More railroad watches

[awalker1829]

Three recent additions to the collection:




This is a 1909 fully marked Hamilton 936. It has a glass crystal as a dust cover inside the rear of the case. The dial is in very good condition and there are no scratches on the movement or case.




This is a 1902 partially marked Hamilton 940. It and the 1909 936 originally had mismatched dials. The 1909 watch had a dial that Hamilton stopped using in 1905 and the 1902 watch had a dial that Hamilton didn’t start using until 1905. Both dials were in very good condition, so I swapped them.




This is a 1900 Hamilton 936 private label watch that is fully marked for the Howes Brothers of Clinton, Iowa. The Howes Brothers were the watch inspectors for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. I purchased this watch for my private label collection as I have another 936 private label that was made for August Hinrichs of Clinton, Iowa in 1895

Right now, I have one more Hamilton private label railroad watch en route to me. It’s a Hamilton 944 made for a jeweler in Elkhart, Indiana.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Very nice watches, I bought a running 936 at one of the last flea markets I went to back in the spring.

[awalker1829]

The Hamilton Grade 936 was the first watch manufactured by Hamilton in 1893. I've got 12 936s in the collection, the oldest three dating to 1895. I just bought a Hamilton 944 on eBay. It's a private label watch made for a jeweler in Elkhart, Indiana. I've got two private label Hamilton 936s that were made for jewelers in Clinton, Iowa. One was made for August Hinrichs and the other was made for the Howes Brothers. I've also got a few additional watches that I've staked out on eBay and will try to acquire as time and money permit. These have been on eBay for nearly a year with no offers, so I may be able to get them for less than the asking price.

When I buy on eBay, I always assume that the watches have not been serviced. My local watchmaker makes good money servicing my eBay purchases.

[Junk Yard Dog]

My local watchfixer went and hurt himself, but I expect him back online in a month or three. He isn't cheap but he does good work, I only send him the good movements 17 jewel or higher. I am not spending $250 servicing 7 jewel watches.

[awalker1829]

Just got this in the mail yesterday. Had my local watchmaker temporarily replace the glass crystal with a plastic one as the original was very badly scratched. He measured the original crystal and I’ll order a replacement soon.



This is a private label Hamilton 944. The dial got my attention as it’s a somewhat scarce example of a private label dial that has Hamilton’s name printed on it. Usually the private label name would be printed where the Hamilton name went. On this occasion, the jeweler’s name was printed above the seconds bit.



Typical 944 with a jeweled mainspring barrel arbor. No private label marking on the barrel bridge. Serial number trace indicates that this watch was sold in January of 1907 to wholesaler J. W. Forsinger of Chicago, Illinois. Nice thing about being a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors is that I can access the Hamilton company Finishing and Sales records online. Forsinger was also a Railroad Time Service contract agency and acted as a distributor to the local watch inspectors under contract to him.

I haven’t found conclusive evidence that J. E. Micks was a railroad watch inspector, but given that Forsinger was apparently his distributor, he could well have been one of Forsinger’s inspectors.

$250 for a cleaning seems a bit steep, but it could well be the going rate where you are. My guy gives me a discounted rate of $150, but I do so much business with him, he’s not losing anything by knocking $25 off his going rate.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Everything here is more expensive, from property tax's to food and gas. My current watch fixer is also the only one in the area, for 20 years after my old watch guy died there was nobody. I could send out stuff for repair, but I don't like trusting the shipping company's with priceless family heirlooms or other expensive watches. I like to know exactly where my watches are and have that location close enough to reach in twenty minutes or less.

Nice new acquisition, One only has to look under the cover to see how much pride the watchmakers of old took in their products when even the parts that only the watch fixer will see are so nicely finished.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Everything here is more expensive, from property tax's to food and gas. My current watch fixer is also the only one in the area, for 20 years after my old watch guy died there was nobody. I could send out stuff for repair, but I don't like trusting the shipping company's with priceless family heirlooms or other expensive watches. I like to know exactly where my watches are and have that location close enough to reach in twenty minutes or less.

Nice new acquisition, One only has to look under the cover to see how much pride the watchmakers of old took in their products when even the parts that only the watch fixer will see are so nicely finished.

[awalker1829]

My watchmaker is the only area repairman here locally. Most other local watch “repair” shops only do battery changes on site. There’s one mail order watchmaker in Missouri that I trust-the watch I got from him was excellent. He does a lot of internet sales and auctions and is well regarded in the collector community. His business will likely be passed down to his granddaughter as he’s been teaching her the trade.

Watch companies didn’t start casing watches at the factory until sometime around 1905-1910. Even then, only certain watches were cased at the factory. En mass casing at the factory didn’t really start until the 1920s. Uncased watches were shipped either in tins or skeleton cases with glass crystals. Some skeleton cases had the manufacturer name on the bezels. Those are highly collectible now.

Private label watches are now a sub collection amid my railroad watch collection. I like seeing the names of watch Inspectors and jewelers on the movements and dials. They are relatively rare, as the railroad time services began banning their use around 1907. So far, I have several of them. All are Hamiltons and all but one are railroad watches.