Information on Hamilton diamond watches is very hard to come by. Hamilton made literally thousands of different styles and many were never cataloged. Under a special factory promotion Hamilton offered custom cases which could be special-ordered. As a letter to jewelers explained, "Under this program jewelers may recommend that a customer have her diamonds set in a stock case, or -- as happens in many instances -- a special, one-of-a-kind design may be drawn to the customer's specifications, incorporating items of outdated jewelry into a strikingly modern case. The watch case division now has about 200 stock case styles, each style having individualized end ornaments. The possible combinations of cases and end ornaments is, therefore, almost infinite and is limited only by the imagination." (Emphasis added.)
Plus, the majority of "Hamilton" diamond watches were not really made by Hamilton. It was very common practice for independent jewelers to buy the cheapest Hamilton watches they could find, new or (preferably) used, scrap the cases, and use the movements and dials in their own custom cases or else cases supplied by any number of private makers who advertised in jeweler trade journals.
The first thing to do is to carefully snap open your watch and very carefully lift out the movement to see what is stamped inside the case back. If it was cased at the factory it will have the full Hamilton Watch Co. name and Lancaster, PA address stamped inside, along with a serial number and indication of what kind of metal it is made from. Privately re-cased watches only have a marking for the metal and occasionally a serial number, never the Hamilton name and address.
If it is a recased, non-factory watch it will be impossible to determine anything about it since there's no way to know where the case was sourced or who may have put it all together.
