Finally finished my Hamilton, I came across a case on eBay recently and well... the rest is history. I'm sure I upset someone that day but I completed this thing and I'm thrilled to be able to wear it now. It keeps amazing time, as well as any of my regular automatics.
My 1920s Hamilton 986A
This little tank is built around Hamilton’s 986A, a 6/0‑size, 17‑jewel hand‑wind movement that Hamilton used in its first generation of non‑military wristwatches in the mid‑1920s. The 986/986A started life as a small pendant‑watch calibre and then got cased up as ladies’ and early unisex wristwatches when Hamilton realized the wristwatch fad wasn’t going away.
Production on the 986A runs roughly from the early 1920s to about 1926, before Hamilton replaced it in new models with the 987 family. It’s a compact movement—about 6/0s / 11¼ lignes—so most cases are small cushion or tank shapes that wear like today’s “vintage dress” pieces rather than modern sport watches.
My watch is a bit of a Frankenstein‑in‑spirit but period‑correct:
The movement started as a dead 986A I pulled from a batch of junk for a few bucks, then I scavenged missing parts from a cheap 986 donor and brought it back to life.
The case is a late‑1920s Hamilton tank originally meant for a 987, but the 986A fits perfectly and keeps the whole thing in the right era.
After a full strip‑down, clean, oil, and regulation, it now runs consistently within roughly 0–10 seconds per day with low beat error and strong amplitude in multiple positions—better than plenty of modern watches.
I kept the original aged crystal—polished from 1500 up to 12,000 grit and finished with Novus—to preserve the soft crazing and slight yellowing instead of making it look brand new. The dial has gentle patina, the hands are original and imperfect, and that’s kind of the point: it looks like a 1920s watch that’s actually lived, not a museum piece.
All‑in, I’m under a hundred dollars into it between movements, donor parts, and the case, which feels almost absurd for a nearly century‑old American wristwatch I rebuilt myself. I don’t daily‑wear it—this is a “special occasion or funky mood” piece, not something I’m going to trash working on the car—but every time it goes on the wrist, it’s a little slice of 1920s Lancaster that I actually had a hand in saving.