Back in service.

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

I have just completed servicing my Hamilton Model XXI marine chronometer, after having not run it for, well, decades. I just finished it today, and haven’t fussed with regulating it. But it has dropped about 5 seconds in 48 hours. At its best, years ago, it was consistently within 5 seconds per month. Having not run for a very long time, I will let it settle in for about a month before I get serious. This one was completed on September 7, 1944. I bought it in Coupeville, Washington, in 1985. This is the third time I have serviced it.

janice&fred · Nov 26, 2020

That ship's clock service must have been a walk in the park compared to climbing around in that tower clock a few weeks ago 😁

JwRosenthal · Nov 26, 2020

janice&fred
That ship's clock service must have been a walk in the park compared to climbing around in that tower clock a few weeks ago 😁

Lol- no cardio or weight belts required!

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

janice&fred
That ship's clock service must have been a walk in the park compared to climbing around in that tower clock a few weeks ago 😁

These are a pleasure to work on. Parts the size of a clock, with fit and finish of a high quality watch. Earnshaw, dead beat escapement, key wound, key set, fusee, 52-hours on a winding, up/down indicator, 14,400 bph, helical hairspring, temperature compensated balance wheel, movement suspended in a gimbal, Honduras mahogany case built by the Heintzman Piano Co., New York. One of about 13,500 made between 1943 and circa 1965.

wagudc · Nov 26, 2020

I believe the story of how @Canuck aquired this beauty can be found here:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-story-thread.111386/page-3#post-1475849

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

wagudc
I believe the story of how @Canuck aquired this beauty can be found here:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-story-thread.111386/page-3#post-1475849

Thanks @wagudc. I’d forgotten I had told that story. I recently corresponded with @Deafboy who has acquired a model XXI. He did a spectacular job on his, so I was inspired to return mine to service. Mine would have run any time I might have wound it over the years since I serviced it last. But I refrain from running it unless it has just been serviced.

Dan S · Nov 26, 2020

Now I want one. 🤦

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

Dan S
Now I want one. 🤦

They are around. Many found today have after market boxes on them, a lot of them with NOS hardware. Mine is all original. If you find a chronometer in its tub, I have a suspicion that Larry Crutsinger has boxes and hardware.

connieseamaster · Nov 26, 2020

Model XXI that is in my temporary custody as my parents are moving and don't trust the moving company *that* much 😁

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

connieseamaster

Model XXI that is in my temporary custody as my parents are moving and don't trust the moving company *that* much 😁

WOW! Serial number 4! That is an early one. What a treasure!

mzinski · Nov 26, 2020

Awesome! Well done, I love seeing things like this repaired. I’ve been eyeing Model 22’s, but the deck hand version (is that what they’re called when not in box?). I’ll pull the trigger eventually.

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

mzinski
Awesome! Well done, I love seeing things like this repaired. I’ve been eyeing Model 22’s, but the deck hand version (is that what they’re called when not in box?). I’ll pull the trigger eventually.

,
You might be referring to a comparing watch. These are basically a pocket watch movement in a pocket watch case (see link). On board a ship that carried more than one marine chronometer, the chronometers were never to be in the same location (spelled kamikaze). So a comparing watch was used to check the time on several chronometers. The model 22 was also produced without the gimbals and the wooden case. These are called a chronometer watch. Some model 22s came in a wooden case without the chronometer tub and gimbals.

http://www.hamiltonchronicles.com/2013/07/1941-us-navy-wwii-comparing-watch-model.html

wagudc · Nov 26, 2020

Canuck
,
You might be referring to a comparing watch. These are basically a pocket watch movement in a pocket watch case (see link). On board a ship that carried more than one marine chronometer, the chronometers were never to be in the same location (spelled kamikaze). So a comparing watch was used to check the time on several chronometers. The model 22 was also produced without the gimbals and the wooden case. These are called a chronometer watch. Some model 22s came in a wooden case without the chronometer tub and gimbals.

http://www.hamiltonchronicles.com/2013/07/1941-us-navy-wwii-comparing-watch-model.html

There are a handful of members on this forum that I learn something from virtually every post. You are one of them. Thanks for sharing the knowledge!

Canuck · Nov 26, 2020

Hamilton delivered the first 2 chronometers in February of 1942. They delivered 5 in May of 1942. The serial number 4 (above) might have been one of the first seven chronometers delivered by Hamilton.

mzinski · Nov 26, 2020

Canuck
,
You might be referring to a comparing watch. These are basically a pocket watch movement in a pocket watch case (see link). On board a ship that carried more than one marine chronometer, the chronometers were never to be in the same location (spelled kamikaze). So a comparing watch was used to check the time on several chronometers. The model 22 was also produced without the gimbals and the wooden case. These are called a chronometer watch. Some model 22s came in a wooden case without the chronometer tub and gimbals.

http://www.hamiltonchronicles.com/2013/07/1941-us-navy-wwii-comparing-watch-model.html

Thanks, good info. I was thinking the non-gimbaled version of the Model 22: http://www.hamiltonchronicles.com/2014/05/1941-model-22-marine-chronometer.html?m=1

connieseamaster · Nov 27, 2020

Canuck
Hamilton delivered the first 2 chronometers in February of 1942. They delivered 5 in May of 1942. The serial number 4 (above) might have been one of the first seven chronometers delivered by Hamilton.

It is. My dad collected chronometers for a while in the 80s and 90s but eventually got bored with them so he sold a bunch when my parents were looking to finance an addition to their house. This XXI, a XXII, and a Seiko chronometer from the same era are the ones that 9 year old me insisted he keep.

Canuck · Nov 27, 2020

Thanks for posting model XXI, s# 4. I have saved the image to my photo files because I very much doubt I’ll ever see an earlier one. Momentous!

Canuck · Dec 14, 2020

I posted this thread on Nov. 26 at which time I reported that the Hamilton model XXI marine chronometer was losing close to 5 seconds per day, post servicing. As of today, it has been running for close to three weeks. I have been allowing it to settle in, following several decades of dormancy. In the last two weeks, it has settled into a daily loss of close to three seconds. So today, I will move the regulating screws, re-set it, and continue monitoring it.

My Hamilton model XXII marine chronometer I serviced on Dec. 4, and set it running, also after a long period of dormancy. As of today, it is 21 seconds slow after a 10 day run. So today it will be regulated and re-set as well.

Back in service.

Canuck

janice&fred

JwRosenthal

Canuck

wagudc

Canuck

Dan S

Canuck

connieseamaster

Canuck

mzinski

Canuck

wagudc

Canuck

mzinski

connieseamaster

Canuck

Canuck

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