It's The '60s Gentlemen, Synchronize - Watchismo Vintage Watches featured in The New York Times

CREATIVE TICKS Clockwise from top left: Vacheron Constantin Quai de I’lle in rose gold, $31,500; Hamilton Ventura Chrono, $695; Glashütte Senator Sixties in rose gold, $12,800; 1968 Wittnauer Sector Futurama Double Retrograde with original box, $2,500 at watchismo.com; 1961 Hamilton Electric Vega, $2,800 at watchismo.com.

By DAVID COLMAN
The New York Times

Published: May 6, 2009

OUR grasp of time is tenuous at best, from trying to really “get” relativity to fretting over those lost years when we never managed to write that novel. Is it any wonder we want time to comfort instead of alarm?

Perhaps this explains the happy solace so many men find in the AMC drama “Mad Men,” that window into the crazily optimistic postwar world, when cigarettes, steak and three-martini lunches were the fuel an adman needed to dream up such sterling slogans as “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking” (coined for Timex in 1956).

That spirit is there in the period’s watches, too. In the late ’50s, the playfulness at work in car and furniture design hit the gentlemanly watch world. In 1957, Hamilton introduced asymmetrical electric watches, and the line — especially the triangular Ventura — was an instant hit.

Now, luckily for those of us who don’t smoke or get lit at lunch but who think of the “Mad Men” lifestyle with fondness, the look is a hit again. Crazily inventive ’60s timepieces are among the best sellers at watchismo.com, a vintage-watch site. And Hamilton’s president, Matthias Breschan, reports that the company’s new take on the Ventura is selling better than its most high-tech models.

The look can also be found at the top of the Swiss-watch heap. Glashütte’s Senator Sixties model recalls President Kennedy’s stylish merger of stateliness and modernity. Vacheron Constantin’s latest release, the amazing Quai de I’lle, works a host of features, like a calendar dial, into a face worthy of Sean Connery’s James Bond.

Even better, these clever watches betray their value to only the most discerning eye — no diamond bezels here. But say: maybe in 2059, those will make a comeback, too.

Original Story link at The New York Times

Related Posts on The Watchismo Times;
All Vintage Watch Features

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Time for a Woody - Wood Watches Over Time (1590-2009)

No, not that Woody.

A visual tour of wristwatches made of wood watches from 1590 to 2009.


One of the first wood watches I ever featured at The Watchismo Times, a 1960s Swank, reminiscent of the George Nelson clocks of the time.

Also previously featured, the incredibly rare Bronnikov all-wood (and bone) watches of the mid-nineteenth century. Even the movements were made of wood! --> LINK

The wood movement

And reaching as far back as I can, here is a portable sundial made of wood from 1590 which also doubled as a gun powder flask and compass --> LINK

Back in the USSR! This wood cased Raketa watch from an amazing collection of Russian watches --> LINK


LIP, mostly known for the super-cool watches of the seventies has a very wide array of other unusual watches like this 60's sterling silver bracelet watch with wood dial and curved inlaid wood strips in the bracelet.

And some of Richard Arbib's very rare wood dialed Hamilton Electric watches from the 1950s and 60s. Above is the Flight II prototype.

The classic design of the Hamilton Ventura also had a prototype with a wood face. Courtesy of Rene Rondeau.

And an collection of wood dial Hamilton Sherwood with automatic movements. These did make it to production in the 60s but are quite scarce.

More styles of Sherwoods

Original Sherwood strap with inlaid wood

A vintage Bulova Accutron with wood bezel
(All Accutron Posts-->LINK)

An unusual vintage Jowissa wood cased watch

The brand new limited edition Quiksilver Ray watch, an eco-friendly concept watch with a case and bracelet made of solid ebony and using a "Green" non-battery automatic mechanical movement.

More about The Ray --> LINK


The Nixon Rotolog, a modern interpretation of the LIP Baschmakoff Jump Hour of the early seventies but now with a interior light and an entire series made with all types of wood including bamboo and teak (shown above)

Nixon Rotolog collection --> LINK

One of my favorite modern watches using wood, the Nixon Murf featuring wood veneers cover the top half of the face and two discs for hours and minutes below. Eacy style has a different color light for the dial by pressing the big horizontal crowns. And one of it's truly unique features is the way the time is changed, you unscrew the top crown, and then press down to electrically forward the discs. It looks like a Bang & Olufsen stere turntable!

Nixon Murf collection --> LINK


A pair of swanky ladies watches from the modern brand Vestal utilizing Rosewood, Ebony, and Maple for cases and bracelets.

Vestal Wood Watch collection --> LINK

Shooting back up to the higher end of wood watches including the Jaquet Droz above. They have produced watches with all sorts of materials including meteorite.

Last but not least, Svend Anderson's Eros "Navigation Pleasure" model (below). The one-of-a-kind Eros has marquetry work with four types of wood and a secret 10 moving part erotic automaton on the back of the watch.

Related posts on The Watchismo Times;
Watches made of Bone
Meteorite Watches

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Triangulorology - Thirteen Three-sided Timepieces

Tired of circular and rectangular shaped cases? Me too! So then, here is a varied collection of triangular watches over the decades...

1950s Cartier driver sideview watch
"Baguette à cadran incliné et mouvement Duoplan"
Dial is hinged at the apex allowing to rotate on axis

1970s Jaeger LeCoultre

1959 Patek Philippe prototype designed by Gilbert Albert
(valued well over $100,000)

1940 Jaeger LeCoultre "Duoplan" driver style sideview watch
(smallest mechanical movement)

1990 Gerald Genta "Les Nights"

with triangular hands and pyramidal stepped bezel

1961 Prototype Hamilton Electric Ventura
Mahogany & Mother-of-Pearl Pacer Prototypes

And there can't be any definitive triangular retrospective without the mysterious world of Masonic watches...

