Hamilton

History

Founded in 1892 on the purchase of the failed Keystone Standard Watch Company, it made its first watch — a pocket watch, size 18, 17 jewels — in 1893. By the early twentieth century it dominated the American railroad watch market under the motto "Watch of Railroad Accuracy". In 1917 it launched its first wristwatch, popular with soldiers in the First World War. During the Second World War it halted civilian production for the war effort, building Model 21 marine chronometers for the US Navy. In 1957 it presented the Ventura, the world's first electric wristwatch (calibre Electric 500), with its unmistakable shield-shaped triangular case. In 1969 it closed the Lancaster factory for good and moved production to Switzerland (the Buren plant, bought in 1966); in 1974 the brand passed to SSIH, today part of the Swatch Group, based in Bienne.

Iconic models

• Ventura

  The 1957 shield-shaped triangular case; the world's first electric watch, worn by Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii (1961) and by the agents of Men in Black.

• Khaki Field

  A military tool watch descended directly from the field watches Hamilton built for the US Army; the 38 mm Khaki Field Mechanical is the version closest to the original.

• Boulton

  An Art Deco rectangular case from the forties, emblem of the era when watches were not round; today a pillar of the American Classic collection.

• Pan Europ

  A vintage-reissue sports chronograph with roots in 1971, which popularised the long-reserve H-31 automatic movement.

• Broadway Limited

  The house's first series of pocket watches, the foundation of its reputation for railroad accuracy.