Made from 1962 through 1967, the Hamilton Sea Rover II comes with a Swiss made Hamilton caliber 688 manual wind movement. This is a popular model and it's not hard to see why; it's a classic, and classy, thin stainless steel watch from the early 1960's.
This example hit my bench in decent shape. On initial inspection, there was no major defects so I have high hopes at this point.
Nothing like a little arm cheese to clean up.
This is a monocoque, or one-piece, stainless steel case so in order to remove the movement, the crystal needs to be lifted away and the crown needs to be separated from the stem.
Here's a good look at the male half of the split stem. This crown post fits into the female half of the stem that is still in the movement.
And here the crystal is being removed using a crystal lift. The teeth of this tool squeeze the acrylic crystal uniformly, allowing it to be lifted away from the case.
This is a good look at the simple elegance of the one-piece case with the dial and movement removed.
The train of wheels on a time only manual wind watch is about as simple as it gets. Technically, the center sweep seconds hand is a complication, but I adore the genius engineering of these movements.
The crystal was beat up a but, but well worth saving. First I sand it down to get rid of the deeper scratches and gouges.
Then I can take it to a buff and plastic polish to polish the acrylic clean and clear.
And with freshly relumed hands and dial, and everything put back together, the true character of this watch comes through.