1940s Cervine Masonic Wristwatch

Other Masonic Watches
Top: 1920 Tempor 8 day keyless Dashboard Timepiece
Bottom: 1930 Tempor & Hiram Pocketwatches

1950s Louvic Mystery Dial
(hands on discs)

Unknown 1970s dynamic scattering LCD sideview
Very rare triangular prototype

Photos via Antiquorum and Rene Rondeau

Related Posts;
D-Day - The Letter D Over Time
Unusual Vintage Vacheron Constantin
Patek Philippe's Asymmetrics by Gilbert Albert
Hamilton Electrics

Enter The Watchismo Times 1st anniversary vintage chronograph giveway!-->LINK


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Vintage Watching - Hamilton Odyssee 2001 & Altair Electric

Just noticed a couple of my favorite vintage Hamilton watches are up for auction this week. The 1969 Odyssee 2001, introduced in conjunction with Stanley Kubrick's "2001 - A Space Odyssey". Hamilton was hired by the film to create a watch worn by astronauts of the future. Unfortunately, they didn't release the prop version to the public but they did try to cash in on the success of the movie by producing this one. To avoid lawsuits, they altered the spelling from Odyssey to Odyssee. And just last year, Hamilton released an interpretation of the film version in a signed limited edition of...2001.

Click for the 1969 Hamilton Odyssee 2001

And below, the ultra rare Altair Electric. Released in 1961 in very low numbers leading it to be one of the more collectible of the Electric series. Dramatically asymmetric design by the master of Lancaster, Richard Arbib. Their other auction features the original mesh bracelet!

Click for the 1961 Hamilton Electric Altair

Click here for the original Altair bracelet

Related Posts;
All Hamilton Stories

Enter The Watchismo Times 1st anniversary vintage chronograph giveway!-->LINK


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1950s Hamilton Pacer for Rockford Screw Company

Rene Rondeau has this very unique 1957 Hamilton Electric "Pacer" available. Many presentation models with corporate logos were custom made by Hamilton but rarely with themed hour markers like the variety of screws and bolts of the Rockford Screw Company. They actually still exist today. They might have a screw loose if they don't buy it for posterity...

Vintage Hamilton site-->Link

Related posts;
All Hamilton
All Electric


Find modern Hamilton watches


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Solid Wood 1900 Pocket Watch - Wood Gears, Hands and Case

Take a break from the complicated world of mechanical innovation for a few seconds... The orgy of Tourbillons, Forged Carbon, and Silicium Components can fade for a moment while you appreciate this early 1900 Russian pocket watch entirely made of wood. The case, the hands, and the gears, all from a tree - a living material that also marks time with it's rings - natures own clock and a profound medium for a watch.


via Casalonga Odd Watches --> Link
(The site is sadly out of date but nevertheless features some fun nontraditional watch displays)

UPDATE! The history of the wood-watchmakers from Russia who also carved watchworks from bone-->Link

1865 'Bone Watch' Article-->here

Other wood related features;
Hamilton Electric Wood Prototype --> Link
Swank Woody --> Link


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First Swiss Electro-Mechanical Watch, the 1960 Landeron 4750

Before quartz battery powered watches nearly destroyed mechanical innovation in the seventies, there existed a brief period of transition, an electro-mechanical era. The first battery-powered watches were, of course, the famed Hamilton Electric series of the late fifties and early sixties. There were other technological hybrids including the first electronic diode watch by the French company Lip and the transistorized Bulova Accutron with their tuning fork mechanisms.

This is the 1960 Landeron 4750, the first Swiss-electric movement. As you can see by the component diagram below, these were not simple watches like the inanimate battery powered Quartz of today. I'm featuring one of the more unique versions of this watch, the 'Montre à Couilles', as detailed in Pieter Doensen's book, built as a demonstration model with two externally cased battery compartments.

Landeron 4750 movement diagram (via electric-watches.co.uk)

1975 Bulova Accutron 'Spaceview'


1974 Lip Electric

Reading Time - Three Great Watch Books

The book that started it all for me. Pieter Doensen's highly influential 'Watch - History of the Modern Wristwatch,' showcasing innovative designs in relation to the technological advancements of the fifties through the eighties. Out of print but can be ordered through Mr. Doensen himself here.

Rene Rondeau's latest fourth edition 'The Watch of the Future', a quintessential book about the Hamilton Electric with a complete archive of every model Hamilton produced including prototypes never seen, asymmetric mechanical watches and full color throughout. Three times larger than the original edition, an important book for design enthusiasts or for existing collectors updating their library. Can be ordered through Rene directly-->Link


Gene Stone's recently published 'The Watch' blends important vintage with complex modern timepieces. A survey of "inspired design, technical innovation and precise craftsmanship" result in a book of well photographed unique antique and contemporary wristwatches. Link

1961 Hamilton Flight II Electric with Mahogany Wood Dial & Other Prototype Automatic Watches

1961 Mahogany & Mother-of-Pearl Pacer Prototypes

Featured in the recent expanded & revised edition of Rene Rondeau's essential Hamilton Electric book, "The Watch of the Future", are these very rare prototype mahogany and mother-of-pearl dial Hamilton Electrics. Although shown here in the Pacer and Flight cases, they were part of an experiment in the Sherwood wood-dialed series (shown on bottom).

1961 Mahogany Flight II Prototype

1961 Sherwood Automatic

My other Hamilton posts;
2001 Space Odyssey Flight II Prototype
Richard Arbib & The Hamilton Electric
Hamilton Odyssey X-01 Reissue