Hamilton reused a handful of names for different models over the years, and this is one of them. There was a Perry made in 1931, 1962, and 1948 for this model. This iteration of the Perry was, and is, popular and was made through 1952.
This watch came to me as a service request and was in pretty good shape with one exception; the crown. Luckily, the owner had already sourced a correct crown, and even a new mineral glass crystal, making my job that much easier.
Here's a close up of the crown as received. The gold plating has worn through the top edge and the 'cap' has fallen off.
With the caseback and crystal removed, the bezel looks like it will clean up nicely.
The hands are removed, protecting the dial with a piece of plastic.
Identifying the Perry is about as easy as it gets with the name stamped right in the back. There are also a few watchmaker's marks in there, indicating this watch was well loved over the years.
The movement looks clean and in good shape on the watchmaker's side. The serial number indicates it was completed in 1949, so this is one of the earlier Perry's to roll off the line in Lancaster.
The dial side is a little grungy, but shouldn't be an issue for the cleaning machine to take care of.
Before disassembly, I test the watch for basic functionality to uncover any obvious issues. For this watch, I could tell the cannon pinon was too loose because there was no resistance when setting the hands. This means that the hands might not rotate and would not show the correct time. In the shot below, you can see how the previous watchmaker tried to tighten the cannon pinon (the crimp towards the bottom of the pinon). I'll have to tighten it a bit more before reassembly.
The train of wheels is exposed with the bridges removed.
As I removed the escape wheel, it fell apart. Luckily the 982 is a such a workhorse and I have plenty in my parts horde to scavenge another escape wheel from.
A little surprising that the watch still has a blue steel mainspring. Typically if a watch has been serviced in the past, there will be a white alloy mainspring. As it is, this mainspring is set and will need to be replaced.
This NOS genuine Hamilton mainspring will do the trick.
After all the parts have been cleaned and dried, reassembly can begin.
Here is the new escape wheel.
And a bright, shinny, and clean gear train.
A close up of the escapement before the balance is installed.
The balance cock was completely disassembled prior to cleaning to make sure all of the old oil was completely removed. Reassembly can be a bit tricky to line up these very tiny screws.
Success!
Now I can get the new crown installed. As you can see, it will make a huge difference.
I had to trim another stem to accommodate the new crown.
The dial side goes back together without a hitch.
Using peg wood, I give the gold numerals a light polishing.
With a new crystal, hand polished case, and a new crown, this Perry is ready for action.