Interstatetime Watch of the Month May 2001

HAMILTON WATCH CO. LANCASTER, PA

19 Jewel 18 Size Grade 936 Open-Face

What is it? Upon first glance, you might think this 18 size Hamilton was a grade 944. After all, it has 19 jewels, including the large, nice looking jewel on the barrel. But...the damascening does not look like what is typically found on a 944, and the serial number will tell you that this watch came from a run of grade 936s (SN 290001-290800) which was made a couple of years before the first 944. Wasn't the 936 a 17 jewel watch?

Well, what's the deal? A couple of other examples of 19 jewel grade 936s have been seen (all from this run) including one pictured on page 24 of "American Pocket Watch Identification and Price Guide, 1980 Price Indicator" by Roy Ehrhardt. Several leading Hamilton experts have speculated that perhaps 10 watches from this run were jeweled up to 19 jewels as prototypes for a future 19 jewel model, which became the 944. This speculation seems reasonable, given the fact that Hamilton was known to experiment with small lots of watches from a run from time to time. What ever the deal is, this is a rare watch, and we are proud to make it our "Watch of the Month".

I have seen 2 of these watches and have heard of 1 or 2 others in collections. If you have seen others, I would love to hear from you by e-mail. SEND ME AN E-MAIL.


THIS IS THE MAY, 2001 interstatetime.com "WATCH OF THE MONTH" THIS PAGE COULD FEATURE YOUR WATCH!!! Every month we will pick a watch, submitted by one of our viewers, to be "Watch of the Month". "Watch of the Month" submissions should be a vintage or antique American pocket watch. They don't have to be rare or expensive, just interesting (this should give you lots of options). If you have a watch you would like to submit CLICK HERE to go to the "submission rules" page. THESE WATCHES ARE NOT FOR SALE! GO BACK TO OUR HOME PAGE OR TO THE WATCH OF THE MONTH ARCHIVES

HAMILTON WATCH CO. LANCASTER, PA 19 Jewel 18 Size Grade 936 Open-Face What is it? Upon first glance, you might think this 18 size Hamilton was a grade 944. After all, it has 19 jewels, including the large, nice looking jewel on the barrel. But...the damascening does not look like what is typically found on a 944, and the serial number will tell you that this watch came from a run of grade 936s (SN 290001-290800) which was made a couple of years before the first 944. Wasn't the 936 a 17 jewel watch? Well, what's the deal? A couple of other examples of 19 jewel grade 936s have been seen (all from this run) including one pictured on page 24 of "American Pocket Watch Identification and Price Guide, 1980 Price Indicator" by Roy Ehrhardt. Several leading Hamilton experts have speculated that perhaps 10 watches from this run were jeweled up to 19 jewels as prototypes for a future 19 jewel model, which became the 944. This speculation seems reasonable, given the fact that Hamilton was known to experiment with small lots of watches from a run from time to time. What ever the deal is, this is a rare watch, and we are proud to make it our "Watch of the Month". I have seen 2 of these watches and have heard of 1 or 2 others in collections. If you have seen others, I would love to hear from you by e-mail. SEND ME AN E-MAIL.