Hamilton Watches: a short history
Hamilton Watches have a long history, with a close association with America, although manufacturing has been done outside of the USA for some time. As a company it has been in many mergers and acquired by a number of companies and is today part of the Swatch Group. It’s quality has always been high. It’s a personal favourite of mine.
In 1892 the Keystone Standard Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania went bankrupt and was purchased by the Hamilton Watch Company. The company was named after Andrew Hamilton, a Scottish born lawyer who originally owned the site of the Hamilton factory in Lancaster during the previous century.
The company expanded rapidly thanks to the boom in the railroad business, where Hamilton supplied more than 50% of all the pocket watches used by the rail companies. The watches were marketed as as the “Watch of Railroad Accuracy”.
In 1914, the first World War meant that all troops needed accurate watches and as pocket watches were unsuitable for soldiers crawling and lying in trenches, Hamilton switched production to wristwatches and became supplier to the US Armed Forces. During WW2, all consumer production was halted while Hamilton produced more than one million watches for the military. Hamilton also supplied the US Navy and some of the other allied armies.
In 1957 Hamilton made the World’s first electric watch, the Hamilton Electric 500. The watch sold in various case shapes, including the triangular shaped Ventura which was worn by Elvis Presley in the film Blue Hawaii. As the electric watches were being more popular Hamilton faced increased competition from Japan and even outsourced some of the work to Japan. This period marked the beginning of the end of US manufacturing operations and in 1969 the Lancaster factory closed and manufacturing moved to the Buren factory in Switzerland.
In 1970 Hamilton had another first – the first LED digital watch.
In 1971, the Omega & Tissot Holding Company Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) purchased the Hamilton brand. With further corporate shifting, Hamilton became part of the Swatch Group in 1984.
Today, Hamilton still talks about its American Spirit. You can see Hamilton watches being worn in many films like as in The Martian. These watches (as new) are in the £400 to £2000+ range so are reasonably affordable (see the Amazon UK Hamilton Watch page). Some of the older models are even cheaper
eBay USA
On eBay UK: | Hamilton PSR Digital Watch, Out of the box condition. £ 499.99 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Swiss Watch £ 300.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field £ 305.90 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition 37mm £ 700.00 |
 | Hamilton murph 38mm field watch with extra strap and bracelet £ 700.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Men's Black Watch - H684811 £ 320.00 |
 | Hamilton murph 42mm khaki field watch interstellar £ 650.00 |
 | Hamilton American Classic Boulton Small Second Hand Quartz. Pristine Condition. £ 375.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Day-Date auto- Used- Box & Papers. £ 650.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field blue Automatic £ 320.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Watch Blue H76419941 New £790 £ 475.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical White £ 350.00 |
 | Mens Vintage 1940s Hamilton Mechanical Cal. 982 19J, 14K Gold Filled Watch Runs £ 150.00 |
 | Men’s Hamilton Khaki Chronograph Red Bull AIR RACE H767120 Watch Swiss Made £ 354.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm - manual H69439531 £ 313.65 |
 | hamilton khaki Pilot H647150 Edition Automatic £ 360.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field 40mm Quartz Black H68551933 - Near Mint Condition £ 315.00 |
 | Vintage Hamilton 17 Jewel Watch. Circa 1964. Professionally serviced. £ 220.00 |
 | Limited edition Hamilton Farcry 6 watch £ 800.00 |
 | New Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38 mm ST Steel Black Dial Men's Watch H70405130 £ 700.00 |
 | HAMILTON KHAKI FIELD MANUAL WIND BRACELET 38MM £ 350.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Black Dial 42mm Mens Watch H69529933 £ 385.00 |
 | Hamilton American Classic Men's Watch - H52414130 £ 525.00 |
 | Hamilton Intra-Matic Automatic Mens Watch £ 220.00 |
 | Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic Automatic H32515555 Swiss Made RRP £740 £ 375.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic 42mm- H70555533. Original box and tags. £ 440.00 |
 | Hamilton Intra-Matic Mechanical Chronograph (H38429730) - Reverse Panda Dial £ 1,000.00 |
 | Hamilton Piping Rock Registered Edition Quartz Men’s Watch w/ Box & Papers £ 399.00 |
 | Hamilton Ventura Black Watch - H242112 £ 445.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Aviation X-Wind Men's Black Watch - H77616533 £ 849.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba Auto Blue Men's Watch - H82345141 £ 550.00 |
 | SUPERB & RARE HAMILTON '6172 AMERICAN CLASSIC' REGISTERED EDITION GENTS WATCH. £ 249.99 |
 | hamilton khaki navy scuba automatic men's watch £ 520.00 |
 | hamilton american classic intra-matric RRP £920 £ 500.00 |
 | Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic Auto 40mm H32515535 £ 350.00 |
 | Hamilton Ventura Men's Black Watch - H242112 £ 550.00 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field £ 216.73 |
 | Hamilton Khaki Field Men's Black Watch with Silver Stainless Steel Band -... £ 499.00 |
![▶[N MINT in BOX] HAMILTON JAZZMASTER H375120 Chronograph Men](https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/XD4AAOSwS3pmDQSm/s-l140.jpg) | ▶[N MINT in BOX] HAMILTON JAZZMASTER H375120 Chronograph Men's Quartz Watch T28 £ 329.99 |
 | Vintage Military Hamilton Khaki 33Mm Quartz Watch - back plate with 'Hamilton, £ 159.00 |
