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Comments:
The Oxford and the Oakley are Hamilton's two rarest production models.
A
total of only 260 Oxford's were produced in both yellow and white 14K gold and
only 53 Oakley's were produced in
14K yellow gold only.
Until recently, it was commonly thought that the
Oxford and the Oakley where the same watch - the Oxford being the white
variation and the Oakley being the yellow variation of the same
model. However, recently found Hamilton records contradict
this theory.
Early Hamilton memos initially described the Oxford
as being available in 14K white gold only. However, archived
production records report the Oxford being produced in both white and yellow
14K gold and indeed, examples of each variation exist in private
collections. The same archives report that the Oakley was
available in yellow 14K gold only. Additionally, the Oxford case was made
from modified Cambridge
cases utilizing a different bezel
configuration. Cambridge cases were made by S&W and subsequently, so
were Oxford cases. Hamilton records clearly state that the Oakley
case was made by Wadsworth and indeed, it was the only 979 premium
model to utilize a Wadsworth case.
There are however, distinct
similarities between the Oxford and the Oakley that may have
contributed to the confusion. Both models were offered with a
luminous dial (#042) or an etched dial (#048) (The examples above
utilize the #042 dial configuration which was also used on the
Palisade and
Cushion "B"
models). Both utilized a three piece case construction and both
likely utilized the same bezel configuration. In addition,
both models were issued within months of each other in 1934 and
utilized parts from earlier models - the Oxford utilizing case parts
from the 1930 Cambridge and the Oakley being a re-release of an
earlier 1928 platinum presentation model.
After careful analysis of existing
records, it can now be determined that the Oakley was indeed its own
model separate and distinct from the Oxford.
