Vintage Hamilton Surf Stainless Steel Watch, 1950s

In an era when the safety of America’s bustling railroads absolutely depended on accurate timepieces for its conductors, watchmaker Hamilton pioneered cutting-edge, impossibly precise watches in a complex that spanned one square city block of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, during the late 19th century.

As railroad tracks were laid across the United States and steam locomotives began traversing vast distances, the American railroad system ran into a problem. Back then, time was not standardized across the country. Therefore, in 1883, the railroad companies established the four time zones as we know them today. But, despite setting these zones, train conductors were not always synchronized, leading to deadly accidents on the railroads.

Enter watchmaker Hamilton, founded in 1892. Railway workers would be required to wear a pocket watch, as the timepieces were responsible for keeping conductors on schedule, and the watchmaking industry — and early American pocket-watch manufacturers such as Hamilton, Elgin National Watch Company and the Waltham Watch Company — benefitted.

Hamilton’s pocket watches were extremely alluring to train conductors, who began buying them en masse. The East Coast company’s timepieces eventually earned the moniker “The Watch of Railroad Accuracy.”

Hamilton transitioned from pocket watches to wristwatches in 1914, as it supplied timepieces to American troops fighting in World War I. Wristwatches, naturally, were more convenient to wear and use in battle. The new style of watch was also appealing to aviators, and Hamilton aeronautical watches became all the rage among pilots, specifically those flying for the new U.S. Airmail service.

The general public’s interest in Hamilton watches grew rapidly in the 1920s. Legendary polar explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd timed his historic flights over glaciers and chunks of sea ice with a Hamilton pocket watch in the late 1920s, and a Hamilton timepiece used by Byrd during these expeditions went on display in 2018 at the National Watch Clock Museum.

Hamilton’s Piping Rock watch, an Art Deco–inspired design that featured elegant Roman numerals set in black for the hour markers, made its debut in 1928 and was gifted to the New York Yankees to celebrate their World Series win that year. The model was also featured in the film Shanghai Express alongside the brand’s Flintridge watch, further expanding Hamilton’s popularity. (Hamilton watches can also be seen in the films The Frogmen, Blue Hawaii, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Men in Black.)

In the second half of the 20th century, Hamilton became well known for several innovations: It developed the first-ever battery-operated electric watch, the Ventura, in 1957, as well as the first-ever digital wristwatch, the Hamilton Pulsar Time Computer, in 1970. Three years later, superspy and watch enthusiast James Bond donned a Pulsar in Live and Let Die.

Today, the company is part of the Swatch Group, and its headquarters and production facilities relocated from Pennsylvania to Switzerland in 2003.

Find vintage Hamilton watches for sale on 1stDibs.