Some beauties here! I love mine .

 

Oh great, just a month or so after I impulse-bought the original. I think I'd have stuck with the black dial anyway but it would have been cool to consider the options

 

Hamilton?
So overrated for 70-75 years.....

 

Hi I'm curious to know. What Is the riffling we see on the face of the movement called? Is it unique to Hamilton? Really nice.

 

It is not unique to Hamilton by any means.



On these American pocket watches it's generally referred to as damaskeen. How it differs from Geneva striping is unclear to me.

 

Grade 990 circa 1910 my favorite Hamilton damaskeening

 

yeah...Hamilton... no use for 'em....


and Yes... one says "Ball" on the dial.... but it was made by Hamilton.

 

Here!

 

The Khaki comes in a couple of sizes too, I think. Mine's 38mm.

I googled the watch and it now is 40 or 42mm in auto and 38mm in quartz.

 

My first automatic watch and my first non-Casio is an Hamilton. With this watch bought 5 months ago I discovered this passion.

 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American watches in the medium to higher grades from most manufacturers were often elaborately decorated with damascene engraving and texturing. Nowadays, computerized machines often do that kind of work. But back in the day, mechanical devices called “rose engines” were used. These machines were set up by very skilled operators, and it was amazing the work they accomplished, largely by automation. There were several Hamiltons shown in this thread that show that sort of damascene ornamentation. The Hamilton 952 you are referring to was likely made in the 1920s, by which time, the ornamentation was much less elaborate. To answer your question about what that texture is called? I’ll join you in waiting for someone to name it for us.

 

Strange that some of the most beautiful and elaborate work might never be seen again except by a watch repair man perhaps decades or centuries after the manufacturers and original owners are dust.

One thing this sort of decoration accomplishes is to insure that if non OEM parts are substituted during a restoration it would be easily discovered.

PS
Some of the most expensive watches available today have intricate hand engraving of movement parts. No two exactly alike.

 

Non OEM parts nowadays, may be the only choice available. Cosmetic parts would rarely be substituted, for sure. It would be too obvious. But non-OEM parts such as mainsprings, balance staffs, crystals, etc. are often all that is available today. Swiss replica parts. One thing I was taught by my watchmaker father was not to modify the watch to fit a replacement part, but modify the part you replace to fit the watch. In other words, don’t do anything that can’t be reversed. And, yes. Such a shame that such beautiful work is rarely done and is rarely seen by owners.

 

I like that one, and think it looks great. I've owned 4 of them, but I'm down to one - my Harrison Ford Conservation Chronograph. I traded my Khaki field watch because the 38mm was too small, for a larger Ti PVD field watch, that I then sold in order to send my brother cash for car repairs; but I returned my Hamilton GMT for a refund in the 1st month after the movement failed and it was going to need to go back to the factory for a couple of months.

So I'm left with this beauty, the Harrison Ford Chronograph, based on the 7750 movement, which I plan to keep forever. It looks great, keeps great time, and wears very comfortably. It's fantastic looking in person, but I don't have many photos of it. I bought it new almost 5 years now, and I will getting it serviced by the end of the year, around the same time as my Ti SMP chronograph (my POLMLE and Speedy 3570.50 are being serviced at this moment).

 

Where are @adam78's goodies?

My first Hamilton is arriving tom; will post when I get it!

 

Found a pic of my old 38mm, and with an iPhone lens distortion from up close it doesn't look that small, but looking at my wide/flat wrist from 4-5 feet away it looked too small. Funny how my arm actually looks 5 year younger there.

 

Damaskeening

 

Just arrived today. My first Hamilton, a Putnam. Thanks to @adam78 for helping me vet this:

 

I believe Hamilton really hit it this time. Cheap, great size, great design. Get the new one!

 

Hamilton built an excellent watch back in the day. I own four, two for the wrist and two for the pocket.