We updated this post on June 7, 2015 here.
Vintage Hamilton collectors consider the Brooke model one of the 10 most popular and collectible wristwatches from Hamilton’s golden era. In 1938, the buying public rejected it. In many ways, Hamilton produced a ‘copy-cat’ to the very popular Gruen Curvex. Like most copy-cat products, it didn’t go over well.
Hamilton produced and sold very few Brooke models in 1938. We can’t find production figures, but you will find few available. Other popular Hamilton watches include Rutlidge, Cambridge, Otis, Seckron, Flight I and II and the 401 models. I don’t consider the 401 models popular, because they’re a species to themselves with only 7500 of the 401 Illinois movements ever produced.
Hamilton designed the Brooke so the wearer could see the time without turning his wrist a full 45 degrees. They designed it to be shaped like a wedge. It sits higher at the twelve o’clock position and lower at the six o’clock position. It’s wider at the six o’clock position.
The catalog listed it as such: Brooke with inclined feature.
To demonstrate the popularity of the Brooke, I found one at auction. Few people recognized it and yet it fetched 13 bidders and sold for $103.50. Not bad for a revolting-looking parts watch that didn’t work.
Hamilton Watch Company, an ETA company out of Switzerland, offers a “Classic” version that sells for around $700. The Brooke name demonstrates the popularity of the Asymmetrical look. Also note that the contemporary model is wider at the bottom.
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| Modern Brooke |
Gruen released the first curved design, the Curvex. On April 26, 1932, the US Patent Office granted Emile Frey of Bienne, Switzerland, the first patent, assigned to the Gruen Watch Company. The first watches went on sale in 1935.
On the left you can see a Diagram from a 1938 advertisement, showing the Curvex concept. During the mid-1930s, curved rectangular watches for men came into style. Flat movements limited the curve. Competition drove designs to thinner and more curved wristwatches. Gruen changed the arrangement of wheels and bridges and built a curved movement. Since Gruen held the patent, curved movements were exclusive to Gruen. The Curvex gained extreme popularity.
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| Gruen Curvex |
Gruen produced four gents Curvex movements. The first, the1935 model with a calibre 311, was replaced by the curved 330 (1937). Later models used the short, squarish-oval 440 (1940) and the short and wide 370 (1948). Not all of Gruen’s gents watches use one of the four movements. Regardless of the dial’s imprint, they do not have a curved movement. Dials can be redone or swapped with another watch, but the movement determines the curve.
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| Gruen Movement |
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| Hamilton’s Curved Watches use a 982 Flat Movement |
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