1940 Hamilton Emerson Vintage Watch Restoration. Too Much Damage is a Thing.

Sometimes, parts are just too damaged to repair. Luckily, since I have focused on vintage Hamilton, I have an extensive stash of spare and donor watches that I can scavenge from. This was the case as I worked through restoring this beautiful Hamilton Emerson from 1940 and it's caliber 980 movement.
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[@Edyth_Hedd]

Great video. Absolutely mesmerizing. Wish I'd known about you a few years ago when I was trying to get my dad's old Hamilton fixed.

[@wmbchristie]

Your knowledge, skill, dexterity and natural teaching ability are very impressive! I learned a lot, thank you!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank YOU for watching and for the kind words.

[@paulschumacker9901]

I love these 980 and 982 movements. And there are plenty of them out there so building up a cache of donor movements doesn’t require mortgaging the farm. You probably skipped this for simplicity, but I always check performance before assembling the dial side and keyless works. These watches have usually been serviced many times and they carry the gremlins left behind by previous watchmakers. Like 5.8 ms beat errors because the hairspring collet was mis-installed after replacing a broken balance staff. With the Hamilton tank watches the dial is the one part that can’t really be repaired so it ver much determines the value of the watch after it’s been serviced. Anyway, many thanks for another great video! And I’m still enjoying a certain vintage Omega that I bought from a watchmaker who shall remain nameless!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

You're spot on about being able to economically gather a horde of 980 and 982 donors. It's a HUGE advantage. Yes, I typically do throw the movement on the timegrapher after I get it running. Nothing worse than getting ahead of myself, reassembling the entire movement, just to find out something is way off. No doubt the watchmaker you snagged a vintage Omega from is extremely good looking and gets confused with George Clooney all the time.

[@paulschumacker9901]

Ha! No doubt!@@WolfeVintageWatches

[@csanadbarczy9153]

Oh you are back! Nice to see your work again! Thanks to you I have already fixed, rejuvenated and reanimated about 30 watches😅. All Hamilton ranging drom T-500's a few 5000's and some with day&date fuctions. Fun stuff!

[@kswaminathan5439]

Great restoration!!!

[@GentlemensWatchServices]

Lovely work.

[@pghgb5572]

Great to see you back - I was missing my Hamilton fix!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. Hopefully I can settle my schedule down a bit and carve out time to make videos on a more regular schedule.

[@RandomRestore]

Nice to have you back! best regards from Denmark

[@dbaider9467]

Nice to see you back Josh.

[@joelgoodwin4092]

Glad to see you again. As usual, great and interesting video!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank you, I'm glad to be seen!

[@Karabaja_666]

Glad you are back man, hope you are doing good, seeing this video in my notifications really made my day ;).

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Wow, thanks, that's very kind of you to say. I'm doing fantastically! I hope your 2024 is off to a great start as well.

[@salembeeman370]

Wow, haven't seen a vid in a while. Good for you Mr. Wolfe. I still love my Hamilton I bought from you.

[@Happy357mag]

Hi there, Mr Hamilton... I meant Mr. wolfe. 😁

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

HA! Would it surprise you to know that we named one of our cats Hamilton?

[@Happy357mag]

@@WolfeVintageWatches Not surprised at all. Actually, that sounds like a great cat's name. I'm picturing a fluffy orange cat.😺 Keep up the great work.!

[@nilo70]

Cheers from your newest subscriber from California! I love the tank style watches , they’ve always looked great in the old movies to me.

[@danielabbey7726]

I can see why you like to work on Hamilton watches. They're well engineered, and designed to be serviced.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

You're exactly right. They are a joy to work on!

[@ukaszmichalczak1410]

I've seen some of your videos and I like the narration and technical explanation. The only thing missing is a microscope shots. Other than that, great stuff

[@romeldphillips3146]

Great restoration. I have a Vintage Elgin in need of repair, can you help?

[@donaldkgarman296]

THE 980 & 982M ARE FINE MOVEMENTS......THE PLATFORM WAS A MAINSTAY OF HAMILTON FOR MANY YEARS FROM 1936 - 1953 .

[@donaldkgarman296]

I HAVE A 1937 BROCK WHICH I WEAR FAIRLY OFTEN AND HAVE SINCE 1988

[@f.kieranfinney457]

My grandfather (an English coal miner) left his only possession, a Hamilton like this, to my father. It was a gift from my grandmother, who died in ‘56. It didn’t run, so my dad threw it out. I’m still ticked about it, 35 yrs later. Interesting to see how easy it is to service.

[@nicklapietra3890]

Thanks for the video. Did you grease the main spring barrel?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

I did, well, I greased the mainspring itself using a bit of tissue paper before rewinding it.

[@barryfleischer5167]

I have a Hamilton Grover that needs a good cleaning and a new crystal. I wonder why Hamilton never added shock protection to these watches?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Hamilton did have shock protection on some of their movements, but it was the Swiss that really took it to the next level. Let me know if you'd like for me to take a look at your Grover.

[@terrymontgomery313]

What auto-oiler did you use? Bergeon 2718-1A?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Yes. For the end stones, I use the 2718-1A and for the open jewel pivots, I use the 7720-5. The full set is: www.esslinger.com/bergeon-7721-automatic-watch-and-clock-oiler-set/

[@prasannakumarnellore5459]

What is the use is it value in now days iam also watch mechanic I have some old watches anyone can not buy 😢

[@sfritz6984]

How long did this rebuild take?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

I'd say around 4 hours total bench time.

[@veritas23j]

Never saw a terrible repair like that. You destroy this wonderful dial. I have no words. Is this a comedy ?

[@mariomartin6437]

I thought you gave up on making videos?

[@Low_Rent]

I am working on a 982 movement. It runs for a few minutes then stops. I cant figure out what is causing this. I checked the jewels and they are fine. Are there any peculiar things to look out for when reassembling this type of movement?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Oh man, there are a ton of reasons you're seeing the movement run intermittently, but I'd start with the escapement and work my way backwards. Double check and clean the jewels again. Clean the balance spring. Check the condition of the pivots. Is there gunk in any of the gears? Is the barrel cap seated properly? There are just some many causes that I'm afraid the best advice I could give is to clean all the parts again and pay special attention to the condition of each.