Hamilton Chronomatic Caliber 11

[sotelodon]

Hello everybody,

early today a guy uploaded an IG story with a Hamilton chronomatic caliber 11, the automatic micro rotor.
Asked about the condition and the guy told me one wheel of the chrono is missing. I don’t any experience at all but he’s asking $950.

what do you guys think?

is supposed to run

 

[TexOmega]

I would believe it is an important part or it wouldn't have been there initially.

Did you ask him why he could never find a replacement part and realize the top price when he sold?

 

[X350 XJR]

It's clearly missing its correct sub-dial hands as well, not going to be easy to find those either.

Unless your watchmaker has a stash of cal 11 parts it's probably one to stay away from, you're basically buying a parts watch.

 

[sotelodon]

TexOmega

I would believe it is an important part or it wouldn't have been there initially.

Did you ask him why he could never find a replacement part and realize the top price when he sold?

now that you said it, this guy mentioned that he don’t has knowledge about watchmaking. Just like the watch was part of a lot.

 

[sotelodon]

X350 XJR

It's clearly missing its correct sub-dial hands as well, not going to be easy to find those either.

Unless your watchmaker has a stash of cal 11 parts it's probably one to stay away from, you're basically buying a parts watch.

thank you buddy, you right, I didn’t note the incorrect hands

 

[Waltesefalcon]

Run, don't walk away from that one. You will wind up spending a lot of time and money making it right.

 

[TexOmega]

sotelodon

now that you said it, this guy mentioned that he don’t has knowledge about watchmaking. Just like the watch was part of a lot.

Yeah, it was his/someone's parts watch......

 

[bristnj]

Patience is the companion of wisdom. Wait for a beautiful example to surface and snag. You will be much happier!

If Heuer had made these as a Carrera, they would be selling at $7k or more! These are the “perfect panda” between symmetry and proportion!

Edited: Mar 9, 2024

 

[MRC]

Hamilton Cal 11 watches do turn up with missing parts, presumably they've been robbed to fix a more valuable Heuer or Breitling. But there are parts if someone (your regular watchmaker?) knows where to look. My Hamilton was missing a part when I bought it, but it was also was in very good cosmetic condition so what could have been a newbie-tax purchase turned out to be a regular wearer. Under the badly scarred crystal of this example I see hour&minute hands with no lume as well as the afore-mentioned dodgy sub-dial hands. And is that glare carefully placed to hide the troublesome date wheel of the early Cal 11?

At $100 then snap it up if you are prepared for a long-term project, at $200, hmmmm, maybe. Above that unless you have a Heuer or Breitling Cal 11 in need of parts then run away. It's a shame, those Cal 11 Hamiltons are almost the last gasp of the American watch industry but right at the sharp end of chronograph development, and a lot rarer than their more well-known cousins.

As it happens I am wearing mine this week and the "cheap" purchase price plus excellent work by Richard Askham got me a very satisfying piece to wear. Just not for the faint of heart.

 

[sotelodon]

bristnj

Patience is the companion of wisdom. Wait for a beautiful example to surface and snag. You will be much happier!

If Heuer had made these as a Carrera, they would be selling at $7k or more! These are the “perfect panda” between symmetry and proportion!

Ah look at it, amazing example