Hamilton produced the Ross from 1939 through 1946. It was, and still is, a popular model with several case materials and dial variations offered through the years. This example came to me in just about as pristine condition as could be hoped for. It was the gilt and coral dial with the 14k yellow gold filled case.
Removing the bezel and banged up crystal, the stunning dial is revealed.
The movement is very clean, which is not all that surprising. Given the state of the dial, it wouldn't be surprising if this watch spent a majority of the past 80 years in a drawer.
A consequence of this Ross not having been serviced is the blue steel mainspring is still in place. These mainsprings will 'set' and lose much of their power reserve over time. You can see just how tightly the steel mainspring is laying on the bench. I'll replace it with a genuine NOS Hamilton white allow mainspring.
The new mainspring wound up in the mainspring winder and ready to be installed into the barrel.
Reassembling the 982 movement is a joy. It's an extremely straight forward, time only movement.
Now I can work on replacing the mineral glass crystal with a new one.
Since the crystal is glass, I'll need to use a UV curing glue. This stuff is fantastic, but doesn't smell great before it's cured under a UV lamp.
The blued hands are reinstalled onto the movement and everything is cased back up.
And this Ross is ready to come out of its drawer and get the wrist time it deserves!
