: OK, John . . . turnabout is fair play, right?

: So if I wanted to buy one classic, kick-ass American railroad
: watch, what would you recommend? Here are some criteria: clean
: and legible design high degree of accuracy / timekeeping
: reliable for parts and service stainless steel case decorated
: movement would be nice, but probably prefer a clean case and
: dial budget in the $500 to $750 range Can you make some
: recommendations?

Jeff,

This is a question I get asked all of the time and although it is certainly a fair question you must know that my answer is...my answer...and clouded by my own set of prejudices. OK, now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about my prejudice. As I said in my manifesto, I am interested in the development of watch technology in the US. Discarding a bunch of other peripheral motivations I believe that the ultimate quest of the American watch industry was to come up with a watch design which could compete with the highest quality European watches of the time but which could be mass produced with as little hand finishing as possible. To do this a manufacturer would obviously have to develop the machine tools the manufacturing techniques and the materials needed to execute this design. My belief is that the ultimate expressions of this quest are the Hamilton 992B (16 size, 21 jewels) and Hamilton 950B (16 size, 23 jewels) which both began production in the 1930s.

From a techie standpoint, hese watches both have pressed in jewel settings instead of screwed in. They have Elinvar hairsprings and uncut Elinvar balance wheels. Both came only as factory cased watches. The 992B probably ended up being the best selling American made RR watch ever. The 950B is its more expensive and depending on your point of view somewhat more soul satisfying big brother. The 992B has a 3/4 plate nickle movement and the 950B has a bridge model nickle movement. The real difference between the two watches is the addition of cap jewels on either end of the 3d wheel pinion. This is perhaps a subtle advantage that can be argued for pages.

I believe that only the 992B was offered in a stainless steel case which was called a "Model 15" case. Most of these watches were sold in heavily gold filled cases including the "Model A", the "Model 11", the "Model 2" (early bar over crown design) and "Model 17" (later Bar over crown). The 992B was typically supplied with a sunk center/sunk seconds (double sunk) dial which was signed "Hamilton Railway Special" above the center hole. The 950B was typically supplied with a double sunk dial signed Hamilton 23 Jewel Railway Special" above the center hole. Early production of both watches had much more desirable porcelain/glass dials and later production had (horrible) melamine dials.

My choice, given your criteria including the stainless case would be an early 992B with a double sunk properly signed porcelain double sunk dial. You should be able to find one of these in good condition with the original brushed finish on the back of the case and a mint dial with original hands for $400 give or take.

My personal choice would be an early production 950B in a model A GF case with an original porcelain art deco dial and original deco baton hands. These can be found for between $1,000-1,500 depending on how lucky you are. My choice for a 992B would be for one in a model 11 gold filled case and a Bold Montgomery RR Special dial. RR watch collectors like gold filled cases and this gold filled is almost indestructible under normal use.

Both of these watches in my opinion are on par with and perhaps better as time keepers than the best of the Pateks of the time. They are aesthetically pleasing but probably lack the ultimate finish of the Pateks. They are obviously a lot cheaper than the Pateks. Parts are available for both of these watches and they are a breeze to service because Hamilton designed them to be that way. My dad taught me to take apart watches using a Hamilton and it spoiled me for anything else.

Here is a page of cuts from original Hamilton ads showing a lot of styles of these watches.