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THE HAMILTON ELECTRIC
Sale #WW32006A Unique "Space in Time!"
January 3, 1957 - Hamilton announces "the watch of the future" - the first electric powered wrist watch! Was the world ready for this? Dwight Eisenhower was President and Elvis Presley sold one million copies of "Heart Break Hotel." The USSR launches the first man made satellite - Sputnik I and blue jeans have replaced long skirts and bobbie socks. The world was ready - new innovations seemed to be happening everywhere and since watches were powered by wound up "mainsprings" for the past 400 years - the time for an electric powered wrist watch was here.
Richard Arbib was the genius designer and artist who created the futuristic shapes for the Hamilton electric cases. The designs were revolutionary. The asymmetrical, dynamic, geometric and eccentric shapes were marketed with clever, space age sounding names such as Ventura, Pacer, Uranus, Titan, Polaris and Saturn. Not only were the designs and names fresh and new but the movement was an engineering marvel. The innovative Model 500 electric - mechanical movement has two extremely fine contact wires mounted on posts which connect to the balance wheel. The adjustment of these micro-fine contact wires (tension, height, length and angle) is critical for the movement to function properly. The Model 500 has a "bent wire" style battery clip - many movements are found with damaged contact wires caused by careless handling of this battery clip. The Model 500A was introduced in 1950 and the original awkward battery clip was replaced by a more efficient cross bridge style clamp. The 500 and 500A model gained a reputation as being finicky and unreliable. Unfortunately this was often due to poorly trained watchmakers and jewelers who did not take the time to thoroughly understand these new mechanisms.
The 505 Model was introduced in 1961. A non-adjustable contact on the balance assembly and an innovative gear train contact now replaced the delicate earlier contact wire design.
Hamilton was not the only U. S. manufacturer to make an electric driven wrist watch. Elgin produced an electric watch in 1952 but the timepieces were never mass marketed or successful. Technology was constantly moving forward and the Bulova Accutron tuning fork movement quickly took the lead position in the battery powered watch race. Analog quartz watches and solid state digitals were being produced and proving to be accurate, durable, dependable and cost effective. Production of Hamilton electrics came to an end in 1969, a mere 12 years after their introduction. This genre holds a small but special place in horological history - good examples are rapidly disappearing. Hamilton electrics were quite plentiful in the 1980's yet today the vast majority are held in private collections.
Ashland is delighted to present this special Hamilton electric collection along with other interesting and unique electric models.
Please call 1-800-424-5353, or E-Mail, and ask for Jim Wolf for information or to reserve items.
(Click on photos to enlarge)
1. Besco Lectronic Wristwatch, Rolled-Gold-Plate/stainless, 35mm, 11 jewel, Standard Time Co. C. 1960s. Superb, near mint. $200.00
3. Vantage Wristwatch, Stain screw back, 34mm, 11 jewel Standard Time 130E C. 1960s Very fine, near mint. $150.00
10. Hamilton Nautilus 602 Wristwatch, stainless, 33mm, Model 505 C. 1965. Very fine, mint. $205.00
11. Hamilton Nautilus 508 Wristwatch, stainless, 33mm, Model 505 C. 1966. Superb, near mint. $200.00
14. Hamilton Nautilus 507 Wristwatch, stainless, 34mm, Model 500 C. 1966. Very fine with Armco steel logo, near mint. $230.00
15. Hamilton Nautilus 507 Wristwatch, stainless, 34mm, Model 500 C. 1966. Superb with Armco logo, mint. $250.00
24. Hamilton Model 50 R R Special Wristwatch, stainless, 35mm, Model 505 C. 1962. Superb, mint. $305.00
25. Hamilton Fancy Dial Wristwatch, stainless with Gold-Filled bezel, 35mm, Model 500 C. 1961. Very fine, near mint. $275.00
