In the last years, an entire wave of vintage-looking watches or re-editions of some iconic timepieces hit the market. As for example we have the Marloe Lomond Chronoscope or the Straton Syncro, both reviewed by Watchisthis?!. From the “old” brands, we can remember the Ball Engineer II Genesis, released at their 125 years brand anniversary. The list is long and it doesn’t make sense to enumerate all. We are just pleased to see there is a public for all new or old designs.
Hamilton, with a history started in 1892, decided to bring on the market again a beautiful chronograph released in the ‘60s – the Chrono-matic. This watch is now a collector’s piece. Back then, the first version was a panda dial with white background and black chronograph sub-dials. Later, a second version was released with a reverse dial with a black background and white sub-dials.
The new watch, the Intramatic 68, is a reminder of the second version with reverse panda dial. The new case has a modern diameter of 42mm in stainless steel. The case has still a classic look with long slender lugs. The bezel is thin, straight and polished and it looks great. The chrono pushers are simple and just a little bit oversized. This increases the classical appearance of the watch. On the other side, the crown is redesigned in a modern way. On top, the Intra-matic 68 is covered with a sapphire crystal. This case has a water resistance of 10bar (100m).
The dial of the modern watch has, in spite of the vintage look, a modern construction. The black and white reversed panda theme is completed with an outer tachymeter scale. The black background features a white printed minutes/seconds scale with three-dimensional applied indexes for the hours’ indication. A special attention has been paid to the chronograph dials. The 30 minutes chrono and small seconds sub-dials are lowered and oversized. In this way, the readability is increased, but also the entire presence is bolder and appealing. The watch has steel hours’ and minutes’ hands with luminescent insertion. The chrono’s central seconds’ hand is also steel. The white sub-dials have black steel hands. So that, the contrast is enhanced.
At 6 o’clock, enhanced by a white border, there is a date window with black background. It is simple, effective and easy to read. On the dial, you can find the white printed Hamilton logo and name, together with “automatic”. Just to be sure that you know what you got in front of your eyes.
Powering the Intra-matic is the Hamilton calibre H-31. This movement is based on the ETA7753 with an increased power reserve of 60 hours. This is great, offering the chance to leave the watch away over the weekend and take it Monday morning without the need of adjusting it. This 30 minutes automatic chronograph calibre with hours, minutes and small seconds has a 4Hz beating heart or 28800vph (vibration per hour) and 27 jewels. The movement is elegantly decorated and has a personalised Hamilton rotor.
The Hamilton Intra-matic 68 comes with a vintage-looking chrono-race perforated leather strap. The watch was released this year at Baselworld with a price of $2,195 or €1995. It’s not yet available for purchase but you can submit your e-mail address to be one of the firsts to be announced about the availability.
For more information please visit the Hamilton Website.