Internet Horology Club 185
Hamilton 4992 G.C.T. Silver Case Question

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June 24, 2009, 16:27
Dan Meiklejohn
Hamilton 4992 G.C.T. Silver Case Question
Hi,

I have a Hamilton 4992B G.C.T. The back, bezel and bow are silver and the center piece is base metal. The inside of the back is marked "Keystone silver .800 fine. There is no engraving on the outside of the back. Were watches ever made like this or is this just a case of someone mixing and matching parts?

Appreciate any info,
Dan
June 24, 2009, 17:05
Tom Brown
Dan

Is there a case number on the back where it says Keystone? If so the number should also be stamped on the other parts of the case.

Some of those watches were put in those silver cases & some did have the military markings on the back but being that the case was .800 silver the engravings were easily worn off.

I t would be interesting to see the watch if you could post photos of it.

Tom
June 24, 2009, 22:19
Dan Meiklejohn
Tom,

The number inside the case is K 017348. I don't see numbers on the other parts. I attached some pics.

Dan


June 24, 2009, 22:22
Dan Meiklejohn
Another pic


June 24, 2009, 22:23
Dan Meiklejohn
Another picture.


June 24, 2009, 22:24
Dan Meiklejohn
The last picture


June 24, 2009, 23:45
Jerry King
Dan, normally the case number that is on the inside of rear cover is also stamped into the case frame, either on the front side or the rear side....then that same number is hand engraved or scratched using roman numerals into the inside of the bezel of the case....

I would expect the roman numerals to be on the inside of the bezel at least if not you could very well have a case of mixed parts....

The movement looks to be a nice movement....

Regards,
Jerry
June 24, 2009, 23:52
Tom Brown
Hi Dan

Thanks for the photos, in my opinion it appears to be an orginal silver military case.

The number on the back K017348, should be stamped on the case itself on the front probably below the 12:00 (or 6:00) on a normal dial.

Then some times part of the number will be scratched into the bezel rim underneath in roman numerals.

These are photos of the numbers on mine, mine is a base metal case & the numbers are not scratched into the front bezel.

Yours is a one star watch in the guide due to the silver case. Nice find

case

June 25, 2009, 01:01
Tom Brown
I can't back this up with anything other than what I have seen, I think of a lot of the Military watch cases didn't get case numbers scratched into the front bezel or they replaced them a lot during the service with new bezels. I have owned about 10 of the 4992B's & I don't recall any of them have the numbers in the front bezel.

Tom
June 25, 2009, 10:49
Jim Hester
I do not see any indication of the standard contract and serial numbers and such on the back. From what I see in the photo it also does not appear to be excessively worn to suggest the case has been worn down past these stamped in numbers. Can you make out any indication of the markings on the back that are supposed to be there? Often, if you shine a light from a sharp oblique angle onto the back you can see the worn numbers on a worn out case.

That, combined with the mixed metal parts gives me the sense that the case, or at least parts of the case are replacements.
June 25, 2009, 15:33
Dan Meiklejohn
Hi,
There are roman numerals on the inside of the bezel.
They are "VIIII VI VIII". I don't see how they correlate with the number on the back (K 017348). There is no number on the center section of the case. After reading the comments, I am starting to think that the case parts are mixed.
Thanks to everyone who commented,

Dan