Hamilton Martin or Norman?

Norman

I’ve noticed some confusion on the part of buyers and sellers of two particular Hamilton wristwatches. If one is not careful, he or she can make a serious mistake when trying to identify the model.

People look at the lugs and wonder which model they’re looking at. As you can see they look similar. They both have second hands in a sub-assembly at the six o’clock position. They both have the simple Hamilton logo and raised 18 K applied gold numerals.

Martin

Now, these two photos demonstrate the difference in the watches well. However, when only one or the other is pictured in an auction image, even seasoned Hamilton collectors might make a mistake.

Let’s start the comparison, so you won’t have this identity problem in the future. Beginning with appearance notice the numerals. The stock Norman has dots at the odd-numeral positions instead of numerals. That’s pretty obvious unless someone has changed dials or ordered a dial with all Arabic numerals. If the watch has dots, it’s a Norman. If not, other features are still easy to spot.

The Martin is wider. That might not seem apparent if the angle of the photo is the same. I’ve used different angles for demonstration purposes. Look at the frame around the secondhand. The Norman has a recess, a narrower frame and doesn’t have numbers. Again, that’s apparent since we’re using stock dials. Someone that refinishes dials can change the dye.

Let’s look at the lugs. This is the best give away. The Norman takes a 15mm band and the Martin a 16mm. Can you tell that from the photos? Yes. On the Martin, the lugs are on the outside of the lug mount. On the Norman, the lugs are on top of the mount. That’s telling.

Those are aesthetics we can see in a photo. The other differences are under the hood. First, the movements are different. The Norman uses a 982 14/0 movement. The Martin comes with a 987A 6/0 movement.

Hamilton produced the Norman with a 14K gold filled case and the Martin with a 10K yellow gold filled case.

The Martin appears in the 1938 and 1940 catalogs, the Norman doesn’t  show up until 1950 catalog. (I’ve read that Hamilton released the Norman in 1948, but I just haven’t found a Norman in a catalog prior to 1950.) Regardless, the Martin is a pre-World War II watch and the Norman is a post-World War II timepiece.

I have both watches and they look totally different to me. Recently, I bought one off of eBay and the seller didn’t know the identity. He didn’t pop the back off to show the movement. I recognized the difference and picked up a Martin at a bargain. You can do the same thing when the opportunity arises.

I hope this helps you identify a future potential purchase. You’ll see both models more frequently than other Hamilton wristwatches. They polish up nicely and the original dials seem to hold up well.