HAMILTON MOUNTED CHRONOMETER WATCH, MODEL 22 excellent condition; original box. As the Second World War loomed, the United States realised that its navy was going to need a great many chronometers. The United States scarcely had a chronometer industry, and such as were made used parts imported from overseas, mainly from Great Britain. However, the belligerents had no spare capacity to produce chronometers for others, and Switzerland, the other main maker of chronometers apart from Germ...any and Britain, was in a difficult position: their German neighbour in effect forbade them to sell chronometers to the Allies. The Hamilton Watch Company stepped up to the mark and began delivery of their Model 21 box chronometer with detent escapement in April 1942; By the end of the war, they had delivered nearly 9000 of these very fine instruments. However there was also a great shortage of deck watches, both for larger ships for transferring time from the box chronometer(s) and for small vessels where a chronometer-rated watch had to serve as the principal timekeeper. The Hamilton watch company began delivery of their Model 22 watch in June 1942. By war’s end, 13, 531 gimballed watches and 9780 non-gimballed watchers had been delivered. The non-gimballed watch was in the form of a large pocket watch in a rectangular padded wooden case, while the gimballed watch was contained in a small three-part cubical case, like the M21 chronometer’s but smaller at about 51/2 inches on side. A total of 9, 780 non-gimballed (Figure 1) and 13, 531 gimballed watches (Figure 2) were made.