Medwick
1939 · 10k Yellow Gold Filled · Manual Wind
About the Medwick
Made only in 1939, the Medwick is a rectangular 10K yellow Gold Filled dress watch powered by Hamilton's caliber 987A. It was offered in two dial configurations from the start: an applied gold numeral dial and a black enamel numeral dial, giving buyers a choice between a brighter, more formal look and something with a bit more contrast and depth. The Medwick shares its DNA with a handful of other rectangular models from the same year, including the Bowman, Sutton, Dodson, Bentley, and Contour, all part of Hamilton's late-1930s push to offer refined dress watches at accessible price points.
The black enamel dial version tends to be the one that turns up more often, and condition on that dial matters considerably since enamel can chip or craze with age. Applied gold numerals on the silver dial variant are worth examining closely under good light for any that have separated, detached, or gone missing, as replacements are essentially impossible to match perfectly. Either version in clean, unpolished condition with a sharp case is genuinely hard to find at this point.
From the Catalog
Hamilton's 1939 catalog listed the Medwick at $40 with the applied gold numeral dial and $37.50 with the black enamel numeral dial, both in 10K natural gold-filled cases with 17-jewel movements. The two-dollar-fifty price difference reflected the materials cost of the applied gold numerals rather than any difference in the movement or case construction.
Hamilton Catalog Images
1939
What to Look For
| Dial | On the silver dial version, check each applied gold numeral carefully for separation or loss. On the black enamel dial, look for chipping, crazing, or hairline cracks in the enamel surface. Either issue is difficult or impossible to correct without a replacement dial, which is scarce. |
| Crystal | The top and bottom edges of the crystal opening on rectangular gold-filled cases like this one are classic wear-through zones. Examine those spots carefully before assuming the case is solid gold-filled throughout. |
| Movement | Ask whether the watch has been serviced recently. At this age, dried lubricants create enough friction to stop the caliber 987A even if it appears to run. A watch that ticks intermittently or stops when position changes is almost certainly overdue for a full service. |
| Case | Beyond the crystal edges, check the corners near where the lugs join the case body. Those areas wear through first on 10K gold-filled cases and are a reliable indicator of how hard this watch was used. Light wear there is normal; worn through to base metal is a different conversation. |
| Crown | Make sure the crown winds smoothly without slipping and sets the hands cleanly. A worn crown or damaged stem can be replaced, but it is worth factoring into the overall condition picture. |
The Movement
The caliber 987A is a 17-jewel manual wind movement that Hamilton produced in significant numbers through the late 1930s and into the 1940s. It is a reliable, well-constructed movement for its era, though no caliber of this age should be expected to run well without fresh lubricants and a proper service. The 987A includes a subseconds dial at 6 o'clock, which is visible on the Medwick dial as a small running seconds register.