Between the 21 and the 22, is one to be preferred over the other, or would you go for both; and why? Are there recommended sources for these models? Thanks!

From what I have seen, examples of the 21 seem to sell for more than the 22. I don't know if that means everyone would prefer the 21 over the 22 - it is just that the current marketplace seems to prefer the 21. Then there is the question of whether it is an unmounted or mounted variety and which you prefer. And then another choice is which branch of the service you want (they were not issued or reissued to just the Navy). Finally, and perhaps the biggest consideration and challenge in my opinion is to find one that is actually all original (including its wooden boxes). From what I have seen many of the ones that are sold these days seem to be less than completely original.

If I were going to be investing the kind of money these things cost these days, I would want to be sure I had one that was 100% original and not an assembled mix of old and new parts. My second requirement would be that it be one of the ones that was made during the war years and have the historical aura of having been put to its intended military use. YMMV.

There is no comparison. The model 22 is a chronometer watch. It is just a large watch, a good one, but still a watch.

The model 21 is the best mechanical chronometer ever made. The timing standards were very different. The design and engineering are very different. The care in construction is very different. It is like comparing a triple crown thoroughbred race horse to a quarter horse.

Don

Jim, it's unlikely you'd find a 100% original Model 21 (or 22, I suppose) combination from WWII. Marvin Whitney, in his book "The Ship's Chronometer," says the Navy quickly gave up on trying to keep chronometers and their boxes together during servicing, as it required too much record keeping. So the serial numbers were removed from the boxes, and when a chronometer was ready, the next box on the shelf was used.

Most Navy ships of any size carried three chronometers in a big box. To fit that box, the individual boxes had to have their lids removed. So it's likely if you find a Navy chronometer with it's top lid, the lid is a replacement.

Later chronometers sold to the public should be complete, but wouldn't be as interesting to me as one from WWII.

Norman

It's also worth noting that many, maybe even most, of the chronometers actually used during WWII later ended up in storage -- without their boxes. Movements were stored in aluminum tubs. These unboxed chronometers flooded into the market many years ago when the government decided to sell them as obsolete equipment. This is why so many have been reboxed -- there simply aren't anywhere near enough original boxes for all the movements that exist. But some of the replica boxes are of unbelievably fine quality, and many are fitted with new-old-stock hardware which Dr. Robert Ravel acquired from leftover stock at Hamilton in the early 1970s.

I think any Model 21 chronometer with a lower-range serial number is a highly desirable piece.

The national has the original production cards for these so it's possible to see exactly when one was produced and how it performed in tests. Unfortunately I am not aware of any records to show the ultimate disposition of any individual chronometer, but it's safe to believe that anything produced and delivered during the war years saw service.

George Daniels, of the Isle of Man has a Hamilton 21 Chronometer in his hall just to your left as you enter from the front door. I asked what was the best Chronometer ever made, he smiled and said "the Hamilton 21. (May 29th 1997)
Cooksey