--- title: "Hamilton Platinum and Diamond Ladies Art Deco Watch circa 1940's High Grade from 1st Dibs" description: "View Hamilton Platinum and Diamond Ladies Art Deco Watch circa 1940's High Grade from 1st Dibs on Refermate." canonical_url: "https://refermate.com/store/1st-dibs/product/hamilton-platinum-and-diamond-ladies-art-deco-watch-circa-1940-s-high-grade-3409495" md_url: "https://refermate.com/store/1st-dibs/product/hamilton-platinum-and-diamond-ladies-art-deco-watch-circa-1940-s-high-grade-3409495" --- # Hamilton Platinum and Diamond Ladies Art Deco Watch circa 1940's High Grade - URL: https://refermate.com/store/1st-dibs/product/hamilton-platinum-and-diamond-ladies-art-deco-watch-circa-1940-s-high-grade-3409495 - Store: 1st Dibs - Store products page: https://refermate.com/store/1st-dibs/products - Brand: 1stDibs ## Description FACTORY / HOUSE: Hamilton Watch Company STYLE / REFERENCE: Art Deco METAL / MATERIAL: Platinum & Diamonds / !4Kt. Solid Gold Bracelet CIRCA / YEAR: 1940's DIMENSIONS / SIZE: Length 31mm X Diameter 17mm MOVEMENT / CALIBER: Manual Winding / 17 Jewels DIAL / HANDS: Factory Original Silvered Dial with Diamonds and Dot and Arabic Numeral Markers / Silver Hands ATTACHMENT / BRACELET: Platinum Bracelet / Length 5 7/8 Inches or 14.9cm WARRANTY: 18 months on the movement LIFETIME SERVICE COMMITMENT This beautiful and elegant watch was produced by the legendary American house of Hamilton. It is done in platinum with a solid 14Kt. White Gold Bracelet. Set with about 3/4 carats of fine H color stones, this classic watch can be worn for all sorts of events and counted on to get you there on time, every time. Our finest Master Watchmaker has just finished a Factory Quality Service on it. It is also offered with a white metal cord band, or black cord band as well. HAMILTON HISTORY The wrong train, on the wrong track, at the wrong time at the end of the 19th century frequently resulted in disastrous train wrecks. In response to the critical need for accuracy on the nation’s railroads, laws were passed in 1891 establishing set standards of accuracy. All engineers and railroad workers were required to purchase and maintain their watches to keep accurate time based on set standards, about 30 seconds per week was the tolerance. This was the inspiration for The Hamilton Watch Company which was founded in 1892 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company was started by a group of investors who were looking to create a high-quality, American-made watch. Hamilton quickly became a leading manufacturer of pocket watches, and by the early 1900s, the company was supplying watches to the US military. In 1917, Hamilton introduced its first wristwatch for service men entering the first World War. The wristwatch quickly became popular with both soldiers and civilians recognizing how practical they were. Hamilton continued to grow throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and by the 1940s, the company was one of the largest watchmakers in the world. Hamilton had exceptional engineers and designers, and their watches were elegantly styled as well as dependable. As a watchmaker myself I consider Hamilton to be one of the worlds “best” watches. It was mass produced perfection. Even today, you can take 100 old Hamilton’s of the same model apart and shake them up in a bag and reassemble 100 watches that will work perfectly with almost no adjustment. This is an achievement. In the early 1930’s our family store in Los Angeles was the a “Hamilton” Store. Even during the depression though Hamilton did not allow you to discount the price to sell a watch. Also, in the neighborhood was another Hamilton store and one day the owner sent in a “shill” to buy a Hamilton from us. Someone gave them a slight discount. Well, that was all it took for Hamilton to “pull the line” from us. In those days the local jewelry supply houses sold you the watches and they were all told not to sell to us. We simply contacted Gruen, and they were very excited to have a new account in Los Angeles and we immediately became a Gruen Store. A few months later, the other jeweler in the neighborhood went out of business and Hamilton came back to us asking if we wanted “the line” again. No thanks was the response and we never carried Hamilton again. During World War II, Hamilton supplied watches to the US military again. In addition, with contracts for the Navy, they produced the world’s most accurate navigational chronometers. The company also developed several new technologies for use in military watches. After the war, Hamilton continued to innovate, and the company introduced several new watch designs for the future. Unfortunately, they made one very poor executive decision in the 1950’s. Having invented the first “electric” or battery watch they decided to launch it before all the “bugs'' were worked out. Too many of them failed and at the same time, Bulova launched their version of the electric, or battery watch called the Accutron. It did not fail and that was the demise of one of America's most successful and influential companies. Their watches, however, still live on and parts are available and the average Hamilton, with only average care, will last hundreds of years. Their commitment to excellence has never been surpassed by any watch company. ## Explore More ### Agent sitemap - URL: https://refermate.com/sitemap.md - Description: Root discovery index for public Refermate pages. ### Store sitemap - URL: https://refermate.com/stores/sitemap.md - Description: Paginated index of markdown-friendly store pages. ### 1st Dibs products - URL: https://refermate.com/store/1st-dibs/products - Description: Browse more products from the same store. ### 1st Dibs promo codes - URL: https://refermate.com/store/1st-dibs/promo-codes - Description: Browse coupon codes, deals, and cashback for the same store.