With the famed Buren Micro-rotor automatic movement, this 18k gold Hamilton Intra-Matic would have been top of the range.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Buren launched this movement in 1962, but the company were bought by Hamilton in 1966 so this watch can not pre date then. By 1971 Buren had returned to Swiss ownership, so we only have a five year window when this could have been made.
CONDITION
When you think of modern watches that use micro rotor movements, they tend to be very high end – Patek Philippe, Piaget and Bulgari in their Octo Finissimo. The big advantage is that you have the benefit of automatic winding but the slimness of a manual wind watch – the automatic rotor is built into the watch movement rather than a full size rotor bolted on the back (hence the name Intra-Matic – integrated automatic). The downside is you have less mass to turn, so they are not as efficient. The brands mentioned before get around this by using heavy precious metals for the rotor, but this Hamilton Intra-Matic saves the precious metal for the case. Although the movement is marked as a Hamilton 92 it is a rebadged Buren 1281, with 30 jewels and semi quick set date. It shows how interconnected the two merged companies became – Hamilton actually closed their American workshops and moved production of all their watches to Buren’s Swiss factories. The dial has a few marks, especially around the centre. The gold case is good and has lugs that require female spring bars – the choice of straps is the same, but the spring bar is different. The leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
This watch has been checked against the Watch Register and has not been reported as lost, stolen or implicated in fraud, and a copy of that certificate will also be included.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 35.6 mm
Width without crown 33.7 mm
Between lugs 18 mm (17mm strap fitted to clear the female spring bars)
Lug to lug length 37.7 mm
Case Thickness 8.4 mm
All sizes are approximate. The watch is photographed on a wrist of 190mm/7.5 inches.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.