Suisse · Fondation 1892
Hamilton
Hamilton sold the first battery-powered wristwatch, the Electric 500, in 1957.
Texte éditorial en anglais.
Hamilton is a Swatch Group brand with American roots: founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892 and based in Biel/Bienne since 2003. It makes Swiss Made field, pilot and dress watches using ETA-based H-calibres, priced mostly from about 500 to 2,000 euros, and is known for the Khaki Field, the Ventura and long ties to Hollywood.
Histoire
Hamilton grew out of a chain of failed watch companies on the same Lancaster, Pennsylvania site. Investors bought the bankrupt Keystone Standard Watch Company in 1892 and named the new firm after Andrew Hamilton, the lawyer who had laid out Lancaster and owned the land. Its first watch, an 18-size 17-jewel pocket watch, followed in 1893. Railroad-grade pocket watches such as the 992, marketed as 'The Watch of Railroad Accuracy', built the reputation, and Hamilton became a leading supplier of timekeepers to American railroads.
Hamilton moved into wristwatches around the First World War. In 1942 it stopped civilian production and supplied the US forces with more than one million timepieces by 1945, along with Model 21 marine chronometers produced in series after the US Naval Observatory asked American makers to take over work previously sourced from abroad. Hamilton also timed early aviation: Admiral Byrd carried one on his 1926 polar flight, and in the 1930s it was the official watch of four major US airlines.
In 1957 Hamilton launched the Electric 500, the first battery-powered wristwatch, including the asymmetric Ventura designed by Richard Arbib, which Elvis Presley wore in Blue Hawaii (1961). The company bought Switzerland's Buren in 1966, contributed to the 1969 Chronomatic automatic chronograph project with Buren, Heuer and Breitling, and closed its Lancaster factory in 1969. In 1970 it announced the Pulsar, the first digital watch with an LED display.
SSIH, the Omega and Tissot group, bought the Hamilton brand in 1974, and it passed into what became the Swatch Group. Headquarters and production moved to Biel/Bienne in 2003. Today's range draws heavily on the archive: Khaki Field and Khaki Aviation from military watches, the Ventura and the Pulsar-derived PSR. Film work continues through custom pieces such as the 'Murph' made for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014), later sold as the Khaki Field Murph.
Dates clés
1892
Hamilton Watch Company founded
The company is formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from the bankrupt Keystone Standard Watch Company and named after Andrew Hamilton.
1893
First Hamilton watch
Hamilton completes its first watch, an 18-size, 17-jewel pocket watch.
1942
Full switch to military production
Civilian production stops; Hamilton supplies more than one million watches to the US forces and series-built marine chronometers.
1957
Electric 500 and Ventura
Hamilton introduces the first battery-powered wristwatch, including the asymmetric Ventura designed by Richard Arbib.
1969
Lancaster closes
US production ends and manufacturing shifts to Hamilton's Swiss subsidiary Buren, acquired in 1966.
1970
Pulsar LED watch
Hamilton announces the Pulsar, the first electronic digital wristwatch with an LED display.
1974
Sold to SSIH
The Hamilton brand is sold to SSIH, the Omega and Tissot group that later became part of the Swatch Group.
2003
Move to Biel/Bienne
Hamilton transfers its headquarters and production to Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
2014
Interstellar 'Murph' watch
Hamilton creates a custom watch for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar; the Khaki Field Murph goes on sale in 2019.
Trois choses que savent les collectionneurs
Named after a colonial lawyer
The company was first to be called 'Columbian', but that name was trademarked by the Waterbury Watch Company. Stockholders chose Hamilton instead, after Andrew Hamilton, who owned the land under the Lancaster factory.
Chronometers by the thousand
Hamilton adapted the Model 21 marine chronometer for series production during the Second World War. By 1970 it had built 13,086 of them, and the US Navy kept them as back-ups until 1988.
On the set of 2001
Hamilton created custom watches for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Its screen record goes back to Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich in 1932.
Modèles emblématiques
- Khaki Field Mechanical
Hand-wound field watch modelled on Hamilton's mid-century US military issue watches.
- Ventura1957
Asymmetric triangular case by Richard Arbib, launched with the Electric 500 movement.
- PSR2020
Digital watch reviving the 1970s Pulsar design, with a hybrid LCD and OLED display.
- Khaki Field Murph2019
Production version of the watch designed for Interstellar, with 'Eureka' on the seconds hand in Morse code.
Questions
- Is Hamilton an American or Swiss brand?
- Both, historically. Hamilton was founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892, but US production ended in 1969. It has belonged to the Swatch Group lineage since 1974 and has been headquartered in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, since 2003.
- Who owns Hamilton watches?
- The Swatch Group. The Hamilton brand was sold to SSIH, Omega and Tissot's holding, in 1974, and SSIH later became part of the Swatch Group.
- Are Hamilton watches Swiss Made?
- Yes. Current Hamilton watches are Swiss Made and use movements supplied by ETA, the Swatch Group's movement maker, such as the hand-wound H-50 and automatic H-10 with 80-hour power reserve.
- Which Hamilton watch was in Interstellar?
- A custom Khaki Field-style watch called the 'Murph', made for Christopher Nolan's 2014 film. Hamilton put it into production in 2019 as the Khaki Field Murph.