Aqua-Date
1966–1970 · Stainless Steel · Automatic
About the Aqua-Date
Part of Hamilton's Dateline family, the Aqua-Date was produced from 1966 through 1970 as a purpose-built dive watch with genuine utility credentials. Hamilton marketed it as a Calendar Skindiver rated waterproof to 600 feet, and it backed that up with a stainless steel case, a rotating elapsed time bezel, and a date complication. Two calibers ran through its production run: the 694A and the 64A, both 17-jewel automatics, with some examples carrying the upgraded 21-jewel version.
Finding a clean example requires patience. The elapsed time bezel insert is a common casualty on dive watches that actually saw water, and faded or damaged inserts are hard to replace correctly. The silver dial with raised gold markers holds up well when it has been kept dry, but look closely at the date window surround and any printing around the dial edge, as these areas tend to show age first on this model.
From the Catalog
Hamilton positioned the Aqua-Date squarely as a working diver's tool, advertising it as a Calendar Skindiver with stainless steel construction, waterproof to 600 feet, and an elapsed time indicator. At introduction in 1966, it retailed for $99.50 on a strap or $115 on a bracelet, which was serious money for a production dive watch at the time.
Hamilton Catalog Images
1966
1968
1970
What to Look For
| Dial | Check the condition of the date window and any printed text around the dial edge. The raised gold hour markers are relatively robust, but look for any that have shifted or come loose at the edges. Silver dials on dive watches can develop moisture-related spotting if the case seal ever failed. |
| Crystal | Confirm the crystal is correct for the model and free of deep scratches. Replacement crystals for vintage dive watches are not always easy to source in the right profile, and a poor-fitting crystal on a watch rated to 600 feet is a problem worth taking seriously. |
| Movement | Oil dries out, and a movement this age running on original lubricants will eventually generate enough friction to stop the watch or damage the parts it was meant to protect. If the watch needs to be hand-wound to keep running rather than staying wound from wrist motion, treat that as a clear sign it needs service. The date complication also contains small spring-loaded components that are easy to lose during a disassembly, so make sure any service is done by someone familiar with the caliber. |
| Case | Look at the case back seal groove and the crown tube for any signs of corrosion, which can indicate past water intrusion. The swept lugs are prone to thinning from polishing, so check that the lug profile still looks intentional rather than rounded off. |
| Crown | The Aqua-Date uses a two-piece stem design where the stem is meant to separate so the crown can be removed without opening the case. That means a crown that feels loose or pulls away too easily is not necessarily broken, but it should be inspected to confirm the stem is properly seated and the crown-to-case seal is intact. |
The Movement
The 694A and 64A are Hamilton automatic calibers from the mid-1960s, available in both 17-jewel and 21-jewel configurations. Both are self-winding movements that build power reserve from normal wrist motion, with a date complication that advances at midnight. The 21-jewel variant adds jeweling in the rotor assembly to reduce wear at higher-friction bearing points.