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Collectors will discover 987S Hamilton movements difficult to find. They sell for a premium. At auction, the watches that contain working 987S movements see high bidders and plenty of bids. Afterall, they’re quite collectible and rare.
Take care because without the second hands, it’s not a fully functional hacking movement that resets itself when you put the crown in the setting position. Hamilton made the 987S movement for that purpose.
These were outstanding watches – conceptually. One problem Hamilton had to fix (with the Secometer – later re-engineered and called the Secometer “B” and “C”) dealt the second hand. If a watchmaker serviced one and misplaced the sweep second hand, they couldn’t order another because the military wouldn’t sell them.
The Hamilton R88-W-800 39108 Marine and Navy watches performed beautifully. They had a remarkable history. They were military versions of the Sentinel and the Secometer.
Before the company could make it available, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enabled the War Powers Act of 1941 and repurposed Hamilton’s consumer division.
The military needed wristwatches for combat and the generals had a special interest in Hamilton’s 987S movement. It had a sweep second hand and a hacking feature – (the sweep second hand stopped and reset at the 12 o’clock position when the owner pulled the crown into the setting position). The Navy and Marine Corps needed this feature for special operations. Doctors and medical staff also needed them.
The 987S movement proved valuable to the military. Hamilton made 22,410 units for the Navy and 15,888 for the Marine Corps.
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