Circa 1960 Hamilton Calendar Microrotor Automatic

Movement: Hamilton 668 (Buren 1006) (17 Jewels)
Movement Type: Automatic
Complications: Sweep Second, Calendar
Case Type: Full Stainless Steel Snap Back
Case Size: 34mm

Some vintage watches are highly cooperative. Others, not so much. This particular Hamilton fought me tooth & nail, but I persisted (through multiple donor movements) because I really love the style of the dial. The Buren-sourced microrotor movement in this thing is cool looking, but not fun to work on. Lowlights include a complex and cantankerous compound ratchet wheel, a frankly terrible click spring design, and a difficult-to-assemble automatic winding mechanism underneath the rotor. Eventually I got it working, however. Well, except for the calendar - the calendar driving wheel, like most of the rest of this movement, is complex and delicate, and the one in this watch literally fell apart. I have not yet been able to source a replacement, so the calendar is currently stuck on 6 (short for “666”).

*Please note that visible serial numbers on the case and movement have been partially or fully hidden with AI masking.

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1950s Hamilton Black Ray Dial Stainless Manual

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1942 IWC Caliber 61 Stainless Manual