Servicing a Vintage American Made Watch Movement from 1949 - Hamilton Caliber 747

[@Bob.martens]

I have been using the Wolfe Reverse Tweeze for ages, and in these parts it is widely known as the Martens Handy Pinch. My lawyers will contact yours soon.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

I must be doing something right if I'm already getting into legal battles. My team of zero lawyers and I look forward to defending myself vigorously and then folding like cards when faced with the smallest amount of credible evidence. My legal strategy is the same as trying to wind a mainspring into a barrel using just my hands; I'll loose patience and give up.

[@Bob.martens]

@@WolfeVintageWatches If, indeed: if, your videos are a credible representation of your skills, you are indeed doing some things right! I would even go so far as to say you do more things right than me, at least when it comes to watchmaking. So let us not, especially in these challenging times where international court battles would be a logistical nightmare, wind up and exhaust our respective nonexistant legal teams, but rather keep things and matters local, and not cause any unnecessary friction in the international wachmaking community. My followers (uneducated peasants mostly, who help me with the harvest and the feeding and slaugtering of the livestock while I Fix their watches, for which I gallantly accept their worship) need never know there is, somewhere beyond where their eyes can see, someone who indepentently invented the Martens Handy Pinch and gave it his own name. It is vastly more important that when we truly invent methods, we share them.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

@@Bob.martens You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. While I'm most pleased that I won't have to pay a nonexistent lawyer bill with very real nonexistent money that I don't have, I agree 100% that methods should be shared widely amongst our tribes of watch tinkerers, repairers, and makers. With that settled, I am now able to enjoy my morning coffee without worry now that we have stepped away from the precipice of a battle between the Martensonians and Wolferites.

[@Bob.martens]

@@WolfeVintageWatches We apparently truly are from quite different parts of the world and/or timezones, or have vastly differing living rythms. I'm just now taking an afternoon break from fixing a nasty Seiko V172 (making one working from two actually). This solar quartz 'thing' makes me wish I had taken on that a tourbillion chronograph minute repeater my neighbour brought in instead. Anyway: it's four o'clock in the afternoon in Flanders Fields, and I wish you a good day. But remember: battles not fought, are defeats in disguise, and while I may in fact truly be the bearer of the grace and forgiveness my people attribute to me, my offspring might not bear those traits in the same capacitiy as me. The Martensonians and the Wolferites are in peace. For now.

[@leereyno]

The 747 is the basis for the 730, which is is my favorite watch movement. So simple and elegant. I've bought and repaired several watches from ebay which use the 730 movement.

[@ronl7131]

Great restoration. Nice timepiece

[@SubTroppo]

Manual mainspring rewinding: at some time you have patience to lose; I am deeply envious and very impressed.

[@scottmurphree-roberts2807]

Excellent video! A jeweler friend gave me a Hamilton 747 movement from a watch he'd scrapped the case from. The clutch wheel and winding pinion had rusted together, and the stem was moderately trashed, but with the help of your video, the movement runs! I haven't got it on the timegrapher yet. Some things I learned: 1) when you said don't launch the click spring, that was excellent advice - it took some time to find. 2) The watch runs much better when you remember to put the pallet bridge screws in. For some reason, the seconds hand stops the movement, so I've taken it off. I may try getting it back on again later. Thanks again for a very helpful video!

[@scottmurphree-roberts2807]

Also - having no mainspring winders, I did the barrel by hand. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I'm like Hank Williams - I ain't got nothin' but time.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

This is so great to hear! One of my goals with this channel was to help others enjoy the hobby and bring vintage watches back to life. Thank you so much for your comment! Keep it up and let me know if I can help as you fall deeper into the watch repair rabbit hole.

[@brianrusso8018]

Yes! Reverse Tweeze! I love it. 👍🤣

[@troymckoy113]

Loved the sound effects and riveting, action packed video.

[@MiguelBricaBrac]

We’ll explained and great video. Thanks

[@etebol]

Thanks. I appreciate that you walk us through the process.

[@watchhobbie6002]

Thank you sir for another excellent video and also thank you for the content of the Hamilton movements. I absolutely love the industrious age of the 40s 50s 60s All anyone has to do is look at the solid quality of these days gone by and no wonder why these are still running 70 years later!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

You're exactly right!

[@josephdebenedetto3331]

Another great job!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@scdevon]

Great work as usual. I like the layout on this movement. It really has the look of a miniature vintage American pocket watch movement especially the bridges. Solid looking.

