the edc WATCH thread

FrankOceanXray said:

Anyone have input on the Hamilton Watches, made for military ? Thinking of looking more at the WWII or Vietnam vintage watches. I like the story, the look and the Made in USA.

I like things with a story and this fits the bill.

I do not own a single watch.

This one I would wear.

Going price? One for sale? DIY fix if the glass is bad? Repair not too costly? What to look for?

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rbird7282 said:

I don’t have any of the old Hamilton military watches but you can easily find them. Parts aren’t too hard to come by, there’s a watchmaker in Silver Spring that has tons of parts for vintage watches. (PM me if you want his info)
You can also go with one of Hamilton’s new versions of their military watches.
They are handwind (mechanical) not automatic.
I used to have the black dialed version shown below.

I recently sold it and bought the white dialed version
They are fantastic watches

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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FrankOceanXray said:

Those are new?

I'll stick with vintage ones. Seems going rate is $150 on eBay.

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CanDoEZ said:

In this enforced downtime, I think I'll be digging through my old footlockers. Looking at the pictures, I remember getting issued a few of the blackface models.

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FrankOceanXray said:

One for sale......?

Imagine how many other men and women could say the same. Great US history stashed away! Perfect quarantine pass time to spring clean things.


Thanks for your service, too.

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fbi_surveillance_van said:

With some notable exceptions, the average watch that would have been issued out 2001-present was more along the lines of Timex, Suunto, G Shock, Garmin Phoenix, etc. Great watches but definitely won't be collectible like the Hamiltons.

Back when the GWOT money was flowing full tilt, you'd occasionally see small organizations burn obscene money on stuff like the Breitling Emergency, various extremely high end dive watches, etc. Alas I missed out on those opportunities, for the most part

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fbi_surveillance_van said:

With some notable exceptions, the average watch that would have been issued out 2001-present was more along the lines of Timex, Suunto, G Shock, Garmin Phoenix, etc. Great watches but definitely won't be collectible like the Hamiltons.

Back when the GWOT money was flowing full tilt, you'd occasionally see small organizations burn obscene money on stuff like the Breitling Emergency, various extremely high end dive watches, etc. Alas I missed out on those opportunities, for the most part

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FrankOceanXray said:

Anyone have input on the Hamilton Watches, made for military ? Thinking of looking more at the WWII or Vietnam vintage watches. I like the story, the look and the Made in USA.

I like things with a story and this fits the bill.

I do not own a single watch.

This one I would wear.

Going price? One for sale? DIY fix if the glass is bad? Repair not too costly? What to look for?

Click to expand...

SkiPatrolDude said:

Hamiltons are good watches. Collectible as another poster mentioned? No.

Unless you are talking about vintage models, then maybe.

Hamiltons for the most part use a base ETA or Sellita movement. Older ones will prob have an ETA. Sellita's are high end clones of ETA movements, so either is fine.

Advantages to these watches is they are highly serviceable by most watch repair businesses, so you won't wince as bad every 4-6 years when you need to pay to have it serviced.

Think of a Hamilton as a modern Honda. Many different models, all with the same 2 liter turbo across almost the entire range.

It will serve you well. If Hamilton is your price range, I HIGHLY recommend checking out the Seiko Presage line. There is NO competition in the under $1000 mark when comparing what Seiko brings to the table in their automatic lineup.

Then there's more crap than good between $1000 and $4500 than most is worth. $5,000-$8000 and you get into some really good stuff and options. Its perhaps the most competitive price point (still some crap but not nearly as much).

And when I say crap, I do not need that they are poor watches, but rather they are not worth what you are paying (cough cough Tag Heuer)

And for anyone looking for my opinion of "the best watch for around $1000" - ORIS or NOMOS (although not my style). The Oris Pointer Date is an instant classic IMO.

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august1410 said:

Saw these and couldn’t make a decision so I bought them both. One is arriving on Monday, the other on Tuesday.

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