Post by Boge Quinn on Jul 7, 2010 20:30:26 GMT -5
A good friend of mine called me last Saturday from his local gun store, telling me there was a guy trying to sell a watch and he thought I might be interested. I initially balked at the cost, but soon realized it was too good a deal to pass up, so my friend gave the guy his money and sent me the watch.
It's a Hamilton Model 950, made in 1909. Hamilton's 992 was their most popular Railroad-Grade watch, one of the finest and one of my favorites ever made, but the 950 was a big step up. 23 Jewel movement (as opposed to the 992's 21), motor barrel, fully adjusted, the 950 is one of the finest watches ever made, and I'm proud to finally have one. It's the only 23-jewel watch I have to date. This one is near-mint, with one small hairline in the dial between the 4 and 5.
What's unusual about this one is, it's housed in a solid 14K gold case. You don't often see Railroad watches in gold cases, because most of the folks who bought RR-grade watches needed the precision of the timepiece more than the fancy gold. So, you most often see RR watches in Silveroid or gold-filled cases, and most pure-gold cased watches you see have lesser-quality 7-jewel or 15-jewel movements (my only other solid gold watch is an 1884 Elgin 7-jewel in a hunter case, it belonged to my great-grandfather). Depended on whether you wanted to spend the bucks on the movement or the case. Also, many watches that DID have solid-gold cases were recased during the Depression of the 1930s (as opposed to the CURRENT depression) for the scrap gold value.
Sometimes you see a watch where no expense was spared, either on the movement or the case; these are often Presentation watches, as was this one, which was presented to Thomas N. Read, a West Virginia lawyer, by the West Virginia Osteopathic Society in 1923. It's interesting that the watch was made in 1909 and presented in 1923; I'd love to know whether the watch laid-around at a jeweler's for a few years before it was engraved for presentation, or whether it was re-cased for presentation (although none of the tell-tale signs of a recased watch are present, so I think the case is original), but there's no way of knowing. The case was made by Dueber, but that's not unusual as Dueber supplied cases to many makers including Hamilton.
Anyway, this is a cool watch and I'm glad to have it. This is the centerpiece of my collection.
The chain is one I had laying-around, it belonged to my uncle and dates back to at least the '40s. I added the belt clip to it.
It's a Hamilton Model 950, made in 1909. Hamilton's 992 was their most popular Railroad-Grade watch, one of the finest and one of my favorites ever made, but the 950 was a big step up. 23 Jewel movement (as opposed to the 992's 21), motor barrel, fully adjusted, the 950 is one of the finest watches ever made, and I'm proud to finally have one. It's the only 23-jewel watch I have to date. This one is near-mint, with one small hairline in the dial between the 4 and 5.
What's unusual about this one is, it's housed in a solid 14K gold case. You don't often see Railroad watches in gold cases, because most of the folks who bought RR-grade watches needed the precision of the timepiece more than the fancy gold. So, you most often see RR watches in Silveroid or gold-filled cases, and most pure-gold cased watches you see have lesser-quality 7-jewel or 15-jewel movements (my only other solid gold watch is an 1884 Elgin 7-jewel in a hunter case, it belonged to my great-grandfather). Depended on whether you wanted to spend the bucks on the movement or the case. Also, many watches that DID have solid-gold cases were recased during the Depression of the 1930s (as opposed to the CURRENT depression) for the scrap gold value.
Sometimes you see a watch where no expense was spared, either on the movement or the case; these are often Presentation watches, as was this one, which was presented to Thomas N. Read, a West Virginia lawyer, by the West Virginia Osteopathic Society in 1923. It's interesting that the watch was made in 1909 and presented in 1923; I'd love to know whether the watch laid-around at a jeweler's for a few years before it was engraved for presentation, or whether it was re-cased for presentation (although none of the tell-tale signs of a recased watch are present, so I think the case is original), but there's no way of knowing. The case was made by Dueber, but that's not unusual as Dueber supplied cases to many makers including Hamilton.
Anyway, this is a cool watch and I'm glad to have it. This is the centerpiece of my collection.
The chain is one I had laying-around, it belonged to my uncle and dates back to at least the '40s. I added the belt clip to it.
