With Baselworld 2015 just over two weeks away, Hamilton Watch Co. has released news and photos on two new models it will launch at the world’s biggest Breitling Replica Chronomat Evolution Watches fair: the Hamilton Ventura Elvis80, in honor of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s 80th birthday; and the Hamilton Chrono Worldtimer, an aviator-friendly new world-time watch.
Elvis Presley — who would have turned 80 years old this year, on January 8 — famously wore a Hamilton Ventura watch in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii. Afterward, that timepiece, which was introduced in 1957 as the world’s first “electric Replica Breitling Emergency Watches” and distinguished by its avant-garde triangular case, became widely known as the “Elvis watch.” Hamilton’s new version of the Ventura embraces its connection with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and even includes a nod to the 80th-birthday motif: Hamilton has outfitted it with the recently introduced Hamilton H-10 movement, which carries an estimable power reserve of 80 hours.
The Hamilton Ventura Elvis80 carries all of the classic Ventura design codes, including a steeply sloped sapphire crystal (with a nonreflective coating) and curved dial and a curvaceous, shield-shaped case that flows seamlessly into the strap, which is offered in black rubber or leather. The black PVD-treated steel case measures 42.5 mm x 44.6 mm and boasts an array of smooth brushed and polished surfaces. Hamilton’s trademark orange color is used for the central seconds hand and the minute markers on the dial from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock. A series of parallel, triangular lines surrounds the central dial, adding a sense of depth; a window at 3 o’clock displays the date. The nickeled hour and minute hands are treated with white Super-LumiNova and the winding crown has an engraved pattern.
The automatic version of the Hamilton Ventura Elvis80, powered by the H-10 movement and featuring a black PVD case, is pictured below; there is also a version with a quartz caliber, with a stainless steel case and available on either leather, rubber, or steel bracelet. According to Hamilton, the price will start around $1,o45 for the quartz version and $1,495 for the automatic.
The Hamilton Chrono Worldtimer features the design input of champion aerobatic stunt pilot (and Hamilton brand ambassador) Nicolas Ivanoff and is intended, according to Hamilton, as a Breitling Replica Chronospace Watches “on the radar screen of pilots and other individuals with broad horizons.” It contains a brand-new quartz chronograph movement, Caliber H-41, which can instantly switch between chronograph and world-timer mode and automatically adjusts for daylight savings times across the world’s 24 major time zones. The chronograph function itself is specifically tailored to aerobatic pilots, with a central counter spanning just 12 minutes and yellow markers to indicate the first four — the latter representing the maximum length of an aerobatic freestyle program in competition, with a penalty applied if this interval is exceeded. To change to world-time mode, the wearer simply presses the pusher at 10 o’clock, after which he can use bidirectional adjustment to calculate the time in the current time zone (along with day/night indication), as indicated by the 24 world cities printed on the outer ring. A brief press of the same pusher will display the current Coordinate Universal Time (UTC).
The Chrono Worldtimer has a big, 45-mm-diameter stainless steel case, water-resistant to 100 meters, with a nonreflective sapphire crystal and black dial. It comes on a steel bracelet as well as a black rubber strap (both versions pictured below) or a black leather strap with stitching. Prices for the Hamilton Chrono Worldtimer are expected to range from $1,245 to $1,295, with final pricing to be revealed at Baselworld 2015.
