I am by no means a Hamilton expert, but I do enjoy collecting them. While looking at some of my Hamilton's the other day, I had a question. I realize there isn't a great deal of information on the 50's Hamilton's, but figured I would ask anyway. In my opinion, some of Hamiltons most beautiful watches were made in the 50's. When did Hamilton stop using white gold and white gold filled & why? The only reason I ask is because on the early watches, there was quite a variety of options such as green, white, or yellow solid or filled gold, platinum, & different dial options. Pretty much whatever the consumer wanted was done. I realize the times changed, but are there any solid white gold Viscounts, Dorseys, Bentons, Flights +++ out there? The majority of the white gold & platinum Hamilton's I have in my collection and have seen are not "Hamilton" cases, but contract cases.

Adam,

What a great question. I too am looking forward to hearing the opinion of others.

I've never seen a White gold Viscount, Dorsey, Benton, or Flight. I've owned a few white gold Ventura's, as well as an 18K yellow version, and even an 18K Rose gold Ventura.

I prefer the look of white gold, and as a result have a white gold Spur, Coronado, Piping Rock, Flintridge, Pinehurst, and Rectangular. All of these are late 1920, early 1930. I've never seen or heard of a white gold filled Otis, Seckron, etc. The Brock came in white, yellow, and coral.

I suspect that Hamilton saw that yellow gold was a better seller post WWII than white gold, and as a result, they directed their efforts to yellow gold and gold fill.

Just a guess, however!

Pinehurst

Bill,

Thanks for the reply and the nice pics. I to prefer the white gold to the yellow on the earlier watches. The Pinehurst in white makes me drool every time I see it.

Perhaps a good guess on the yellow gold after the war. I can't imagine the demand for white gold just stopped in the mid to late 40's, as I know a lot of men and women today who prefer white gold or platinum over 14k and 18k yellow. Perhaps there are some yet undiscovered treasures for us to find! I can just imagine a Flight 1 in solid white gold with a black Hamilton dial....WOW. Heck....I might even settle for a platinum one.


Adam