I posted a picture of the back of the chronometer in pitfalls but got no answers. On the back it says N5493-1942, but the serial number inside is 2F17769. Any help on production year?

Skip

Skip,

I think the reason no one answered is because no one who has seen your question ( including me)knows. Most Hamilton military watch movement numbers, including those 2F-prefix numbers for the Model 22 chronometers, don't appear in the Gelson List, which is our standard Hamilton reference.

I'd say the best place to find those would be a reference like Military Timepieces by Marvin Whitney. I'd look for you, but I'm still in rehab and my copy of Whitney is at home.

The N in the circle mean Naval Observatory, the 5493 is the Navy's serial number for this particular Chronometer Watch, and the 1942 is the year that it was accepted by the Naval Observatory on behalf of the Navy from Hamilton. The 2F17769 on the movement is the Hamilton company's serial number of the movement.

Assuming the movement is original to this particular case this would mean that Hamilton would have made the movement in 1942 or perhaps 1941. I say assuming the case and movement are an original pairing because the Navy had watchmakers whose job was to repair Naval timepieces and keep them adjusted and when a case or movement became overly damaged they would use a replacement to keep the timepiece serviceable. They were not thinking about future collectors. The Army was the same. And whomever obtained the timepiece after it left military hands could also make repairs. I think that most timepieces of this vintage are pretty much all original but there is always the possibility of at least some mixed parts beyond just a spring.

I am not an expert on Hamilton serial numbers but as Ed has mentioned, I too have not seen anything on these linking them to specific dates within the range of when these were generally being manufactured. I just checked my copy of Whitney and it does not go into these kinds of details.

I agree with Jim, that 1942 is the year the Model 22 was introduced. Trying for specifics, we have a .pdf file on these movements that shows 2F17769 as 1944 and the month of October, much of the information is unreliable but that date would be reasonably correct in this instance.

There were apparently just over 28,000 of the Model 22 produced.

Don

I believe 1942 represents the year of the contract let by the government procuring these watches. There is also a 1941 contract date.

Thanks everyone for you input. Don where can I get the pdf file on these movements, I have seen one but don't seem to be able to locate the entire data base.

Thanks again guys.

skip