[@chrmdome]

You narrative is getting a lot more descriptive, I learned a lot from this video. Nice looking watch

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thanks Phil! I'm still figuring this whole KZbin thing out so I'm happy to hear you say that.

[@Carlos-nq7up]

So many tiny parts in these watches! Amazing to watch this restoration!!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank you so much!

[@aaronjacobo2556]

I would like a video where you show all the watches that you have restored, good video.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Good idea Aaron. That would make a good "5000 Subscriber Special" video I think....

[@talkingtimehorology]

would you be able to do a video on a hamilton 987 tank watch?

[@jprichard]

Josh, I hope you plan to continue posting your awesome videos. It has been a couple of months and I need my fix!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

That's the plan! I have a couple of services that I just need to force myself to take a weekend to edit and narrate.

[@ramonluiscespedes1791]

Exelent work I enjoy a lot thanks

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@Midwestclassics1958]

Great job! Nice video! Have the same watch with a vary rare black dial with the 18k gold hour marks. This watch when new has 3 options the one in your video the black dial with 18k gold marks and another option with radium lume. My black dial Hamilton Raymon is my favorite watch style.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thanks Nick! I didn't notice it in the catalogs, but that's so cool there is a third option out there. I'll bet the black dial looks absolutely fantastic!

[@Midwestclassics1958]

@@WolfeVintageWatches yeah it is very cool looking. In general these stainless steel Hamilton Raymon watches are kind of hard to find or see because stainless steel watches were not so common back in 1949.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Exactly right. Gold plate, and solid gold of course, were definitely the fashion back then and dominated the market. Kinda makes me wonder how today's watch trends will be viewed 70 years from now. Will they shake their heads at how "small" watches were in 2020? Will they wonder why steel was so predominant and not unobtainium alloy fiber mesh composite material that can only be made on Neptune? I wish I would be able to stick around long enough to have a watch made on Neptune. That would be awesome.

[@morganfox69]

Hello, I really liked your videos, the explanations are very clear and precise, and I would like to ask you if it is possible, where do you get the spare parts for repairs and maintenance, such as the glass of the video clock? Thank you so much. Regards

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank you Jose, I appreciate the compliments! eBay is the best source I've found for project watches, parts, crystals, and used tools. If I can't find a specific part that I need, I'll buy an entire broken movement (or two) and scavenge parts from it. This is also how I ended up with a massive stash of parts that I can pull from and not have to go to eBay nearly as much any more.

[@morganfox69]

Thank you very much for your teachings and your sincerity. It's a pleasure to watch your videos and learn from your advice

[@watchhobbie6002]

Hey Josh hope all is good miss seeing your video's

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank you! All is great, just not able to get as much bench time the past several months. I'm getting back into the swing of things now though and hope to publish more regularly.

[@paulpadilla6913]

Thanks for the video. I just subscribed to see what other movements you work on. I have a Nordon with a 747 I just serviced. I have been fighting with this trying to get the beat error below 2. I know ideal is less than .5 but is that a reasonable expectation in an old movement like this? It is difficult setting the beat on these older movements without the adjuster.

[@mariomartin2739]

Do you work on vintage benrus watches?

[@sonvu9756]

Can I ask you a question. I cant afford an automatic oiler, on these vintage non-shock protected watches can I oil the balance with just normal oiler? if so how can I do it? I was thinking about trying to push the oil through the hole jewel so it can reach the cap jewel using something sharp...

[@HAL_9k]

4:21 :D I like such inserts

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Me too....

[@davidly5793]

How much does a restoration like that worth? Great work btw!

[@andresjacobo3010]

Hey! I love your videos. Recently I bought a watch with the Hamilton 748 movement. My surprise was that I bought it without working, and it still not working. But when I put it in some positions it works for 10-12sec and then stop. The scape wheel looks good, anyway I'm afraid that maybe one tooth is broke and I will need to replace it. Do you have any idea of what can I do? Greetings from Mexico!

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Gracias por ver mi video! It's hard to say what the issue(s) may be. It could be several things, but a likely culprit could be a broken/bent pivot or jewel. I do take on service jobs if you want to send me an email with a couple of pictures. You could also see if there is a local watch shop that could take a look for you. Buena suerte!

