Hamilton's Long Hollywood History

	The Khaki Automatic X-Wind
	The Odyssey X-01

Few watch companies in the world can claim such a storied relationship with Hollywood as Hamilton, whose timepieces made their movie debut in the 1951 Oscar-nominated film The Frogmen. In that movie, actors playing Navy divers were equipped with the same model Hamilton watch (the Khaki) as American soldiers wore during WWII.

Ever since The Frogmen, the brand’s distinctive watches have appeared in more than 400 movies, including 1961’s Blue Hawaii, in which Elvis Presley wore the iconic Ventura watch. Thirty-six years later, Will Smith wore an updated version of the Ventura in the 1997 hit Men in Black. And like The Frogmen, a host of movies have utilized watches from Hamilton’s Khaki collection: The Khaki King Automatic Chrono appeared in Green Lantern; the Khaki BelowZero in Predators; and in the recently released Abduction, Taylor Lautner wears the Khaki Field Automatic.

"Our love story [with the music industry] started 60 years ago, but now we have a special relationship with Hollywood and all the people behind the scenes, too,” says Hamilton International’s president Sylvain Dolla.

Movie Magic, Hamilton-Style
That synergy is never more evident than when Hamilton creates unique pieces for films. For 2001: A Space Odyssey, a futuristic concept watch was developed at the request of producer-director Stanley Kubrick. Similarly, Hamilton created a special watch for Will Smith to wear in I Am Legend that depicted sunrise and sunset times in New York City, to go along with the film’s vampire theme. “We invest in technology and design for films because it is a challenge, and it gives us a chance to be innovative and creative,” says Dolla.

After so much glamour on the silver screen, Hamilton decided to acknowledge the off-screen heroes who contribute to making movies successful with the Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards (which took place this year November 6 at The Conga Room). Leading actors and actresses hand out awards to top directors, producers, screenwriters, designers, film editors, costume designers, prop and special-effects masters, cinematographers, and stunt choreographers. “We don’t think of it as product marketing,” says Dolla. “To us, it is a partnership. We are creating watches for talented people, and Hollywood’s glamour has global appeal.