Hamilton 975 THOR

[itbeme]

I have a Hamilton 975 that is marked THOR. What does this mean.
Thanx
S

[itbeme]

I have a Hamilton 975 that is marked THOR. What does this mean.
Thanx
S

[Kent]

itbeme:

It means that you have a hunting case, private label watch. Just about all the watch companies, including the Swiss firms, would mark both the watch movements and/or the dials in just about any manner for any customer who wished to pay for the service. I don't have any exact references for the costs, but I've heard (read?) that, for some companies, if five or more watches were ordered, there was no charge for marking the movements. Special dials were said to cost 25 or 50 cents each. Some watch manufacturers were more liberal. Private label watches were contracted for by a large range of companies, from Sears, Roebuck down to the smaller jewelers in the little towns. The Illinois Watch Co. probably produced the largest number of private label watches, a number of which, mostly those with names associated with railroads, are considered to be highly collectable.

It seems that once a watch is recognized as a special order, or private label, watch, it doesn't really matter from which run/grade it was drawn. The only thing that matters is what was contracted for by the buyer. Its only for convenience (i.e., production efficiency) that private label movements for higher grade watches are taken from runs of high grade watches, thus minimizing the task of meeting special order requirements. Although, in general, the finish and adjustment of a private label watch is probably the same as that of the grade of the run from which it was taken, until one sees the retailer's description of the watch, it is indeterminate whether its description matches that of the factory run from which it was drawn. Lack of actual grade identification and indeterminate adjustment are probably the key reasons why private label watches were eventually prohibited in railroad time service. A classic example of differences from the factory grade are the earlier Waltham Canadian Pacific Railway model 1883s. They were pulled from runs of 15-jewel No. 25, No. 35 and Appleton, Tracy & Co. grades, but all of the Canadian Pacific Railway model 1883s are 17-jewel watches, the exact adjustment of which is indeterminate (although probably as good as, or better then, the grade of the runs from which they were drawn).

[Fred Hansen]

These were made in 16 and 18 size Hamilton 17 jewel grades, and the Thor movements I've seen have had damaskeen patterns different then what would usually be seen on the grade. 16 size Thors I've seen have had a damaskeen pattern very much like what would be seen on an early 992.

According to the Ehrhardt/Meggers "Beginning to End" book, the Thor was sold by L. Manheimer Bros. of New York.

Fred

[BrianC]

I read somewhere that Thor, means the god of war.
Brian C.

[itbeme]

Thanx for the info
S