According to the 1937-1939 Hamilton catalogs, the Merritt was offered in 10K natural gold fill only. However, in the last five years I've seen several in white gold fill with the black enamel dial. Bryan had at least two of them for sale and the others were offered on Ebay. Until yesterday I was unsuccessful in acquiring one.

Do any of the Hamilton experts - Bryan, Will, Rene - have any additional information about this model? Don, is there anything you can add? Many thanks in advance.

Here is a photo of one that Bryan had for sale:

And one in YGF with the enamel dial.

Hi Tom:

Hamilton did in fact make a 10K white gold-filled Merritt - obvious by the fact that they're out there. I have one as well and as you might guess, they are fairly scarce.

Due to the harder alloys used in white gold, white gold-filled watches tend to hold up better than yellow gold-filled watches which might be a reason why a fair number of them seem to surface - they stayed nicer looking for a longer period of time; especially for such a scarce variation as the white Merritt. A total of 702 where made.

Wear it in health.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,

Will

Very helpful. Thanks, Will! By the way, I was the person you outbid for the Sterling Barrel .

Hi Tom:

Wow! I am fortunate to have gotten the silver Barrel. Even at the price I paid ($515), it was still cheap.

Thanks for not out-bidding me. I owe you one.



Regards,

Will

I have nothing to add. We have some price lists that have hand written alterations. These list special variations not listed in the printed version. I saw nothing about the Merritt other than what you found in the catalogs.

Will is the one who has explored the Hamilton wristwatch case records. It is in his court now.

Don

Hi Don and Tom:

Other than what I've written above, there really isn't too much more that can be said. At face value and from what's written in the catalogs, no white Merritt's should exist. We obviously know that not to be the case (no pun intended).

The Merritt was introduced in 1937 and of the 7,485 examples produced (in 10K yellow gold-filled), 76% where made in the first year of production. The remainder 26% were made over the next four years with production ceasing in 1941 (only four examples were made in '41, one example made in '42).

White Merritt's are not listed in Hamilton's official records as having been produced, however they are listed in the "Special Order List" as having been made (702 examples in total). 702 seems to be a fairly large number for a "special order" however. My guess is that Hamilton had a "run" of 700 white examples in an effort to bolster Merritt sales. It was likely done "last minute" in an effort to see how they sold. If I were to guess further, I would say that their plan didn't go over well - otherwise, the number would be significantly higher than 702 examples.

Regards,

Will
PS - Please note that Hamilton's notes on the white gold-filled Merritt are negligible. No where does Hamilton say that they were taking a flyer with the white gold-filled Merritt. What I've written in the third paragraph above is just my hypothesis on why the white gold-filled Merritt was produced. If anyone else has ideas, I'd love to hear their thoughts.