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Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 Diver Watch
Estimated price for orientation: 2 995 $
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Description Gender: Unisex Case Material: Stainless Steel Brand: Hamilton Face Color: Blue Features: Chronograph, Date Indicator, Rotating Bezel, Tachymeter Band Color: Black Watch Shape: Round Case Size: 43mm x 46mm Display: Analog Model: Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 Movement: Mechanical (Automatic) Year of Manufacture: 1970-1979 Water Resistance Rating: 100 m (10 ATM) Lug Width: 20mm Case Finish: Brushed Number of Jewels: 17 Jewels Case Color: Silver Style: Diver
Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 Diver Watch Ask any vintage chronograph enthusiast what happened on March 3, 1969, and he will answer you quickly and with certainty, "That was the day that the Hamilton-Buren, Heuer, Breitling, Dubois-Depraz partnership introduced the world's first automatic chronograph, with press conferences in Geneva and New York City".
This is a circa 1971 Hamilton Automatic Pan-Europ 703 Chronograph (using the same configuration as BREITLING and HEUER movements of the era) and was amongst the very first automatic winding chronograph movements produced. This watch was $275 when purchased new in the 70's.This beautiful vintage Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 featuring a Caliber 11 movement designed by Hamilton based off of the first Caliber 11 Chronomatic blueprint, the pioneering end product of a collaboration between joint venture partners Hamilton-Buren, Heuer and Breitling. The 17 jewel unadjusted Swiss Hamilton Caliber 11 movement runs strong, and keeps great time. This Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 would have been considered a large timepiece during the era that it was released measuring at approximately 43mm wide (excluding the crown) x 46mm from lug end to lug end. The watch is quadruple signed by Hamilton as seen on the dial, crown, movement, and case. The 2-register dial with 1/5 sec. recorder track looks sharp. The crown sets and winds smoothly and the rotating bezel clicks properly. The sturdy case only has some light scratches and bezel ring has some wear on the outer perimeter as seen in the photos but overall this timepiece looks great for being over 40 years old. The inside of the screw case back reads: Hamilton Watch Co., Swiss, Stainless Steel while on the reverse it reads: 100m/300ft, 11003-3, Stainless Steel. Although this watch is rated as being waterproof for up to 100m/300ft, it is not recommended to submerge the timepiece in water as waterproofing features may no longer be intact after 40+ years. Background of the Chronomatic Movements (Caliber 11) As described in our previous articles about the development of the Chronomatic (Caliber 11 / Caliber 12) movements, the joint venture of Heuer, Breitling, Buren and Dubois-Depraz "won the race" to market the world's first automatic chronographs, when the Chronomatic chronographs were introduced in March 1969 and offered for sale to the general public during the Summer of 1969. The Caliber 11 movement was an entirely new movement, developed on a "white board" basis by the joint venture partners, and in order to win the race to market, the movement was designed and developed very quickly. In addition to the innovation of being the first automatic chronograph, the Caliber 11 had several advanced technical features. In view of the nature of the joint venture, the speed with which the movement was developed, and the technical features of the Chronomatic watches, it is not surprising that the Chronomatic watches suffered from a variety of technical issues when they were first sold to the public. How the Caliber 11 movements were developed and improved after their introduction in 1969, to become the popular movements that powered a new generation of chronographs for Hamilton, Heuer, Breitling, Bulova, Zodiac and several other brands. We will see that while the Chronomatic partners lacked the luxury of fully developing this movement prior to its introduction, they continued to develop these movements so that they were the workhorse movements of the 1970's and continue as reliable movements, 40 years after their introduction. Caliber 11 -- The Early Problems Some of the technical problems arose with the Caliber 11 movements arose from decisions made in designing the watches; others arose from poor engineering or a lack of development of the movement, as the partnership competed to bring the first automatic chronograph onto the market. The following were among the most significant design features of the Caliber 11 movement, along with the "technical" problems which were attributable to these features: Jumping Hours. While most chronographs of the period utilized a “jumping” minute recorder (meaning that the minute needle jumped every minute) and a “creeping” hour recorder (meaning that the hour needle moved continuoously during the hour), the Caliber 11 used a jumping hour recorder as well as a jumping minute recorder. Accordingly, the hour needle "jumped" every 30 minutes, rather than moving continuously. Having both the minute and hour needles "jump" in one instant required incrementally more power than having the hour needle creep on a continuous basis. Jumping Date. The Caliber 11 was also designed so that the date disk would "jump" in a relatively short period of time (beginning at 11:45 p.m.), rather than beginning to change earlier in the evening (for example, at 10:30 p.m.). This jumping date disk also required incrementally more power than a disk that would move more gradually over the course of a longer period. Combined with the jumping minutes and hours, the movement required considerable power to "jump" the date disc in only 15 minutes between 11:45 and midnight. Banking. In order to provide the power that would be required for the Caliber 11 to operate -- with the chronograph running, the needles jumping, and the hour disk changing within a relatively short period of time -- the Caliber 11 required a strong mainspring. The mainspring used for the Caliber 11 turned out to be too strong, resulting in the problem of "banking" (or “rebanking”), meaning that the balance wheel had too much amplitude and caused the watch to run too fast. Bi-Metallic Pinion. The oscillating pinion used in the Caliber 11 movement (8086) was "bi-metallic", with a brass head on a steel shaft. (The Heuer-Breitling-Hamilton group used a bi-metallic pinion, because at the time that the Caliber 11 movement was being developed, the group did not have the ability to manufacture a one-piece, all-steel pinion). Becuase the head of the oscillating pinion engages with the chronograph runner wheel (8000) every time the chronograph is started (and disengages every time the chronograph is stopped), there were concerns that the pinion and wheel would wear out prematurely. The Caliber 11-I Movement As a result of these technical problems with the Caliber 11 movement, within a year of its introduction, the Chronomatic group (Heuer-Breitling-Hamilton) made the changes that resulted in the creation of the Caliber 11-I movement. (We are not certain, but can assume that the "I" designation indicated that the movement had been "Improved".) Changes from the original Caliber 11 to the improved Caliber 11-I included the following: . The date indicator driving wheel (jumper) (2556) was redesigned, so that the date changed more slowly. On the Caliber 11-I, the date change would begin at 10:30 p.m. and occurred over the next 90 minutes, with a "click" at midnight. . The jumper springs on the minute (8270) and hour (8705) recorders were made lighter (weaker), so that less power was required for the needles to jump each minute and each 30 minutes. . With less power required to drive the date wheel and the chronograph needles, the Caliber 11-I used a weaker mainspring than the Caliber 11. (The improved Caliber 11-I mainspring was housed in a nickel-plated barrel, whereas the Caliber 11 used a rose-colored barrel). Changes in the balance wheel also addressed the problem of "banking". . The oscillating pinion (8086) was changed from being bi-metallic (steel and brass) to solid steel. In addition, the chronograph runner wheel (8000), which mated with this pinion, was changed from brass to a nickel-silver alloy. Information/data collected from VintageWatchForums.I have been a Hamilton Watch collector since the early 1980's. I have owned every Hamilton tank watch ever made, in every color, metal and dial variation. I became obsessed with Hamilton watches because of their quality and construction of the cases and more so of their movements, which were top of the line for all watches made world wide for the time. Over the years, I have found that I have collected far more watches than I should have, and have started to sell off my seconds, and narrow my collection down to watches to interest and of importance. The Hamilton Watch Company was founded in 1892 and produced its first watch in the 1893 which was designed by one of its founding member H.J. Cain. The Hamilton Watch Company started off by making pocket watches, more commonly known was "rail road" watches, which were reliable timing devices for the railroads at the time. In 1909, Hamilton made the O size 985 with 19 Jewel movement for a man's watch, which was made for the Military, and later the 983 would be used and marketed for the Military, Aviators, Drivers, Civil Engineers and those of other occupations. In the later 1920's, Hamilton was producing some of the greatest watches ever made, the Spur, the Piping Rock which the Yankees gave out as World Series presentation watches, the Coronado and so on. In the 1950's Hamilton invented the battery powered and worlds first "Electric Watch" with models such as the Ventura which Elvis and Rod Sterling wore, as well as the Pacer, which President Johnson (LBJ) wore. Hamilton was in the USA until 1969 where the plant was closed in Lancaster, PA and moved to Switzerland where it operated in the Buren Factory. The last model American watch Hamilton produced was the "Coin" watch, which you see from time to time that featured the Hamilton 770, high grade 22 jewel movement.
