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Vintage Model for Tuesday, Nov. 4th - "Gents Wrist Watch"

4K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  HamiltonIllinois 
#1 · (Edited)


Hamilton "Gents Wrist Watch"
Hamilton's first man's wristwatch
available 1917-1919
17-jewel 983 movement, adjusted for temperature, isochronism, & 3 positions
available in solid gold, filled gold, and sterling silver cases
porcelain dial
32mm case width
40mm over the lugs
22mm strap width
1,749 production



from Will Roseman's site

Excerpt from Will Roseman's Hamilton website:

The 983 movement was introduced in 1909 and initially designed for usage in women's chatelaine, cord and lapel watches but was ultimately destined to become Hamilton’s first men’s wristwatch movement. It was “patterned” after the Swiss made Meylan 0-sized movement sometime during late 1907 or early 1908 and the first 297 chatelaine examples were shipped to wholesalers in May and June, 1909.

In April of 1917, Hamilton decided to use two of its existing movements for what it termed the “Gent’s Wrist Watch” – a factory cased men’s wristwatch with 17-jewel grade 983 0-size movements and 19-jewel grade 985 0-size movements providing the power.

Both the 983 and the 985 offered Hamilton a distinct advantage in the creation of a men’s wristwatch, as both were standard 0-size movements and could be fit into any standard 0-size case. This allowed Hamilton to eliminate the need for any new case tooling and subsequently, Hamilton was able to quickly and economically produce a men’s wristwatch in a relatively short period of time – just two months. Most importantly, the 983 and 985 were known to be quality movements that could withstand the more rigorous service to which wristwatches were subjected.

The 983 and 985 “Gents Wrist Watch” models were cased at the Hamilton factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in sterling silver 0-size cases. Hamilton produced a total of 306 examples of the 17-jewel grade 983 “Gents Wrist Watch” and 204 examples of the 19-jewel grade 985 “Gents Wrist Watch” in 1917 and production continued until 1919. A total of 1,749 examples were produced in their three year production span. These watches were originally only offered in wire-lug round sterling silver cases fitted with a leather strap and sterling silver buckle, priced to the consumer at $35.00. Interestingly, the grade 985 model was priced the same as the grade 983 model, despite having two additional jewels.

The grade 983 and 985 0-sized wristwatch was Hamilton's first "wrist watch for men" and each example is a rare and historically significant timepiece.

The above example is the first operational 0-sized Hamilton movement completed, and subsequently can be considered Hamilton's very first wristwatch movement made. This movement has served as forerunner and witness to the long and prestigious history for which Hamilton would stake its well deserved claim as "America's finest watch".




comparision of Hamilton's most common 6/0 size Cushion model with original 0-size model (green gold vs. yellow gold is more apparent, also)


 
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#3 ·
Tom,

Thanks for showing a photo of the 0-sized Cushion beside the 6/0 Cushion. I own two 6/0 Cushions -- one green, one white, one is 14K the other is the WWII gold-filled variety (I forget which color is which). Sadly, I have not yet been able to pick-up an 0-sized example. Frankly, the 6/0 examples are too small for my body so I will likely not keep either in my permanent collection. I do want to add an O-sized Cushion, however.
 
#6 ·
Will,

The Oval is my favorite Hamilton also, so I will be happy to show my examples. :) I just picked-up another one, and I need to get some decent pictures of all 3.

I still find it interesting that some Ovals have engraved lugs and other have plain lugs. I wonder if this was a way to reduce the price once the Great Depression hit? (Perhaps the same reason that some solid 14K Illinois Consuls have 14K centers while other have centers stamped Nickle?)
 
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