Hamilton pocket watch

[Melus28]

Hamilton watch, grade 992-according to serial #, it was made in 1904 but along the top ridge inside, it,s engraved (1883)----why is that?

[Kent]

Hamilton's No. 992 was introduced in 1903. What is the serial number of your movement?

Is it possible that you are looking at the rim of the case and 1883 are the last four digits of the case serial number?

Can you post pictures of the watch, especially the movement and a close-up showing the 1883 marking?

[John Cote]

Early Hamilton 992s were not cased at the factory. They were sold as movements only (with dial and hands) to jewelers or jobbers who would case them in standard 16 size American cases to the taste of the end user/buyer. Almost any 16 size American case would fit your watch. As watches were worn, especially on the railroad, the case would wear out. Your watch could be in its second or third case or it is even possible that the person who originally bought the watch had a used case or requested that the jeweler he bought it from case it in a used older case.

A heck of a lot of American pocket watches are not in their original cases these days and the truth is, since most of them were not cased at the factory until the mid to late 1920s it is hard to prove what the original case might have been.

[Kent]

...
it is even possible that the person who originally bought the watch had a used case or requested that the jeweler he bought it from case it in a used older case.
....

Yep! Hamilton even Advocated the Practice (http://photos21.flickr.com/29110415_6fa5a37ab6_o.jpg) at one point.

[Robert Sweet]

And without documents, i.e. receipt, original box label, etc., it's not possible to prove that factory cased watches are in the original case.

Robert

[John Cote]

And without documents, i.e. receipt, original box label, etc., it's not possible to prove that factory cased watches are in the original case.

You are absolutely correct Robert. I bought a 16s Bunn Special this weekend which had both a dial and a case that I knew were of much later vintage than the movement. It was what some might call a "Frankenwatch". However, it was so cheap that I could not pass it up and I am sure it will be put to good use.

I would venture that most of the RR grade watches I have seen over my 30 + years of collecting are "frankenwatches" in one fashion or another. Not much is original about a lot of them.