The Hamilton Meadowbrook and the 979 Story - Vintage-Hamilton-Wristwatches

Meadowbrook

Hamilton introduced this watch in 1928 as prestige model for business. They offered it in a hand-made platinum case for $400 or $5,200 in 2012 dollars. It’s extremely rare and none are known to exist in circulation.

Hamilton often used damaskeening on the 979. It used the 6/0 (size 0 minus 4/30ths) with 19 Ruby and Sapphire jewels. It came with a Breguet hairspring, double roller on the balance staff and jeweled pallets. The hairspring had a compensating balance, which adjusted to temperature.

Types of balance springs: (1) flat spiral, (2) Breguet overcoil, (3) chronometer helix, showing curving ends, (4) early balance springs.

Hamilton 979 Movement 6/0

Breguet differs from flat hairsprings, using an overcoil that allows the spring to breathe concentrically. Prior to silicium hairsprings, the Breguet held the highest status of the watchmaking industry. Companies make the overcoil hairsprings from flat springs by the.

The double roller anchor escapement uses the pallet fork to prevent the escape wheel from rotating freely – the two ends of the fork interfere with the rotation of the wheel, thus stopping and restarting it.

The rotation of the escape wheel causes one of the jewels on the pallet fork to match up with a gap between the teeth of the escape wheel which results in the pallet fork releasing the escape wheel. This causes the balance wheel to move back and forth.