Hi Everyone:

I would like to share with everyone an unusual Hamilton wristwatch that on first glance would appear fairly common - that is until one takes a closer look at it.

The Barrel was a fairly common style with Illinois, Elgin and Waltham selling similar models. Hamilton sought to distinguish the Barrel from the competition by emphasizing the quality of the movement. As with all Hamilton watches, only 17-jewel movements were utilized, unlike the competition which utilized 7 or 15-jewel movements.

This particular Barrel is rare for several reasons - the first reason is that it is Hamilton's first generation Barrel made by Wadsworth. Hamilton made three variations of the Barrel - the Wadsworth Barrel first introduced in 1927 (and pictured here) was followed by the Fahys Barrel introduced later the same year, and finally, the Barrel "B" which was introduced in 1929.

The Wadsworth Barrel was rounder in shape than the Fahys Barrel and the center case piece was flush with the front bezel and back case piece. The Fahys Barrel's center case piece extends beyond the bezel and rear case piece and utilizes a different center piece engraving than the Wadsworth Barrel.

It is believed that all Wadsworth Barrel's were made in 14K gold-filled and the production numbers are as follows:

Plain - Green gold filled, 493. Yellow gold-filled, 728. White gold-filled, 1,776
Engraved - Green gold filled, 199. Yellow gold-filled, 704. White gold-filled, 577

All Wadsworth Barrels are scarse while some variations are very rare, especially when compared to the Fahys Barrel which had over 30,349 total units made in Plain and Engraved, 14K gold and 14K gold-filled compared to Wadworth production of just 4,477.

But what makes this Wadsworth Barrel particularity rare is that it is made of silver. Hamilton only produced 213 Barrels in silver and because it is JE Caldwell hallmarked, the likelihood is that all silver Barrels were likely made as special orders i.e, this example.

Regards,

Will

Great watch! And wonderful research. Thanks for sharing that.

Here we go again.....

Will Roseman has offered interesting and important information that is worth far, FAR more than the price of membership to the Internet Horology Chapter, Chapter 185. This is beautiful. Thank you Will. Thank you.

One unique feature of the case is that the back is flat, unlike the later Fahy's cases which had a back contoured to the curvature of the wearer's wrist.

DM

Hi Everyone:

Thank you guys for your kind remarks. It's greatly appreciated but in truth, it is only on this site that we can find people that are truly interested in the intricacies and variations of various Hamilton production models. Try to tell the average person at a dinner party about the differences in the Hamilton Barrel and see how quickly your guest falls asleep.

Dan, you're very correct - The Fahys Barrel was not only contoured "to fit the wrist" but also had an engraved frame around the outside of the back case piece. Only the Wadsworth Barrel and the Barrel "B" (which was also made by Fahys) did not have the engraved frame on the outside of the back case piece (I would like to add that I have seen two examples of the Barrel "B" that had the engraved back and whose case numbers matched but they seem to be exceptions to the rule).

Hamilton also made silver Cushion Form Opening's and they too are rare. I have never seen one though I am actively searching for an example - I am sure there's one out there; perhaps in someone's collection, drawer or junk pile.

I'd be interested in seeing if the silver Cushion Form Opening is the "first generation" Cushion Form Opening with the flush center case similar to the Wadsworth Barrel (which is flush as well) or the "second generation" Cushion Form Opening with the extended center case piece. If that is so, it would tell us a little more about Hamilton's production processes.

Regards,

Will

Will - I got the case of mine in a lot of 5 watch cases - of which I scrapped 4, but the Barrel case was in good shape - here the before/after pictures.

Dan:

Wow! That's a nice one you have there. I have a white gold-filled and green gold-filled plain and engraved. I'll have to shoot some pictures and post them. I am in the process of revamping my website which is why I haven't updated it recently. I thought I would have finished it by now but it's a project that is taking significantly longer than I originally thought. Ugh!

I think I like the Wadsworth Barrel more so than the Fahys Barrel. I am not sure why that is - perhaps they look nicer than the Fahys Barrel or perhaps it is because they are a purer and more simple design than the Fahys Barrel. I simply can't put my finger on it. Either way, they definitely look "different" than what we might otherwise be accustomed to and maybe therein lies the difference.

We can likely go on all day about the Barrel's variations - i.e., interestingly, there are two variations of the Fahy's Barrel - the "Wreath" variation and the "Motif" variation but that's another story all together.

Kindest regards,

Will

Will,

Can we have a slight profile view of the case so that we can see the sides?

I much prefer the Fahys case myself. (I got confused, which was which). It is my favorite wristwatch so far. Different strokes ....