Description
| Gender: | Unisex | Case Material: | Stainless Steel |
| Brand: | Hamilton | Face Color: | Blue |
| Features: | Chronograph, Date Indicator, Rotating Bezel, Tachymeter | Band Color: | Black |
| Watch Shape: | Round | Case Size: | 43mm x 46mm |
| Display: | Analog | Model: | Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 |
| Movement: | Mechanical (Automatic) | Year of Manufacture: | 1970-1979 |
| Water Resistance Rating: | 100 m (10 ATM) | Lug Width: | 20mm |
| Case Finish: | Brushed | Number of Jewels: | 17 Jewels |
| Case Color: | Silver | Style: | Diver |
Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 Diver Watch
Information/data collected from VintageWatchForums.I have been a Hamilton Watch collector since the early 1980's. I have owned every Hamilton tank watch ever made, in every color, metal and dial variation. I became obsessed with Hamilton watches because of their quality and construction of the cases and more so of their movements, which were top of the line for all watches made world wide for the time. Over the years, I have found that I have collected far more watches than I should have, and have started to sell off my seconds, and narrow my collection down to watches to interest and of importance. The Hamilton Watch Company was founded in 1892 and produced its first watch in the 1893 which was designed by one of its founding member H.J. Cain. The Hamilton Watch Company started off by making pocket watches, more commonly known was "rail road" watches, which were reliable timing devices for the railroads at the time. In 1909, Hamilton made the O size 985 with 19 Jewel movement for a man's watch, which was made for the Military, and later the 983 would be used and marketed for the Military, Aviators, Drivers, Civil Engineers and those of other occupations. In the later 1920's, Hamilton was producing some of the greatest watches ever made, the Spur, the Piping Rock which the Yankees gave out as World Series presentation watches, the Coronado and so on. In the 1950's Hamilton invented the battery powered and worlds first "Electric Watch" with models such as the Ventura which Elvis and Rod Sterling wore, as well as the Pacer, which President Johnson (LBJ) wore. Hamilton was in the USA until 1969 where the plant was closed in Lancaster, PA and moved to Switzerland where it operated in the Buren Factory. The last model American watch Hamilton produced was the "Coin" watch, which you see from time to time that featured the Hamilton 770, high grade 22 jewel movement.
| Ask any vintage chronograph enthusiast what happened on March 3, 1969, and he will answer you quickly and with certainty, "That was the day that the Hamilton-Buren, Heuer, Breitling, Dubois-Depraz partnership introduced the world's first automatic chronograph, with press conferences in Geneva and New York City". |
This is a circa 1971 Hamilton Automatic Pan-Europ 703 Chronograph (using the same configuration as BREITLING and HEUER movements of the era) and was amongst the very first automatic winding chronograph movements produced. This watch was $275 when purchased new in the 70's.
This beautiful vintage Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 featuring a Caliber 11 movement designed by Hamilton based off of the first Caliber 11 Chronomatic blueprint, the pioneering end product of a collaboration between joint venture partners Hamilton-Buren, Heuer and Breitling. The 17 jewel unadjusted Swiss Hamilton Caliber 11 movement runs strong, and keeps great time. This Hamilton Automatic Chronomatic Pan-Europ 703 would have been considered a large timepiece during the era that it was released measuring at approximately 43mm wide (excluding the crown) x 46mm from lug end to lug end. The watch is quadruple signed by Hamilton as seen on the dial, crown, movement, and case. The 2-register dial with 1/5 sec. recorder track looks sharp. The crown sets and winds smoothly and the rotating bezel clicks properly. The sturdy case only has some light scratches and bezel ring has some wear on the outer perimeter as seen in the photos but overall this timepiece looks great for being over 40 years old. The inside of the screw case back reads: Hamilton Watch Co., Swiss, Stainless Steel while on the reverse it reads: 100m/300ft, 11003-3, Stainless Steel. Although this watch is rated as being waterproof for up to 100m/300ft, it is not recommended to submerge the timepiece in water as waterproofing features may no longer be intact after 40+ years. Background of the Chronomatic Movements (Caliber 11) As described in our previous articles about the development of the Chronomatic (Caliber 11 / Caliber 12) movements, the joint venture of Heuer, Breitling, Buren and Dubois-Depraz "won the race" to market the world's first automatic chronographs, when the Chronomatic chronographs were introduced in March 1969 and offered for sale to the general public during the Summer of 1969. The Caliber 11 movement was an entirely new movement, developed on a "white board" basis by the joint venture partners, and in order to win the race to market, the