Members might be interested in the picture below of the same model Hamilton watch bezel in gold-fill and solid gold.

The differences can be quite subtle - although the sandwich construction of gold-fill is usually obvious because corrosion of the base layer often results in the outer gold layer becoming prominent.


Dan

From the 1930's on, Hamilton made a number of watches where the exact same case was used in solid gold and gold-filled. Now only the back of a Hamilton bears a full declaration of the case quality - so it is possible to put a gold back on an otherwise gold-filled watch.

For example the gold back of an Electric Van Horn will exactly fit the case of a gold-filled Titan model. A gold Ventura back will fit a Pacer bezel.

As a minimum the last few digits of the case-back number should appear, usually in Roman numerals, on the other parts of the case. On the above bezel
can be seen the numbers III VII IIII II, corresponding with the last 4 digits of the longer number stamped by the case makers on the back.


Dan.