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Can Someone PLEASE Help Me Identify This Hamilton (and band suggestion)

2K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  kgod86 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello this used to be my dads old watch, he passed away is 2001 and my mom gave this to me a couple weeks ago, I have to change the battery and put a new brown band on and and it is keeping PERFECT time. I have no clue what it is tho, all I know is Hamilton. Anyone have anymore info they could share?

Anyone have any suggestions on bands of colors? I want this watch to look really awesome but its hard when its gold colored I think.



 
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#2 ·
First let me say- that dial is awesome. It has a lot more character than if it were, say, champagne colored! A+

That's the first Hammie I've seen with that style of case, but it's typical of the style Citizen used in the 80s thru the 90s.
And I'd go with a gold bracelet until I found a strap that caught my eye. I'm thinking something reddish-brown...maybe like cordovan.
 
#4 ·
Congrats on the watch! I have a couple of my grandfather's that he wore a lot, and I wouldn't trade them for anything! There is nothing that trumps sentimental value!

In the photos, you dial seems similar in tone to my A690 from the 70's. I am guessing yours is from the early 80's. I used a new old stock Speidel that has a redish brown tone like Comet Hunter suggested for you.



Wear the watch in good health! :thumbup1:
 
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#7 ·
Well - I'm going to be a bit different.

I prefer metal bracelets for these 70s style watches so I would (for example) be checking out the alternatives with Scott from Times of Plenty, one of our valued WTF sponsors. His ebay store is <<here>>. You will need to know the distance between the lugs then use the search facility at the site to dial in what you need.

Alternatively; you could correspond with Scott, send him the watch and ask him to make some suggestions. Or just find him at this site and PM him.
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Found out the Hamilton was purchased in 1980.

I want to go the route of a leather strap, just trying to find the right fit and solit brown just isnt to my liking. I was looking at this lizard in havana color, or wondering if I should do something off the wall like red.

Or I would go with a authentic hamilton leather band. 18mm is the size

any suggestions? Please help me I'm going crazy and want this time peice finished!
 
#12 · (Edited)
IF you were looking at DeBeer (they use the name Havana as a color), then you likely won't go wrong as DeBeer makes terrifically comfortable hand-made straps. (Their presumably non hand-made leather faux-grain straps are also OK, but personally, I find that NONE of the faux-grain straps from any maker are as comfortable as true exotic-skin (alligator, crocodile, shark, snake, lizard, elephant, etc.) straps, so you might find a cheaper faux-skin option to be a better value than DeBeer.) I probably have 2-3 dozen or so Debeer hand-made exotic straps -- along with Hadley Roma and Artisanal (Hirsch) they are among my very favorites. A lot of collectors here like the comparatively inexpensive IW straps from internationalwatchman.com for for true exotic and also faux-grains. Personally, I have had good luck buying from IW in-person at watch shows but TERRIBLE luck the one time I bought a dozen or so straps for $273 via mail-order over the web. (I am STILL waiting for a $39 refund or even a response from Ron at IW to my final obviously VERY annoyed email... it has been 6 months and still counting... but AT LEAST they did not charge me their 25% restocking fee for THEIR mistake... oh wait, by not giving me my $39 back I guess my fee was 100%. Therefore, based upon my 1 mail-order experience with IW, I have found them to be a CROOK 100% of the time that they had the chance to steal my money!!! :cursing: In that situation, I received far less than the comparitively cheap price that I paid for these OK bands but LOUSY and dishonest service!)

Some people here also seem to LOVE the vintage straps they have purchased from Scott at Times of Plenty, a sponsor here. I have not yet purchased a strap from him but gladly would.


PS: This thread has reminded me to send-off a 6-month "tickler" email to Ron at IW, but my guess is that it will go ignored as my last email did in June. (I DOUBT if he will be "tickled" :lol:.) I had planned to discuss this with him in-person at the September NAWCC show in Dearborn, but sadly it was cancelled.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Anyone have any suggestions on bands of colors? I want this watch to look really awesome but its hard when its gold colored I think?

I' m not a big fan of lizard I feel Croc-Calf or a Alligator-Calf strap really make a watch stand out,maybe something in Tobacco or Peanut, I only pay 6 bucks for my straps if you like PM me & I can forward you the web address.
 
#13 ·
Ok the iw exotics caught my eye, exspecially the breitling exotic 79.99 doesnt sound like a bad deal at all and i'm guessing is very very comfy

But say I did buy a 6.00 one, is that just going to be a peice of crap? Just curious in the quality difference.

I think I am going to go with the wine color on my hamilton and def have to have a gold deployment bucle I think that will just set it off..

So 1980 Hamilton Gold Casing Brown Dial
Wine Breitling Croc Leather Strap
Gold Deployment Buckle

How does that sound?

Or is there another color you would recc??
 
#15 · (Edited)
Frankly, in the ones I bought, I was far more pleased with the cheaper bands than I was with the more expensive exotic straps -- probably because I had higher expectations for the more expensive ones. Personally, I don't like wine straps as they always look far too red to me, but I have not looked at his Breitling-like straps. One problem you could have is that Breitling-like straps are VERY THICK. Because of this, the strap ends where the springbars go might not fit inside the lugs space of a vintage watch. The main problem I had was that IW shows 3 colors of brown exotic straps, but Ron later told me (post arrival) that he only ever stocks 2 brown colors but shows 3 different colors on his website because he uses 2 different vendors and their colors vary greatly... so instead of a nice brown I received UGLY ORANGE, something that I had specifically had told him I did not want. So you might want to confirm that the color to be shipped is the same color shown on the website.
 
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