![]() ![]() One of the Coin watches was acquired by Andy Warhol, and remained in the Warhol collection until early in the 1990s. (Corum currently offers $50 gold or $1 silver coin options.) To achieve this, the coin itself is actually sliced into two approximate halves, in which the watch mechanism is placed. The Corum Double Eagle Gold Coin Watch is crafted using actual 22 karat gold coins the dial is formed by the back, or tail, of a vintage $20 gold Double Eagle or $10 Liberty coin, while the caseback is fashioned with the face. That is some kind of popular culture clout in the brand’s history of watchmaking, which itself dates back to 1955. But the Warhol Collection Corum Coin watch is a class apart.Ĭorum’s famous Coin watch was worn by six recent United States presidents: Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush (H.W.). Some are predictably more valuable than others. Yes, there is a Campbell’s Soup can watch, but there are also: a banana style, from a Velvet Underground and Nico album a Marilyn Monroe the Playboy rabbit and a vast array of what collectors call Factory watches. I think it's a very interesting and special watch and as such I reserve wearing mine for only the special-est of occasions.The designs of Andy Warhol have been lent to many watches. I think it's a somewhat polarizing design as people either really like it or they think it's really ugly. The Coin is also noteworthy in that there is no second hand - one of only a handful of models to not have a second hand. I think they used what was available as you'll find both hands on 14K or the gold filled cases. You'll find that some watches have pointex or alpha style hands and some have straight baton style hands. The coin is a fairly large watch by vintage standards. This example is extra nice, with excellent rolled gold-plate case with no wear, and perfect original dial." (quoted from ). It is very much a watch of its time - a bit garish but certainly an eye-grabber! As a collectable it is one of the most sought-after of all Hamiltons because of its extreme rarity. The dial is embossed to resemble a gold coin, and the edge of the case is reeded like a coin. ![]() The style is obviously copied after the Corum gold coin watches that were popular at the time. That still puts this watch among the very rarest of all Hamiltons ever made. I think there were probably 150-250 in rolled gold-plate and 50-100 in gold, based on surviving examples. However, based on my own experience, I believe these figures are too low. According to Paul Frankenfeld, a production manager at Hamilton at the time, only 50-75 were made in RGP, and 10-15 in 14K gold. It was produced in both rolled gold-plate, as this example, and in 14K solid gold. ![]() It was never cataloged and very few were made. Hamilton used the last remaining stocks of the superlative grade 770 movement with 22 jewels to complete this very interesting and rare watch. It was produced in 1969 just after all production of movements was shut down at Hamilton's Lancaster, PA factory in January 1969. This is one of the most unusual as well as one of the most historic of Hamilton watches. Here's what noted Hamilton-expert René Rondeau once wrote about the Coin watch when he had one for sale. ![]() It was not catalogued and a very scarce few were made. The last watch to be made by Hamilton with an American-made movement in an American-made case was the Coin, sometimes called the Liberty Coin. Hamilton still had a presence in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but certainly the end of an era was marked at this time. In 1969, the Hamilton Watch company was purchased by the Swatch Group and ceased to be "an American watch company". ![]()
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