[@andresjacobo3010]

@@WolfeVintageWatches I send it to my local watchmaker and (surprise) we found the issue! The seconds gear it's a little bit bended and he's trying to put it the straightest possible. If this don't works, I'll have to buy a new one :(

[@mike44njdevils1]

I really like your videos and presentation, plus you're very good at talking through what you're doing. I have a question: what model is your mainspring winder?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thank you very much! I use vintage WatchCraft mainspring winders. They come up on eBay pretty often. Although, like everything else it seems, the winning bids for them are crazy high.

[@whatsinanameish]

Has sir enough data to render an opinion of the differences between green and grey rodico?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Great question Robert, and also very observant.... It may just been in my head, but the gray rodico feels a little drier to me than the green. In terms of functionality and effectiveness, they both perform the same as far as I can tell. With the green rodico, it's a little easier to tell how dirty it really is. The gray kind of hides some of the dust and grime which I would imagine could cause some problems down the road. If you're deciding between the two, I'd say to buy whichever is available and less expensive.

[@Bob.martens]

We are living in a simulation, and the two versions of rodico are a glitch in the matrix. Buy bergeon for pro jobs. I like 6033 best. Some like 7033. Others even use both. I buy and use chinese knockoff-rodico for larger 'holding-in-place' constructions. That really pays off.

[@brianrusso8018]

Another great video man. Do you have a patent on that "Wolfe Reverse Tweez" or is it something I can use at home? Lol

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

Thanks Brian! Well, I was going to charge a $0.05 licensing fee for each use of the Wolfe Reverse Tweeze, but I've been informed that this would be impossible to enforce. So, out of the kindness of my heart and not because I'm also waiting on the copywrite holder of the Martens Handy Pinch to serve me papers for infringement, I've made the Wolfe Reverse Tweeze completely open source! Please feel free to use it as much as you like...and have a little chuckle to yourself every time you do!

[@SubTroppo]

My tee shirt: Procrastinate Now! (KZbin is my well of procrastination)

[@wabbitpoop]

Great restoration but your beat error is still too high

[@steveblake8766]

#319 Thumbs Up

[@RestorationWatch]

It's a Swiss watch movement. Hamilton was dead after WW2.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

The 747 was manufactured in Hamilton's Lancaster, PA facility and the "USA" was stamped on the balance cock. They moved their American production to Switzerland in 1969.

[@appalachiangunman9589]

Why don’t Americans make watch movements anymore?

[@LTC_Tiger]

For the same reason we don’t have much of a manufacturing base anymore...labor costs are too high here. Why would any watch manufacturer pay American labor rates when they can pay Chinese laborers just a fraction of the price, send the parts to Switzerland and then be able to put Swiss Made on the dial?

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

In addition to labor costs, I've also heard that making hairsprings is exceedingly difficult. I'm certain an American manufacturer could figure it out, but the capital investment would be astronomical and would take decades to become profitable, if ever. Plus, over the past several decades, the Swiss have done a great job of associating themselves with luxury and quality. I'm no marketer, but that seems like it would be a tough nut to crack for countries that are not Switzerland.

[@appalachiangunman9589]

@@WolfeVintageWatches the few watches out there today that claim to be made in USA but have Swiss movements. I have no problem with Swiss movements as I own a Hamilton Khaki Field auto and I love it. However calling a watch American-made with a Swiss movement is like calling a Chevy truck a Chevy but it actually is powered by a 302 V8 Ford engine. My dad has an old Waltham pocket watch that I’d like to get working, as far as I know it winds up and runs, it’s just missing a hand and the crystal is missing.

[@WolfeVintageWatches]

A Ford 302 in a Chevy 1500?! Blasphemy! Although, I am OK with a Chevy small block in a rodded out, dropped, chopped, and shaved Model A, so I guess there are exceptions to the rule. Just between me and you, I love my manual wind Khaki Field as well. There's no doubt the Swiss are known for their watch making for a reason. You're exactly right though; a Swiss (or Japanese, or Chinese) movement in an American made case does not make it an American made watch. Have you checked out weisswatchcompany.com/? If you love your Khaki Field, Weiss's Standard Issue Field Watch might be of interest. For your Dad's Waltham, have you poked around on eBay for the parts you need? I know you'll be able to find a NOS glass crystal. You might need to hunt a little for the correct hand(s), but I'll bet you can find them there too.

[@appalachiangunman9589]

@@WolfeVintageWatches I have looked on eBay a little bit but I haven’t dug into it really seriously yet, thanks for the advice man!