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Manufacturers

Hamilton

5 collections · 12 references
High confidence

Overview

Founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1892 and one of the defining American watch manufacturers, known above all for railroad-grade pocket watches and for the Ventura of 1957, the first electric wristwatch. American manufacturing ended in 1969; the name continued on Swiss-made watches and the company has been Swiss-owned since 1974, latterly within the Swatch Group. The founding year given here is the American company's — the watches an examiner meets are the products of two different manufacturers in two countries, and this catalog keeps the eras apart.

Notable innovations

  • · First electric wristwatch (Ventura, caliber 500, 1957)
  • · Railroad-grade 992B and 950B pocket watch movements
Official name
Hamilton International Ltd
Country
Switzerland
Founded
1892
Headquarters
Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
Group
The Swatch Group
Status
active
Manufacturing sites
Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

Collections