Dave Bush   34 Blossom St.  Portsmouth NH 03801  USA    (603) 436-9721 Email me at Dave@NHwatchsite.com    Hamilton 16 size 21 jewel model 992 railroad watch item WH402 Price $325         This is a 16 size with an outer case diameter of 49.5mm(1.9 inches)           Excellent 'montgomery' style double sunk bold numbered white porcelain enamel dial   Has glass crystal         Finely finished, beautiful early style movement is signed "Hamilton Watch Co. Lancaster PA, Double Roller, 21 jewels, adjusted 5 positions, 992" and has all gold jewel settings and gold timing screws, as well as highly polished steel surfaces   It fills all of the requirements of a railroad watch in any era
 
The Hamilton factory was one of the highest producers of pocket watches during the period of American watch manufacture.  They made some of the finest quality railroad watches ever produced.  This particular model 992 was one of the most popular railroad watches ever made, and had among the highest production of any railroad grade If you are looking for a railroad grade watch this model is a good choice because the high production makes parts readily available should you ever need repairs done, and the long running production of this model tells us today that it was very well regarded in its day when the mechanical pocket watch was king
  It is running well with good motion and keeping good time as it has been professionally cleaned and oiled                     It is lever setting to set the hands- that is, there is a little lever at the edge of the dial at about the 1:00 position that you pull out away from the dial, at which time if you turn the winding crown the hands will move.  Push it back in, and now turning the winding crown will again wind the watch.  This lever setting system was required on all railroad grade watches so that you would not accidentally change the time when you were winding the watch   You can see the lever in the out position at the 1:00 in the photo above                             The case is signed "Silverode", and is made of some type of nickel alloy. It is a solid metal case that will take a lot of abuse, and will wear for a very long time, much longer than gold, gold filled or silver. It is completely plain, in excellent condition, and has just been polished to a high shine   As you often find with railroad watches, which were working watches, this is not the original case for this movement - the movements were made to last much longer than the cases, and very frequently these pieces are found with the original cases long since worn out and replaced   It is nickel in color - since it is so shiny it reflects like a mirror everything around it making it difficult to tell from the photos what color it is exactly - you can see mostly my white light reflectors in the photos of the back           Manufacturer's movement serial number dates this watch to about 1917             Home Click here for watch listings main page Ordering information  
      Dave Bush   34 Blossom St.  Portsmouth NH 03801  USA    (603) 436-9721 Email me at Dave@NHwatchsite.com