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My 1950 Hamilton 992B
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and 1955 992B
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As you say these watches keep excellent time for over 60 years old
Some observations about the Hamilton 992B that a retired watchmaker told me:
1. While for civilian use, extreme accuracy was a desirable thing in a watch, for railroad use the accuracy and reliability of engineer’s watch was a matter of life and death. By 1940 any railroad inspector approved new 16 size watch from Hamilton, Waltham or Elgin was equally reliable and capable of extreme accuracy, a within a few seconds a week, far exceeding the +/- 30 seconds a week railroad standard.
2. The 1940 Hamilton 992B was the last railroad grade watch designed, and remains the best because of its modular design which utilized modern methods of manufacturing interchangeable parts. This makes the 992B the easiest to regulate, the easiest to service, and the easiest to replace parts of any railroad watch.
3. The 992B was the last railroad watch, made until about 1970. There are more NOS parts for the 992B than any other railroad watch available.
4. What killed the 992B was the Bulova Accutron. It was the first wrist watch approved for railroad service.
The Bulova Accutron was the most important watch of the 1960s, bringing a new level of accuracy and technology and shifting the balance of power in horology from Switzerland back to the United States. It was also a dead end, delaying the development of other electronic watches and distracting...
grail-watch.com
5. There was something of a revival of the pocket watch during the seventies, that continues until the present time.
But instead of copies of the 992B, new pocket watches have either a Swiss or a copy of the ETA/Unitas 6497 or 6498 movement, which has an effective Incabloc shock absorber.
What is the difference between ETA/Unitas caliber 6497 and 6498? Both movements are based off of pocket watch movements. Both movements are found in many modern day pilot/flieger watches. Both movements were introduced in 1950 and are still being manufactured today. This is only one major...
calibercorner.com
6. If you only have one American railroad watch, make it a Hamilton 992B.
