A New Confusing Fall Warbler
Myron Erickson
As regular followers may know, I enjoy collecting the humble 33 mm Hamilton field watch. Although small by today's standards, the watches are fairly well made and were produced in a bewildering variety over several decades.
For reasons both practical and arbitrary, I limit myself to the watches with screw-on case backs. The models produced under the MIL-W-46374A specification for American military issue had one-piece cases, but their Australian counterparts had screw-on case backs. So I suppose it was inevitable that one of these found its way to my collection. This MIL-W-46374A watch is running a 7 jewel manual winding movement marked Standard Time Corp.
Presenting the newest member of the Rover Haven Confusing Fall Warblers:
Aussie-issued Hamilton MIL-W-46374A
Of course, half the fun of collecting military-issued watches is the interesting information on their case backs. Note the presence of the pheon, or broad arrow, denoting Crown property. Surely one of the most unusual 33 mm Hamiltons you'll ever run across.
Aussie-issued Hamilton MIL-W-46374A
Not included in my earlier post on the Confusing Fall Warblers was this Hamilton H693190. Although it is very similar, it should probably be considered to be a different genus. While it is powered by an ETA 2804-2 (a close cousin to the 2801 found in many of the true CFW's), it is more highly evolved. It features a sapphire crystal, large crown, date indication at 3 o'clock, a thicker case, and better overall finishing. Here it is:
Hamilton H693190
And here is the whole family of CFW's posing together:
Top Row, L to R: LL Bean-branded ref 9415 with flat 3 font and Jet Age Hamilton logo; LL Bean-branded ref 9219 with flat 3 font and Jet Age Hamilton logo; ref H693190 with round 3 font and the curvy Art Deco Hamilton logo.
Middle, L to R: ref 921980 with flat 3 font, Jet Age Hamilton logo, and big "Khaki"; ref 9415A with round 3 font, Jet Age Hamilton logo, and no "Khaki"; ref 9415A with big round 3 font, curvy Art Deco Hamilton logo, and little "Khaki"; ref 9415 with big round 3 font and sterile dial.
Bottom, L to R: MIL-W-46374A with tall flat 3 font and sterile dial; MIL-W-46374B with flat 3 font and H3/rad waste dial; MIL-W-46374D with flat 3 font and H3/rad waste dial; GG-W-113 with thicker flat 3 font and sterile dial.
Do you have a specimen of 33 mm Hamilton field watch not pictured above? I'd love to hear about it!