Hamilton Watches

Initially manufactured to provide the country’s railroads with reliable timing devices, Hamilton railroad pocket watches were adopted as the official watch of the American Expeditionary Forces worldwide. A wrist watch version of the railroad watch was issued to General Pershing and his “doughboys” in WWI, accompanied Admiral Byrd on his expeditions to the North and South Poles, served the Picards well on their first balloon ascent into the stratosphere, and was on the wrist of the first American to scale Mount Everest.

In the period between the wars, Hamilton stylishly re-designed the conventional watch case going beyond traditional round shapes and introducing dramatic lines featuring asymmetrical, square, and triangular cases. Aside from the classic designs of the era such as the Ardmore, Benton, Boutlon, Cabot, Contour and Wilshire models, now faithfully re-created in Hamilton’s American Classics collection, the company also became known for producing fashionable, decorative watches for women.

Other notable Hamilton innovations which forever altered watch technology included: the development of a revolutionary temperature-compensating hairspring alloy which resulted in much improved timekeeping accuracy; the introduction of the world’s first “electric” wrist watch powered by a small battery; and the introduction of “Pulsar”, the world’s first electronic watch.

Today, Hamilton’s primary collections include the American Classics collection (mentioned above) and the Khaki collection — updated versions of the legendary military timepieces of yesteryear. These durable sport watches for both men and women include models designed to withstand the pressures of deep-sea dives, the hazards of mountain climbing, and provide reliable, precise performance under extreme conditions.