26. Hamilton Converta I Wristwatch, stainless with gold bezel, 35mm, Model 505 C. 1958. Golden, very fine. $300.00
27. Hamilton Gemini II Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 30mm, Model 505 C. 1963. Average, near mint. $225.00
28. Hamilton Gemini II Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 30mm, Model 505 C. 1965. Very fine, near mint. $230.00
29. Hamilton Gemini II Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 30mm, Model 505 C. 1965. Very fine, mint. $230.00
30. Hamilton Gemini II Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 30mm, Model 505 C. 1965. Superb, near mint 1968 presentation. $230.00
37. Hamilton Summit Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 34mm, Model 500 C. 1961. Very fine with colored Buick logo. $230.00
38. Hamilton Vantage Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 28 x 38mm, Model 505 C. 1959. Average, near mint with 1959 inscription on back. $375.00
39. Hamilton Vantage Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 28 x 38mm, Model 505 C. 1958. Very fine, mint. $380.00
40. Hamilton Victor Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 30mm, Model 505 C. 1957. Very fine, original, mint. $450.00
41. Hamilton Savitar II Wristwatch, White-Gold-Filled, 30 x 38mm Model 505 C. 1965. Very fine, near mint. $400.00
43. Hamilton Pacer Wristwatch, two-tone, Gold-Filled, 31 x 46mm, Model 500A C. 1957. Very fine, excellent. $600.00
46. Hamilton Ventura Wristwatch, 14K Gold, 31 x 49mm Model 505 C. 1957. Very fine, mint. $2,500.00
52. Bulova Accutron Wristwatch, stainless, 36 x 44mm, 218 C. 1970. Very fine, excellent. $130.00
56. Bulova Accutron Wristwatch, Gold-Filled, 33mm, 218 C. 1966. Very fine with date, near mint. $155.00
59. Bulova Accutron with Ford logo Wristwatch, Rolled-Gold-Plate, 34mm, 218 C. 1970. Superb, mint. $155.00
61. Bulova Accutron With Two-Tone Bracelet Wristwatch, stainless, 35mm, 218 C. 1970. Superb, near mint Accutron band. $230.00
63. Bulova Accutron Fancy Dial Wristwatch, stainless, 38mm, 218 C. 1969. Blue, superb, near mint. $180.00
64. Bulova Accutron Day/Date Wristwatch, Rolled-Gold-Plate, 34mm, 218 C. 1968. Superb, near mint. $180.00
67. Bulova Accutron Astronaut Mark II Wristwatch, 14K Gold, 33mm, 218 C. 1967. Superb with 24-hr. disc. and date, near mint. $750.00
69. Swatch Chronograph Wristwatch, celluloid, 37mm, 22 jewels 9003 C. 1990. Superb, green & gold, new, in box. $155.00
70. Seiko Electronic El 370 Wristwatch, stainless, 38mm, EL-379 C. 1990. Ivory, superb, near mint. $180.00
71. Omega, 14K Gold Wristwatch, 19mm, quartz C. 1990. Superb, new/old stock. $300.00
72. Omega Seamaster De Ville Wristwatch, Gold-Filled/steel, 35mm, quartz C. 1980. Very fine with date, near mint. $380.00
Ashland...leaders in the mail order business for antique watches with over 30 years of experience. Owned by Richard E. Gilbert, Co-Author of #1 Selling "The Complete Price Guide to Watches" for 31 Years! Questions? Please call 1-800-424-5353, or E-Mail, and ask for Jim Wolf for information or to reserve items. Our hours are Monday - Friday 9 - 5 EST. Shipping is $10 US - $40 International eAshland.net We're pleased to announce that we will be presenting a newly redesigned eAshland.net website. This newly designed website will be totally original, cutting edge technology that will focus on horology. We are very excited about this venture and hope to become a network for the watch collecting community that will both assist you in finding timepieces and be a source of information. The implementation of this website project will be finished soon so please make sure to visit us shortly! If you would like to be notified of our "Grand Opening" please e-mail us at Ashlandinvest@mindspring.com The development of the website is yet another pioneering venture of Richard E. Gilbert, founder of Ashland Investments, the Premiere Mail Order Catalog for Antique Watches and Vintage Timepieces. |
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