Impressions of a Copycat

[Ultra-Vintage]

Here are a few pics and a little info on a recent Ebay pick-up: Clinton Grand Prix Automatic

I am pretty sure that everyone here can clearly see what the watch is styled like, it is pretty blatant.  The dial and bezel are a direct rip-off of the Seawolf. 

Some reasons I bought it:
1. The dial and hands are practically mint (although it is hard to see under the crappy crystal), and the luminous has aged perfectly and is entirely intact.  The red date looks nice with it as well.
2. I like the arrow hour hand, and I have never seen a seconds hand like this one.  There are plenty of sport/dive watches with a "lollipop" seconds hand, where the circle is part of the way out on the length of the seconds hand.  However, this one has the circle at the very end of the seconds hand, gliding just under the curve of the crystal.
3. It is pretty uncommon in regards to Clinton watches.  For one, it is an all stainless case.  Most Clinton's you find are either gold plated, or base metal.  Additionally, it is a nice looking style, where most Clinton's range from sort of blah looking to cheesy/ugly.  Also, it is Swiss made.  Up until the 1950's most Clintons were Swiss, but from the 60's on you will find very few of them from Switzerland, but quite a few from France, Germany, and other places.
4. Total with shipping and all was under $70.  You can find those lowly jeweled garbage movement base metal Swiss watches from the 60s/70s in this price range, but not a real quality made Swiss movement (more about the movement later) in a stainless case. A cool looking all stainless Swiss made automatic dive watch with a quality movement for under $70----SOLD!
5. Most of all......It looks like a Seawolf!

Now for the watch itself:
1. It measures 35.3mm X 45.8mm not including the crown (very close to the Seawolf's 34.7mm X 42.8mm)
2. The case is all stainless, including the bezel.  So no bezel wear-thru to worry about.
3. As I mentioned, the dial and hands are just like I like them.  So no issues there.
4. Is an easy to seal scew-back.
5. Caseback is marked 100% Waterproof, and by the looks of that caseback gasket they sure meant it to be.  Although it doesnt have a screw-down crown (which really became an industry standard for dive watches shortly after this one would have been made), that may be the biggest gasket I have seen in a dive watch of this level.
6. One of the best aspects of this watch is the movement: the ETA 2472.  I had a suspicion that this watch had a decent movement along this line, even though there were no pics of the movement in the listing (and I could see why once I received the watch as the caseback was sealed down super tight and hard to get off even for me).  The 2472 is a great vintage auto movement, easy to work on and of nice quality.  It was a staple of the dive watches from this era, and is present in quite few of the super compressor dive watches and other really collectible models.  The caseback and movement are marked "Hampden Watch Corp", which may cause a little distress when considering that the watch is supposed to be a Clinton.  However, when looking up Clinton's odd history (of which there is very little to be found on the web), they bought the rights to the Hampden name shortly before this watch would have been made.  So, they used that name on many of the watches they made whether the dials were marked Hampden or Clinton.

Now to restore this watch:
1. Movement is running, but needs serviced.
2. Case is overall in pretty decent condition, although has some marks and scratches as to be expected on a vintage sport/dress watch as these watches were bought to be used and worn.  So it needs a little work and a brighten.
3. Crystal is pretty worn and needs a new acrylic one.  Unsure if I will replace it with one using a date magnifier or not, they are not my favorite style (personal preference obviously, could be done either way).
3. Crown is shot. The original one (probably unmarked) was replaced at some time with a crappy base metal crown that is now falling apart.
4. The bezel needs to be re-blacked and re-lumed.  When looking at it with a loupe, it appears that the arrow and numbers were originally filled with luminous, and the slashes were filled in with black.  I will restore it the same way, with vintage lume in the numbers.

I will post pics of the restored watch once it is finished, it should turn out nicely 

[Butch]

Nice! Does the bezel actually rotate so the diver could set it?

[Ultra-Vintage]

Nice! Does the bezel actually rotate so the diver could set it?

It does.  The bezel is fastened to the case in a manner very similar to the Acrylic bezeled Seawolf, and turns bi-directionally as well.  It was not designed with the extra parts that allow it to click (that came later for most dive watches), but has nice tension and can be set and will keep position. 

[zaniac]

Nice find! I have seen several Clintons on ebay that look like the Sea Wolf and had often wondered about them. History, where made, quality, etc. Congratulations on a cheap price and for answering my questions.

[jon p]

    UV----NICE FIND! that is uncanny that it looks SO MUCH like a sw. without a close look i would think thats what it is. cant wait to see it restored, dial looks really good and those hands are wild looking. a few clintons i have seen were all base metal with no jewel/one jewel movements! this is a "rare" one.