Hamilton

History

The Hamilton Watch Company was established in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892, after investors bought the bankrupt Keystone Standard Watch Company and its factory. It was named after Andrew Hamilton, the original owner of the land on which the factory stood. The first Hamilton watch, an 18-size, 17-jewel pocket watch, was made in 1893, and the company made its name with railroad pocket watches sold as "The Watch of Railroad Accuracy". Hamilton introduced its first wristwatch in 1917. During the Second World War it stopped civilian production and supplied watches and marine chronometers to the US armed forces; the US Navy accepted its Model 21 chronometer in 1942. In 1957 Hamilton launched the Electric 500, the first battery-powered wristwatch, in several cases including the triangular Ventura. The Pulsar, the first electronic digital watch, developed by a team at Hamilton, went on sale in 1972. Hamilton had bought Switzerland's Buren Watch Company in 1966, and in 1969 it closed its Lancaster factory and moved production to Switzerland. The brand was sold to SSIH in 1974 and became part of today's Swatch Group when SSIH merged with ASUAG in 1983.