Mesmerized by Hamilton Watches

We tend to ignore an important principle when we buy, sell watches, collect and swear allegiance to a watch brand. They have no mythical powers. Ultimately, it’s a watch.  As a collector, you and I  may want to own the various models that Hamilton released through the decades like a coin collector of pennies wants to fill out his blue folder. That’s my preference, but it doesn’t make me or the watches special. After all, it is just a brand.

We collect things as a natural human instinct that arises in early life. Watches have a particular allure, wide appeal and I’ve never heard anyone connecting watch collectors with a personality disorder. Some spouses may label us weird, but they take our monthly allowance away to buy clothes they don’t need.

I like Hamilton watches and experience a fascination with the company’s history, designs and the fact that a 100+ year old watch can continue to work as it did when new. I have to remind myself that Hamilton is just a brand. I may like my collection, but most men only want one watch and they want it to be special.

In the US and Europe, men wear watches as jewelry. In many cases, men have one item of jewelry and it’s a watch. My banker couldn’t wait to show me his new Breitling. He spent $5,000 for it and justified it under the men’s jewelry theme.

A large number Hamilton owners exists the world over. Can I prove that? After 500 thousand unique page views and Google’s tracking system, it’s obvious Hamilton collectors inhabit the known world. Then, I ship watches from my shop to many locations one might not expect.

I focus on re-issues of hard to find originals. They need to have emerged from original dies, case tools and specs. Below, you can see the specifications used in 1931 for the Piping Rock. I’ve collected dial specs and diagrams as well as technical service bulletins and some other esoteric Hamilton items. What have I observed? Hamilton is a brand.

(Hamilton Design for Piping Rock)

I want to debunk some of the myths circulated by so-called Hamilton enthusiasts. For example, Henry Cain supposedly invented the first Hamilton watch. He did build the first 936, a slightly improved version of the Hampden Mod 3* he took from his days at Hampden watch company.

Here’s a few more:

1. Hamilton is a brand.
2. It holds no special place in the history of mankind.
3. The company’s reputation as the “watch of railroad accuracy” is an advertising slogan.
4. The Swiss made-up the slogan of “history, legacy and tradition” – something you can achieve by re-registering failed Swiss companies from their archives.
5. Moving operations to Biel, Switzerland  did not invalidate the brand.
6. 1969 did not end production of the brand.
7. The company name did not come from a man or men named Hamilton who donated land. It came from the Hamilton Society. Abraham Bitner donated the land in 1872.**
8. The Hamilton Society members thought of the watch business like 21st century investors thought of Dot Coms. The Hamilton name comes from that Social Club, whose members invested in each iteration of the company.

9. Webb C. Ball served as a vice president for Hamilton. We found no evidence of him testifying at a coroner’s inquest in Lorain County. In 1892, records show him as a vice president of Hamilton.
10. Some Hamilton Electric watches have Landeron movements.
11. Hamilton “electronics” are quartz watches.
12. M.J. McInarna, Inspector presented the findings of the Kipton railroad disaster on January 10th, 1910 to the Hon. J.A. Norton, Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs on December 31, 1901. No mention of a coroner’s inquest is cited in the report. McInarma also makes no reference to a watch being the cause of the accident.

*Mystery always surrounded Hamilton’s first watch. People wondered how Cain could manufacture a watch in such a short interval. The answer seems simple. He built Hampden Mod 3 movements, which Hamilton released as model 936. Of course, he made improvements.

**You may read that the name of the Company originated to credit Andrew Hamilton for donating the land on which the company built its factory and headquarters. It turns out that Abraham Bitner donated the land  twenty years before. It helped to use the Hamilton name to influence members of the Hamilton Society to raise capital. 

That group of Lancaster elite families needed a hook to buy-in to the venture. Henry Cain was that hook. He was the guru of watch inventors. He and Charles Rood left Hampden watch company when they were bought out by John Dreuber. They started Aurora Watch Company in Springfield, Illinois, but like Hamilton, they were underfunded. Aurora became part of Hamilton in 1892.

More of myths surfaced as I did research in historical registers, cross checked dates and read reports of train wrecks, railroad inspections, time system information and so forth.

It’s a Brand

People chose the name, Hamilton, and made it a brand. Prometheus had nothing to do with it. Over the 150 years of  the Lancaster watch endeavor’s existence, many different people had control of manufacturing, distribution and influencing consumers. Someone controlled intellectual property, sales channels, government contracts, promotions and investors. When all is said and done, people did business in the name of the Hamilton brand.

We love stories and think in stories and Hamilton makes for good story-telling regardless of its historical accuracy. I like Swiss Hamilton watches and believe they would look very similar if still made in America.

Finally, I like the ETA quartz movements that go into some Hamilton watches. They’re sophisticated. I see no reason to compare ETA quartz movements with  “no jewel” Miyota or Seiko Instrument movements.

People buy Hamilton watches because the company has excellent brand managers. The Swatch Group, Ltd. has used the brand to create a nice business. Simply put: People want Hamilton brand watches.

The Mesmerizing Effect

On some watch forums, the same information appears in article after article. I found too many to count. I’d like to share an email I receive from someone who drank the cool-aide.

Here goes:

I found a short Hamilton Watch article you wrote fairly recently that has several errors. I hope you make the corrections before you publish your book. (I’m not publishing a book on Hamilton Watches).

1. Gold smelters have melted watch cases whenever gold has dramatically spiked, although most experts tend to agree about 10% survive, not 2%. This 10% figure was derived by dealers, watchmakers, and collectors who’ve logged the serial numbers of thousands of movements that have passed through their hands, and applies equally to gold and gold-fill models, although the latter were probably mostly tossed, not melted. 

2. I believe the first sellers of vintage Hamilton watches on the internet market typically came from garage sales, flea markets, and pickers, not the NAWCC (who you called the NWCCA). There just aren’t that many NAWCC chapters, they generally meet monthly at best, and until somewhat recently didn’t allow non-members to participate in MART sales. 

3. The Hamilton 979, 986, and 987 movements were hand-finished and parts can sometimes interchange but not always. That’s why parts like the balance bridge have the last 3-4 numbers of the serial number to ensure they stay with the right movement. Parts from the 980/982 movements readily interchange. 

4. Hamilton made movements of less than 17 jewels. There was a 7 jewel and 11 jewel pocket watch movement plus the 16 jewel 932 movement. 

5. Hamilton cases were contracted out to the very same case companies other American watch companies used. There’s no difference in materials, although Hamilton tended to offer more solid 14k, 18k, and platinum models, some of which were retailed by Tiffany. 

In your research I hope you reach out to some of the recognized Hamilton experts and larger collectors like (list of names).

 I’m not going to comment on his comment other than to ask, “Really?”

Well maybe I will. The author sent the “email” above and others through eBay’s messaging system. You might consider him a troll. In Linux forums and comments, we call these guys “fan boys”.

It’s a real life example of the degree some folks go through in creating a myth about a brand.

Enjoy!