Modern metropolitan designBASELWORLD 2016: Hamilton flicks the switch for Broadway
It’s lights on Broadway for Hamilton as the watch brand known for its successful ongoing film career completes its portfolio with a sporty urban line. This resolutely 21st century show of timekeeping prowess, released at Baselworld 2016, is a tip of the hat to the brand’s American roots. It conjures up the spirit of New York’s legendary theatre district.
This is not Hamilton’s first foray in to one of the world’s most famous avenues. The brand’s first series of pocket watches, released in the 1890s, was known as the “Broadway Limited.” In 2015, Hamilton draws inspiration from New York’s city skyline to create a distinctly modern and sporty timepiece.
When the urban ethos meets the great outdoors
In this modern metropolitan design perpetuating Hamilton’s resolutely American style, Broadway offers three distinct versions: a 40 mm Day Date Quartz option, a 42 mm Day Date Automatic option and a 43 mm Auto Chrono. These automatic models feature comfortable power reserves ranging between 60 and 80 hours.
All have a unique case design and architecture that is all about taut, powerful lines. The clean, sleek black dial faces are built along vertical lines contributing to a pleasing upward-looking effect. These lines are also reprised on the decorative ring below the bezel and crown, forming a recurrent leitmotif that gives these models their unique character. This unmistakably urban ethos is further accentuated by a central line on the dial, reminiscent of the fabled New York street running between skyscrapers. This motif extends all the way along the smooth leather strap with its visible stitching, and is echoed in the contrasting finishes of the triple-row bracelet.
The raised outer black ring has skyscraper-style hands and applied indexes to create exceptional visual depth and contemporary interest. All three models also feature a red-tipped seconds hand providing a bright, breezy and eminently legible accent. The luminescent material on the hands ensures optimal readability even when not lit up by Broadway neon signs.
On-the-go weeks and action-packed weekends
Finishes on all models include Hamilton’s signature twin-faceted lugs with polished/satin-finished facets and the light play between the diamond-polished bezel around the dial and the hands. All perfectly adapted to active young men-about-town, Broadway models also display a degree of quality meeting excellent technical and aesthetic standards.
Enthusiasts can choose between the Auto Chrono option with its extra-sporty bezel tachymeter scale; the Day Date Auto with its modern 6 o‘clock calendar position providing a user-friendly display of the day of the week and the date; or the Day Date Quartz with solid back giving a cheeky nod to New York drain covers. Hamilton Broadway’s range of detail is power-packed to suit the youthful urban travelers with a taste for an outdoor, sporty existence to whom it is bound to appeal.