! I'd be happy with it just as it is.Hey at least if it was recased, they put in nice Hamilton factory case.I really like those "blind man" dials, I have a later 992L with the same dial, but mine is in a Model 6 WGF Hamilton case.I know everyone raves about the 992B's, but they sure don't look as nice as a good old 992!

I agree. I love my 992L. It's a fantastic watch all around, especially in light of your support for the case/movement combination. That's the only niggling doubt I had about it. I had the movement overhauled and it runs stronger than any other watch in my collection. It's loud and crisp sounding and it keeps excellent time. The rose gold case makes it one of the most attractive watches I have as well. I use this one as my daily cary watch and it's a frequent conversation piece. I agree that the 992s (both model 1 with the fancy damaskeen and the model 2 with the straight line damaskeen) are very cool looking watches, and I prefer them to the B versions too. My main interest is in pre 1925 watches, so this one fits right in.

Hey Chris, if you take a look under Larry Buchan's excellent Tails From The Rails section, under "railroad watch", I asked Larry what watch he used on the CPR.He pictured his 992L, it has an Elinvar balance and white hairspring.I noticed that his also,like yours has damaskeened winding wheels, but has "made in USA" in an arc next to the crown wheel.I've never seen that on a 992, is that unusual?Mine just has concentric circle line around the winding wheels, and no USa marking...Ted.

The wavy line pattern on the winding wheels appears on some 992Ls while others feature straight circular lines. I'm not sure if anyone knows exactly what serial number marks the change from one to the other, and the fact that Larry Buchan's 992E has that pattern further complicates things.

As far as the USA marking goes, it's my understanding that Hamilton marked movements destined for export that way, which would make sense in Larry's case.

EDIT: Just read the thread and it appears that Larry's 992 was retrofitted with elinvar, so it's not technically a 992E. Its a 992L, which would explain the wavy lines.

I'm wondering if, because his was upgraded to Elinvar,that was how Larry was allowed to use it, because at that time regular 992's were not approved.Too bad because I'm sure any good running 992 is every bit as accurate as a 992B.I imagine the railroad companies were worried about watches getting magnetized, with all the diesel-electric power they had, that can't happen with a "B".

Thats one exceptional watch Chris that anyone would be proud of
I would suggest, if I might, adding a leather strap such as this that fits on the swivel and the bow of the watch to keep off the "chain wear" that doesn't take long to show up where there is metal to metal contact
These can be cut from just about any quality piece of leather you may have around and will protect any watch from what we recognize as chain wear
Thanks for showing the fine example
regards,
bb

Excellent suggestion. I'll go get one right away!

Agree 100%. I put one of these leather bow protectors on all my watch chains out of habit....especially the ones holding gold watches.

In my opinion it's not as important with a base metal or silveroide bow, but definitely something to add on a chain when gold is involved.

A BEAUTIFUL carry watch, Chris!

Regards! Mark