Watch Carefully
10-06-2006, 04:03 PM
...well not really a "new" case, but one that I just acquired.
I'm a big fan of the Hamilton Grade 923 movement, but tend not to favor yellow gold watches. Most 923s were sold in yellow gold (18k) cases, but most are found today in cheaper gold-filled cases. Very rare examples were sold in platinum/iridium cases--they are very expensive today (as they were in the 1940s).
So, I don't carry my Hamilton 923 pocket watch very often because it is contained in a yellow gold-filled case:
http://www.fototime.com/8E92EA6CDF52560/standard.jpg
It so happens that I have a friend who owns a watch company. He was gracious enough to send me a spare case of his that I find much more appealing:
http://www.fototime.com/508FA7E3FC8F39D/standard.jpg
So, after some careful surgery, I exctracted the Grade 923 from its YGF case and installed it in its new home:
http://www.fototime.com/60F8F85D071396A/standard.jpg
This case dates from about 1954, the last year of Grade 917 production. It is the model known as "Read" which was offered with either a silver or black dial with luminous hands. These dials, in steel cases with applied white metal numerals & luminous hands & dots, are somewhat scarce. Literally, hundreds of thousands of gold-filled cases were made for the 10-size movements Hamilton sold. Steel ones were probably used less often than 14k gold ones.
The dial of this example is actually missing a few of the luminous hour dots, and most of the radium paint on the minute hand. However, the luminous paint is still intact on the hour and second (!) hand. I'll try to find some replacement dots and then perhaps have the hands and dots re-lumed with Luminova.
http://www.fototime.com/ADF7E4263DCA896/standard.jpg
Sorry for the inadequate, quick photographs. I'm supposed to be working.
Thanks very much to my friends in Lancaster for sending this to me! I'll be carrying it regularly now on the end of a steel chain I have.
Cheers,
Brad
I'm a big fan of the Hamilton Grade 923 movement, but tend not to favor yellow gold watches. Most 923s were sold in yellow gold (18k) cases, but most are found today in cheaper gold-filled cases. Very rare examples were sold in platinum/iridium cases--they are very expensive today (as they were in the 1940s).
So, I don't carry my Hamilton 923 pocket watch very often because it is contained in a yellow gold-filled case:
http://www.fototime.com/8E92EA6CDF52560/standard.jpg
It so happens that I have a friend who owns a watch company. He was gracious enough to send me a spare case of his that I find much more appealing:
http://www.fototime.com/508FA7E3FC8F39D/standard.jpg
So, after some careful surgery, I exctracted the Grade 923 from its YGF case and installed it in its new home:
http://www.fototime.com/60F8F85D071396A/standard.jpg
This case dates from about 1954, the last year of Grade 917 production. It is the model known as "Read" which was offered with either a silver or black dial with luminous hands. These dials, in steel cases with applied white metal numerals & luminous hands & dots, are somewhat scarce. Literally, hundreds of thousands of gold-filled cases were made for the 10-size movements Hamilton sold. Steel ones were probably used less often than 14k gold ones.
The dial of this example is actually missing a few of the luminous hour dots, and most of the radium paint on the minute hand. However, the luminous paint is still intact on the hour and second (!) hand. I'll try to find some replacement dots and then perhaps have the hands and dots re-lumed with Luminova.
http://www.fototime.com/ADF7E4263DCA896/standard.jpg
Sorry for the inadequate, quick photographs. I'm supposed to be working.
Thanks very much to my friends in Lancaster for sending this to me! I'll be carrying it regularly now on the end of a steel chain I have.
Cheers,
Brad