Hamilton Bagley - Curled Horn Lugs - Applied Gold Numerals - The Last Civilian Years - Circa 1940

In 1940 Americans heard the war before they were in it. It came over the radio in the evenings, the names of foreign cities read in level voices, and in October the Secretary of War stood blindfolded in Washington and drew a numbered capsule from a glass bowl, the first peacetime draft in the country's history. Around all of that, the ordinary days held. Men kept their jobs and their evenings, the jewelry stores stayed lit, and a watch was still a present a family saved for.

Hamilton built its watches in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the one here is the model it sold as the Bagley, a cushion of 10k yellow gold filled metal that stayed in the line until early 1942, when the company stopped making watches for the public altogether and gave the whole plant to the war. The inside of the back is stamped with the company's name and its city.

The lugs rise from the back of the watch, sweep out past its corners, and curl over the strap, four open horns of polished gold. The strap runs beneath them and the metal closes over it, and from the side each one stands clear of the case in an open curve.

The dial is silvered, and the numerals standing on it are applied gold, raised pieces of metal set into the surface rather than printed, toned now at their edges. A track of small black boxes rings them and follows the curve of the case, the seconds keep to their own register at six inside rings of fine engine turning, and the hands are gold, drawn to slender points. Hamilton sits under the twelve in its spaced capital letters. The surface carries a scatter of small dark specks.

The movement is Hamilton's 987A, the caliber that went into the wristwatches the company built for the war. It holds seventeen jewels, winds from the crown, and its plates are finished in straight silver stripes, the serial 0124975 stamped along the edge.

The case is polished with stepped sides, and a domed crystal stands over the dial with light surface marks. Fine scratches run across the gold, and traces of old green residue show inside the case. The strap is aged tan leather, stamped Hamilton on its underside and worn along the edges; whether it has been with the watch from the start I cannot say.

The back of the case is engraved in flowing script, Howard Flint.

The watch runs, and its service history is unknown.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

All sales final.