I wrote about a vintage Hamilton on the blog earlier this year and here’s another, this time from the Fontainebleau range.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
Named after Chateau de Fontainebleau, located 45 miles south of Paris, Hamilton’s Fontainebleau range featured some of their more eye-catching models. Produced in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s the range featured oval, square and wedge shaped cases, with hidden or recessed lugs, resulting in a somewhat quirky line-up which made them stand out from the crowd. (I wrote about another watch from the Fontainebleau range, the Odyssee 2001 several years ago which definitely ticks the ‘quirky’ box, here is a link if you would like to read it.)
The range topper was undoubtedly the Chrono-Matic automatic chronograph which shares the same oval case design as the subject of this post, but is powered by a Cal. 11 chronograph calibre, so has the crown on the left and pushers on the right.
Unfortunately, Fontainebleau Chrono-Matics are now being bought and broken up to provide movement parts for the more collectible/valuable Heuer chronographs, which is a real shame but a trend that is likely to continue. It’s still possible to find good examples out there, though prices have risen considerably as a result.
Thankfully the automatic model featured in this post isn’t such a target. Produced for just 3 years (1968-70), and available in both ladies and gents sizes, there were a number of options available; the blue dialled model in this post, a white dialled version in a stainless steel case and also two gold plated versions in a ribbed case with either a gold or brown dial.
You’ll notice that one of the watches above has a day-date display which was an option for both the white dialled stainless, and gold plated versions of the watch. I’ve yet to see a blue dialled day-date variant on my travels around the net, so I’m unsure if that was ever produced.
Much like the Odyssee 2001 model referenced above, the case design on this watch is unusual. Designed for Hamilton by Ulrich Nydegger and patented in 1968, the case is a mono-bloc design, but with a traditional looking slotted caseback.
To remove the movement from the case, the caseback is rotated 90 degrees, which then releases the compression from the case top around the crystal and both parts and the crystal gasket can be removed. The split-stem can then be separated and the watch removed from the case. With two straight edges, it was possible to clamp this case in my case opener and so it proved much easier to open that the Odyssee 2001, which was a relief!
Here is a picture of the disassembled case components, all in need of a good cleaning – I was pleased to find both the crystal and gasket in good condition as sourcing replacements would most likely have proven difficult.
The movement powering this watch is a Hamilton 64A, which is effectively a re-branded 21 jewel version of the popular ETA cal. 2452, used by many manufacturers during the 1960’s and 70’s.
Once inside, there were no hidden surprises, the movement just needed a routine service. The case and bracelet were cleaned and the crystal polished to finish the job.
The watch arrived sporting a Hamilton branded beads-of-rice style bracelet, though I suspect it didn’t start life on this watch as vintage adverts show a ladder style bracelet with fitted lugs.
Nevertheless, it’s still a good match for the watch in terms of style and size, so I’ll be sticking with it.
It’s worth mentioning too that although this watch is 40mm in diameter, as there are no protruding lugs and the case is just 36mm lug-to-lug and 14mm thick, it wears much smaller than you’d imagine on the wrist. It also has a common lug width of 20mm, giving plenty strap and bracelet options to change the look should you wish to do so.
Rich.
