Finally Solved The "Fast Hamilton" Puzzle!
Hey WatchCrunchers, some of you may be aware of the continuing saga of my gold-plated Hamilton Masterpiece that starts running at almost 2x after being worn for about five minutes, due to by body heat warming the watch.
Hamilton wanted US $700-1200+ to fix the watch, since the movement is no longer made and they said they'd have to send it to an outside specialist. Nope.
I decided to find a donor movement, and this is how that went.
What I should have done - and what fixed the watch - was buying a NOS Swiss module circuit.
Only took about 20 minutes to take it apart down to the mainboard and the whole operation went smoothly:
I've been wearing it for more than 30 minutes, which far exceeds the past requisite amount of time to make the watch go haywire, so it seems that was the issue!
Cost me US $36.20. <SMH>
A lesson learned, which is to see if specific parts are available to repair the watch instead of just jumping to an entire donor movement where you're paying for more than just the needed part, especially if the part doesn't require an entire tear down to install.
For some movements...yes, it makes sense to just replace it, if you don't yet possess the skill for a complete, detailed service.
Just thought I'd share, for the other watch repair noobs here like myself.
Cheers! 🍻
-Eric
~Father ~Christian ~Husband ~Gearhead ~Fisherman ~Ailurophile ~Woodworker ~Gun Collector ~Photographer ~Watch Collector ~Caribbean Traveler & Beachgoer ~IT Professional: MS-ISM, BA-COMM, SOC
Good work, glad to see you figured it out and got It running
Good work, glad to see you figured it out and got It running
Thanks! It's such a relief to finally have it fixed. I was getting tired of throwing money at it - it was shaving my bargain vibe.
It takes time & experience to know the troubleshooting steps.
As Max said in his video today, "Tuition paid to the watch gods."
Feels good to have figured it out, eh?
What a great rescue story, well done! It is incredible satisfying when you are able to fix things like this on your own and way cheaper than the shop would charge you. 🫡 Respect!
Glad there was a happy ending!
In theory you have enough parts and knowledge left over to keep it running for the rest of your life, or maybe repair a cheap non-runner you might find.
Well done Eric. No job too difficult for you ! Any chance having a go at the recent UK budget ?
Glad that it turned out in the end and sounds like you have learnt a good lesson along the way.
And a sweet watch is saved too - so all good.
Given Hamilton’s response I am a little surprised that an NOS part was available but that’s the beauty of the internet lots of stuff can now be matched to those looking for it that would previously have just gathered dust or been scrapped.