movement was designed and developed very quickly. In addition to the innovation of being the first automatic chronograph, the Caliber 11 had several advanced technical features. In view of the nature of the joint venture, the speed with which the movement was developed, and the technical features of the Chronomatic watches, it is not surprising that the Chronomatic watches suffered from a variety of technical issues when they were first sold to the public. How the Caliber 11 movements were developed and improved after their introduction in 1969, to become the popular movements that powered a new generation of chronographs for Hamilton, Heuer, Breitling, Bulova, Zodiac and several other brands. We will see that while the Chronomatic partners lacked the luxury of fully developing this movement prior to its introduction, they continued to develop these movements so that they were the workhorse movements of the 1970's and continue as reliable movements, 40 years after their introduction. Caliber 11 -- The Early Problems Some of the technical problems arose with the Caliber 11 movements arose from decisions made in designing the watches; others arose from poor engineering or a lack of development of the movement, as the partnership competed to bring the first automatic chronograph onto the market. The following were among the most significant design features of the Caliber 11 movement, along with the "technical" problems which were attributable to these features: Jumping Hours. While most chronographs of the period utilized a “jumping” minute recorder (meaning that the minute needle jumped every minute) and a “creeping” hour recorder (meaning that the hour needle moved continuoously during the hour), the Caliber 11 used a jumping hour recorder as well as a jumping minute recorder. Accordingly, the hour needle "jumped" every 30 minutes, rather than moving continuously. Having both the minute and hour needles "jump" in one instant required incrementally more power than having the hour needle creep on a continuous basis. Jumping Date. The Caliber 11 was also designed so that the date disk would "jump" in a relatively short period of time (beginning at 11:45 p.m.), rather than beginning to change earlier in the evening (for example, at 10:30 p.m.). This jumping date disk also required incrementally more power than a disk that would move more gradually over the course of a longer period. Combined with the jumping minutes and hours, the movement required considerable power to "jump" the date disc in only 15 minutes between 11:45 and midnight. Banking. In order to provide the power that would be required for the Caliber 11 to operate -- with the chronograph running, the needles jumping, and the hour disk changing within a relatively short period of time -- the Caliber 11 required a strong mainspring. The mainspring used for the Caliber 11 turned out to be too strong, resulting in the problem of "banking" (or “rebanking”), meaning that the balance wheel had too much amplitude and caused the watch to run too fast. Bi-Metallic Pinion. The oscillating pinion used in the Caliber 11 movement (8086) was "bi-metallic", with a brass head on a steel shaft. (The Heuer-Breitling-Hamilton group used a bi-metallic pinion, because at the time that the Caliber 11 movement was being developed, the group did not have the ability to manufacture a one-piece, all-steel pinion). Becuase the head of the oscillating pinion engages with the chronograph runner wheel (8000) every time the chronograph is started (and disengages every time the chronograph is stopped), there were concerns that the pinion and wheel would wear out prematurely. The Caliber 11-I Movement As a result of these technical problems with the Caliber 11 movement, within a year of its introduction, the Chronomatic group (Heuer-Breitling-Hamilton) made the changes that resulted in the creation of the Caliber 11-I movement. (We are not certain, but can assume that the "I" designation indicated that the movement had been "Improved".) Changes from the original Caliber 11 to the improved Caliber 11-I included the following: . The date indicator driving wheel (jumper) (2556) was redesigned, so that the date changed more slowly. On the Caliber 11-I, the date change would begin at 10:30 p.m. and occurred over the next 90 minutes, with a "click" at midnight. . The jumper springs on the minute (8270) and hour (8705) recorders were made lighter (weaker), so that less power was required for the needles to jump each minute and each 30 minutes. . With less power required to drive the date wheel and the chronograph needles, the Caliber 11-I used a weaker mainspring than the Caliber 11. (The improved Caliber 11-I mainspring was housed in a nickel-plated barrel, whereas the Caliber 11 used a rose-colored barrel). Changes in the balance wheel also addressed the problem of "banking". . The oscillating pinion (8086) was changed from being bi-metallic (steel and brass) to solid steel. In addition, the chronograph runner wheel (8000), which mated with this pinion, was changed from brass to a nickel-silver alloy.