The Post-War Conversion Watch

Watch Description

The concept of "Swords into Plowshares" is manifested in full form in this week's exceptional Limited Edition release, our Post-War Conversion special.

Every year, on November 11, we have the privilege of offering our customers a limited quantity of very special converted pocket watches. These watches, engineered and manufactured during World War II, served the brave men and women of the US military as they fought tyranny and preserved freedom throughout the globe. Sourcing these historically significant pocket watches and converting them into wristwatches that are able to be worn, recognized, and celebrated daily is an honor that we hold in the highest regard.

This month, on the anniversary of the Allied Forces's victory on the European front of World War II, it's poetic to consider the fact that many of these military-engineered pocket watches, created to coordinate dangerous aerial bombing missions of B-17 squadrons over enemy territory and the advancement of battalions of infantrymen from trench to trench across desolate, scarred battlefields, would be converted by American watch companies, like Hamilton, to be instead used for coordinating the daily life of US citizens as they enjoyed the hard-fought freedoms which were so bravely defended by the sacrifice of so many.

For these former soldiers, checking the time on a 12-hour dial as opposed to their watch's original 24-hour dial must have given the men and women who held them a sense of pride and accomplishment as the significance of the post-war conversion of their timepiece washed over them.

These 12-hour dials, with an ivory background and black Arabic numerals, use a classic serif font with a slight swirl at the termination points of the characters that is in drastic contrast to the severe, no-nonsense block font of the 4992B's original 24-hour dial.

The spade hour and whip minute hands are the same used on the original GCT military watch, but are black instead of white to make them highly visible on the stark white Hamilton-signed dial. The center-mounted seconds hand, as opposed to a small seconds subdial like on most pocket watches, features a long counterbalance with a spaded tip. The outer register, with Arabic numerals 1 through 60, is crisply printed and makes it easy to reference minutes or seconds with the quickest of glances.

Our meticulously engineered V3 case, crafted from a single piece of metal in our Fort Collins, Colorado workshop, is the perfect home for these unique timepieces. The natural bronze, hand-treated to achieve a warm patina that matches the nearly 80-year-old dial's light weathering, is like nothing we have offered before. The contrast between the bronze components and the white dial with black numerals creates a wristwatch that is as much a work of art as it is a timepiece.

On the reverse side of the watch face, a sapphire crystal covers a high-grade 22-jewel movement built in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Based on Hamilton's high-grade railroad pocket watch movement, the 992B. The manufacturer removed the lever-set mechanism and added an extra jewel to accommodate the center seconds hand when they originally produced these watches for the US Government to distribute to its deployed troops. The gold center seconds wheel is mounted above the moment's plates and bridges, which were expertly finished with a Geneva-stripe pattern by American craftsmen in the 1940s. The conversion to a 12-hour movement after World War II required the replacement and modification of three parts, but the movement's hacking function remains, creating a glaring reminder of the timepiece's former military application.

The American-made shell Cordovan strap finishes the Vortic conversion, and the oxblood leather ensures that this watch will be attached securely to your wrist and look great doing so.

When you check the time, know that the watch you are looking at is more than a part of history. It is proof that American soldiers and Allied forces worldwide put their lives on the line to fight for liberty 80 years prior, and they were victorious. Their military-issued 24-hour dial watches were given a new life by these Hamilton conversion kits after the hard-fought battles were won, and now they have been transformed again to allow them to be worn daily and be admired, celebrated, and preserved to remind present and future generations of the sacrifices made and the great hope that those who are called to fight for our liberty can have the chance to return home to our great country and enjoy it.

Only 12 pieces were made. The first 5 will ship within one week, and the rest will be made to order after that.

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