There's always been a lively market for collectibles in this country, including watches and, most especially, antique pocket watches. Sometimes called "vintage" (to describe it as something different from antique), whole industries are devoted to the buying and selling of these fine timekeeping pieces. Understanding vintage Hamilton pocket watches, as part of a watch collecting hobby or even business, can be a worthy effort to undertake.
These pieces, at least in the United States, were often known as "railroad watches" and some models from a couple of different American watch making companies can go for a nice sum of money, especially those made in the 1890s, when the need for an accurate watch became vital in running trains on time and in a safe manner.
This is because railroads ran their trains on a limited amount of trackage, often running trains on them on a non-stop basis and heading out on all major points of the compass. Getting an eastbound train through a switch and onto another track before the westbound train also making its way on the original track got to that same point (with disastrous results) was crucial. An engineer and a conductor needed to hit certain points on time and needed a good timekeeping system to help them do so.
And that's why these watches came into being. And some of these pieces, such as vintage Hamilton pocket watches, can have so much potential value (especially for the original models and made between 1893 and 1910). Beautifully detailed or basic, they came in a variety of styles as well.
For example, the pocket watch cases not only might have been made of a precious metal such as silver or gold (or both) but they also hearken back to an era when the big choo-choos drove the engine of American commerce for decades. They're part and parcel of a mania for collecting all things railroad, actually.
So then; by 1893 a standard for such pocket watches came to be instituted by most American railroads. Called "The General Railroad Timepiece Standards," they laid out the size of the face of the watch (it had to be open and easy to see) and also how many jewels the movement had to have ( at least 17 of them, by the way), among other criteria. Finding vintage Hamilton pocket watches that meet these standards will mean finding the most valuable of them, as a matter of fact.
Typically, expect to pay about $600.00 for a vintage (as opposed to antique) Hamilton pocket watch made in the 1940s. One that meets the old railroad standards would be a real catch, of course, and it will cost quite a bit more.
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