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Production
Date: 1922 - 1926
Price When New: $50.00
Case: Silver
Case Manufacturer: Wadsworth
Production for this Variation: With the 986A movement -
2,588
Movement:
986 - 17-jewel Movement
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Comments:
This is the second of three major Cushion designs - the first being
the "Wire Lugged" Cushion containing the 983 movement and the third
being the "Cushion Form Opening" which was introduced in 1926. Of
the three cushion designs, this model is commonly thought of as
Hamilton's first wrist watch for men, however, the "Wire Lugged"
Cushion manufactured in 1917 holds that distinction. In fact, the
Wire Lugged Cushion was advertised as a men's "wrist watch" in the
1920 Hamilton Catalog - two years before the introduction of the 986
Cushion.
This is a silver version of the
classic Hamilton Cushion and the case lug design differs slightly
from the gold and gold-filled manufactured Cushions of the same
period. This silver Cushion which utilizes the 986 movement sold
for $50 when introduced and is one of the more scarce of the several
metals utilized with only 2,588 having been issued. Silver is an
uncommon metal for the construction of a watch case and accordingly,
silver was not commonly used by Hamilton. The other silver cased
Hamiltons made were the Cushion 0-Sized Wire Lug circa 1917, the Cushion
"Form Opening" circa 1926, the Barrel circa 1927, the Greeley
(Clinton) in 1932 and the Grant in 1933.
The Cushion was sold in solid yellow,
white and green 14K gold.
10K gold-filled Cushions exist however
they were reissued during the 1940s utilizing inventoried
movements.
This model was one of six
geometrically shaped wristwatches that were popular up
until the late 1920's. Hamilton's
"Geometric" offerings
spanned ten years - beginning in 1917 with the
0-sized Cushion and ending in 1927 with the Oval.
Included in the geometric models are the Cushion
(0-sized, Cushion Round and Cushion Form Opening), the
Square, Barrel, Tonneau, Rectangular, and Oval.
