The Hamilton "Indy" Boulton : A Travel Watch Review

When I first heard that Hamilton was product placing a watch for Indiana Jones in last year's Dial of Destiny, it was a sign to me that the franchise must have fallen on hard times. Although thousands of middle-aged cosplayers have made profits for the original movie outfitters, the movie producers had never sought out product placement to get production costs met before.

As I'm sure you heard, the movie's sales weren't great. So it wasn't surprising that one of my favorite online watch stores had the "Indy watch" on sale, for the equivalent of $600US. That struck me as reasonably-priced for a Hamilton, even a quartz model, so I got it. And in late March, I wore it during a week's sojourn in Glasgow, Scotland.

To clear up something: yes, the watch does get a prominent shot in the movie, it's just that it's not on Indy's wrist. It appears on Indy's bedside table in a late scene. Earlier we got a one-sentence backstory on the watch, since it's swiped off of Indy's wrist by a minor sidekick demonstrating pickpocketing skills. Indy says the watch belonged to his father, aka Henry Jones Jr. as played by Sean Connery in the third movie. Actually this does explain why Indy sports a dress watch with his fedora instead of a "dirty dozen" field watch like we might expect for an active adventurer; Indy's always been portrayed as a romantic, doing things for a positive emotional response. This watch's design would look right on the elderly Sean Connery's wrist as a retirement watch for a tweedy professor, and Indy in Dial does look a lot like a shaven version of his father in 1969.

And the watch's retro look does work well, both in the movie and (more importantly) as a business casual dress watch. The slightly curved case makes for a very comfortable fit, along with the leather croc-look strap. And while watch enthusiasts will argue for ages about the propriety of a quartz movement in a period piece, truth is the quartz ticking here is pretty unobtrusive, thanks to the seconds subdial.

And that's the real point of quartz: a watch needs to attract potential buyers on its own merits, especially if the product placement doesn't work. Using quartz makes this watch a no-brainer for everyday use in an office environment, due to its better accuracy and shock resistance compared with most mechanicals aimed at the same market. 3ATM WR is par for a dress watch, as is the lack of illumination for low-light conditions.

As for the high price, Hamilton was never a budget-proposition brand, and Dial's lacklustre performance at the box office means this model's going to be featured during an AD sale in any case.

One thing I did notice: since I knew I was taking this watch for this trip, I didn't back jeans or sneakers. The intent to wear a dress watch, if the watch has any appeal, can lead to people upping their dress game. So even though this was a vacation, I wound up wearing a sports jacket and tie a lot more often than normal for me.

Okay, conclusion: for Indy cosplayers, this is an optional accessory, as nice as it is. For people needing a dress watch, even though there's cheaper competition out there (the Seiko SUP880 and the Timex Marlin Mechanical come to mind), this is still a great watch to consider.