Here is a Hamilton wristwatch that I picked up while I was in Texas on vacation. any thoughts to who issued it.

a

S

m

It does have a broken staff.

'ORD CORPS' 'USA' 'NO.' stands for 'Ordinance Corps' 'United States Army' and 'Number'. The Ordinance Corps is the branch of the US Army that buys and distributes the things the Army needs, such as watches and clocks, pots and pans, boots and uniforms, rifles and bullets, Humvees and tanks, and just about everything. It was created in 1812 to help the Army prepare for that war and has been around ever since.

Your watch is odd in that it has no number, and it has some kind of added hand etched number of 987A which is the model of the movement that is inside the watch. Why this was crudely etched to the outside of the case is a mystery to me. The blank space after the engraved 'NO.' should have something professionally engraved there.

My guess is the case might not be original to the movement. Cases and movements for these kinds of Army watches have always been readily available in old watchmaker's cabinets and storage bins since this kind of watch was manufactured and supplied to the Army in very large quantities during the war. For example, Hamilton supplied well over 100,000 of them to the Army during the war and other makers supplied equally large numbers of them. Over the years these nice movements were sold to the public as surplus and went on to get reused and repurposed. Or some soldiers never turned theirs in and they went on to be squirreled away in jewelry boxes and sock drawers. Over the years many were used regularly and were repaired over and over with no thought that they might be collectable some day.

Another thought that yours may be made up from parts is the dial does not look right. Hamiltons from this time should have the name Hamilton on the dial below the 12. And the numerals should be painted with radium paint which would look like brownish yellow crud as the radium would have completely oxidized the zinc sulfide that was mixed with it to create the glow in the dark feature.

They

I found it unusual that this one did have any #s also. I bought to resale. So I guess I'll sell it.

V286 is the only # on the outside of case.

The number scratched into the case back is not V286. You are looking at it upside down. Turn it around and you will see the number someone added there is 987A.

You are correct. 4 eyes better than 2. Thanks