One of my favorite Hamiltons.....

is the Clinton, this particular example being from 1951. I see a lot of posts on what I would call Hamilton "Grail" watches (Spur, Piping Rock, Coronado, etc.), but very little of the more common "everymans" models. Don't get me wrong, I like the "grail" models also, but most of them are WAY out of my budget, and very difficult to obtain decent examples of.

One of these days I'll buy a decent camera so I can post more pics of the Hamiltons in my small, but growing collection. Enjoy!

That is a super watch! What are the dimensions? I'm surprised the guys in Switzerland haven't redone this one. It would be a hot seller in the "blue" states!

That type of hands and black dial were the inspiration for one of the watches I did. A direct homage (ripped it straight off) to Hamilton!

Frank "407" Kusumoto

It's smaller than the pictures would lead you to believe, only around 30mm. I for one would love to see a reissue of this style case, but they would have to increase the size somewhat, most men today wouldn't be caught dead wearing something that small!

Thanks for the compliment!

Tom,

Yep. 30mm is a tad small. I believe on ebay they refer to those as "boys" watches, or more generously "mid-size". My watch took in the times and is 42mm. I might have to get another batch of dials without the "train-track" around the edge and just have the pips like that Clinton. Gourgeous movement also. Shows that if the American Watch Industry had been able to survive they would/could have made movements just as good as any ETA movements. Mechanically speaking that 747 movement is as good or better than any comparable Swiss movement of it's day and price range. Sharp!

Frank "407" Kusumoto

I noticed that your watch happens to be a nine-eater. Is that a Unitas 6497 behind that dial?

It would be "beyond awesome" if Hamilton was still building newer versions of their old mechanical movements, but sadly, I hear that all of the old tooling is gone for good. I also believe that when Hamilton was in their prime, their movements were as good as any comparable Patek or other high-end Swiss movements were.

Yep, that's a 6497. The 6498 version will be out at the end of the year (hopefully).

Looking at the movement in this particular Clinton, I noticed something very odd. This particular grade 747 seems to have the incabloc spring for the balance assembly. I wasn't aware the 747 ever came with incabloc, only the later grade 730 which was based on the grade 747. Has anybody else ever seen a 747 like this?