Perhaps you could also so the Wadsworth in a partial profile. I do not have a digital camera with a macro lense, or I would show mine.

Don

Will, thank you for such a fascinating post.

I just scrutinized my green 14K Barrel, and it is a Fahys case. I love it, despite its ubiquity.

Here are the two different case backs -- the differences noted by Will are easily seen.

DM

--- and here side views again showing the differences detailed by Will.

DM

quote:

Fahys Barrel

I'll throw my all original with boxes Fahys Barrel into the mix.

Jay, that's an amazingly well-preserved example; is it a signed Hamilton strap? Interesting that Hamilton did seem to use differently colored lume for white vs. green/yellow gold watches (as compared to mine, pictured above). Or am I hallucinating?

Hi Guys:

Dan beat me to the punch but here are my pics nonetheless (Dan's are better though).

Jay and Adam - those are two amazing Barrels. Wear them in health.

Regards,

Will

Adam, It has a non signed but period strap. I wonder if the case color had something to do with the luminous?

Will, I haven't worn it, unfortunately, and I don't think I will in order to keep it well preserved.

Matching numbers outer box!

Cool thread. I'd been wanting to ask about the "frame" on the back of the Fahys case that Will refers to above:

"Dan, you're very correct - The Fahys Barrel was not only contoured "to fit the wrist" but also had an engraved frame around the outside of the back case piece."

I have a Fahys engraved case with the frame and an unengraved one without it. Here's a pic of them together to show the difference.

Cort - does the case which does not have the back framed still have the back contoured to fit against the wrist ?

DM

Hi Cort:

I think if you look closely, you'll likely find that your Barrel without the engraved frame is of the Wreath variation - Hamilton's earlier example of the two Fahys model styles.

When the Fahys' Barrel was introduced in late 1927, the first variation was in the Wreath bezel style and it did not have the engraved frame (it was more similar to its predecessor, the Wadsworth Barrel in that regard).

Apparently, prior to Fahys changing from the Wreath bezel to the Motif bezel in 1928, there were some Wreath bezel examples that did have the engraved frame but my guess would be that they are late Wreath models and are not particularly common though Hamilton records are silent as to exactly when and why this change occurred. From what I've seen thus far, all Motif bezel variations have the frame, but again, I am sure that there are exceptions to the rule as well.

When examining, my Barrels, all my Motif Barrel's have engraved frames (I have six of them) and all my Wreath Barrel's do not have the engraved frame (I have three of them and have seen nine other examples). Does that mean that you'll not find a Motif Barrel without a frame and vise versa regarding the Wreath style? Absolutely not, I am sure there are examples of both out there.

Rene's book hit the nail on the head when he said that there are no set rules when it comes to Hamilton. That tells us that Hamilton, like many companies today, made changes to their production models and made them often (there are many examples of style changes i.e., Cushion, Cushion Form Opening, Raleigh Engraved etc.).

To complicate matters further, it appears that for a period of time, Engraved Barrels may have been made with the framed engraving while Plain Barrels were not, regardless of the Wreath/Motif rule of thumb. When it comes down to it, it's all pretty confusing. I have been collecting case and movement serial numbers to try and make "head or tails" of it all and hopefully some day we'll have an answer.

In the end, I don't think that we are being anal - I think research such as this gives us a clue into Hamilton's production methods and adds depth to our collection strategies. It also gives us information as to which model variations are rarer than others and adds an element to collecting Hamilton's that make Hamilton's an extraordinarily exciting brand to collect.

Regards,

Will
PS - We do know why Hamilton changed from the Wadsworth Barrel to the Fahys Barrel. The Wadsworth Barrel was identical to that used by Longines with the only difference being that the word "Longines" was stamped in the back inner case. Hamilton needed to distinguish themselves other than by just the quality of their movement - they needed a Barrel which was unmistakably "Hamilton." By the way, I am sure it didn't hurt that Mr. Fahys sat on Hamilton's Board of Directors either.

Will and Dan,
Thank you again for the great info. I checked my two barrel cases again and can confirm that both are WGF Fahys with curved backs. Case # 492733 has an engraved bezel and a framelined back.It's in good shape (though desparately in need of dial and hand servicing)
Case #628184 has a plain bezel and has no F.L.. It is in nice shape too but, alas, it is a case only. All three case ser #s match on both cases.
I will check to see if the engraving on the case frame is the same or not and will report later.Hope this helps. Keep up the great work!
-Cort

Will,
I double checked my case w/o bezel engraving and it does indeed
have a smooth(plain) bezel. The center stock part of the case is engraved in the same manner as the other I have. All the numbers match.
cheers,
Cort