Been looking at above watch. Noticed from some pictures that where the 6 should be some have a small star and some has a small dot. Any signifcance to this? Like the look of tgis watch. Anyone have information, history, or value about it. Read somewhere longest of Hamitons? Appreciated, thanks.

The IHC member and international authority about the Hamilton Watch Company, Mr. Rene Rondeau said the following in his book Hamilton Wristwatches, A Collectors Guide:

One of the longest and most elegantly curved styles of the 19300's, Hamilton described this in their July 15, 1938 letter to jewelers as a "super curved" model. It was described as having a "spherical dial", meaning that the dial is domed, curving downward in all directions. The deeply sculped case makes it very prone to wear thorugh on the gold fill, particularly on the underside of the lugs.

I too have seen the small star on some dials. I have no idea what this means. I have every belief that the resident Hamilton experts (Rene Rondeau, Bryan Girouard, Will Roseman, Greg Leveto, and Mark Cardelluci) might post a response and correct my errors and educate us further. I'm the co-host. They are some of the experts.

Talking of Hamilton Linwoods, here's a nice pair that I own.
Regarding the reference to the star at the 6 o'clock position, I think it may have been
added afterwards, possibly when a dial was refinished ( maybe even by a Texan )

You'll note one of my watches has a gold marker at six, the other doesn't.

Hi all,

I don't have a Linwood in front of me and do not recall seeing one with a star.

Is the star you are referring to an actual "star" or is it a portion or remnant of the gold applied number 6?

Barbara

My Linwood has a small star at the bottom of the 6 o'clock position. Some have them some have a small circle. Maybe someone knows? Thanks.
PS-Nice watches!

Mark,

I remember reading about the star somewhere, but can't remember what it was for. I have (3) Linwoods in my collection. 1 has a dot, 1 has the star, and the other is plain. Attached are a couple closer pictures of the star dial.

Adam

Star

After looking at your pics. My linwwod pic looks like it has the wrong stem. Anyone know where I can et the "proper" stem? Thanks for the replies.

Linwoods are one of my favorite Hamiltons but, as Jeff pointed out, very prone to wear around the the lugs. I sold a near mint one to a good friend a few years ago. I knew that he would actually wear the watch 24/7 and that I would be expected to keep it running right. I have had to replace the band several times, and those skinny
vintage bands are hard to come by. The real pain is seeing the progress of the case wear in 10
years. This well cared for Linwood went from near mint to barely acceptable in that time.
-Cort
p.s.Mark,Your stem is likely correct but the crown may be a bit heavy. Matching one is a bit of an art although finding an original might be even tougher. A phenomena I have encountered is the discovery of a best match found in my "bucket-o-crowns"as opposed to finding one in an appropriate place.

Mark:

The Linwood was indeed offered with the "star" in the six o'clock position and in fact, the "star" dial appears in the many Hamilton catalogs issued throughout the Linwoods' production.

Interestingly, while searching Hamilton dial blueprints for Linwood dials, I do not show a Linwood dial variation without a "star" at six o’clock. This however, doesn’t mean that those dials lacking the "star" or having a circular marker are not authentic, as variations were common not only amongst Hamilton models, but Hamilton dials as well.

Since the Linwood falls outside my collecting range (1917 -1936), I've not had the opportunity to examine a "starless" dial. It could be that the “star” was removed and or replaced with a circle marker by a later dial refinisher but one would have to examine the dial for confirmation.

Regards,

Will

Will,
I've just been looking at your website, and to be quite honest I was blown away with
the quality of the information you provide. It's absolutely outstanding !!

I can only hope, at some point you'll decide to expand
the number of years you provide information for.

Great job !!!

Thanks for the correction. The crown does look bigger. Well I have t ask-Does anyone have a proper crown they might sell? Thanks for all the replies.

Hi Dave:

Thank you for your kind words. The site is very much a labor of love and one that gives me as much pleasure as I hope it gives others.

The Hamilton Watch Company has a great and varied history and as quality goes, created some of the finest examples of American craftsmanship of the 20th century. I simply couldn't imagine collecting any other watch.

Kindest regards,

Will

I agree nice site for information of Hamiltons. Very nice layout and very informative. Wish there was one like this for Gruen's as well. Thanks.

Although this is off-topic, I have to say that Will Roseman has developed the Greatest on-line trove of early Hamilton wristwatch information available today. I adore Rene Ronedau's book: Hamilton WristWatches, A Collectors Guide. That book, and Don Sauers Book: Time For America, are 2 that are on the shelf, next to my PC. The Shugart Guide is next to those 2 books. Fred Friedburg's amazing book about Illinois watches rounds out my "at hand" collection. Of course, The Rolex book by Jeff Hess, and Faber's book, American Wristwatches, Five Decades of Style and Design, are also near by.

But then there is www.vintagewatch.info.
That stands alone. Color photos. Detailed information. It is extraordinary.

Hope someone will post a picture of the Linwood from one of the Hamilton catalogs.

Lindell,
Thank you for taking the time to find your copy of the 1938 Hamilton catalog and posting the picture of the Linwood as found on page 14.

Thanks to Mark for starting off this topic I think we've maybe all learned some more about the Hamilton Linwood. Some great information has been provided, for me the clincher on the star variant was when Lindell provided photocopies of the old Hamilton records. So guess what, I've added another Linwood to my collection, the variation with a star marker. Shown below are all of the "currently known six o'clock marker styles" (??) i.e. star marker, round marker, no marker.