Hamilton - 1969: A Space Odyssee?

Hamilton is well known for being one of the watch brands highlighted in Hollywood. Some easy examples are the Murph from Interstellar or the Boulton in the new upcoming Indy movie. As I was looking through some vintage Hamiltons, I came across the Hamilton Odyssee 2001. Intrigued by the overall design, I started to a bit of research and figured I'd share a bit of fun history here.

Originally commissioned in 1966, Hamtilon was tasked to design a futuristic watch the astronauts would wear in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Though originally planned as a prop, Hamilton's ultimate goal was to offer a commemorative edition to celebrate the movie's release. You can still find photos of the original-approved design of the prop watch that was released to the public - which you can see is a far-cry from the design of what Hamilton ended up releasing.

The futuristic design of the movie prop was far too expensive of an endeavor for Hamilton - so in 1969, they released a more traditionally-designed version under the name Odyssee 2001 (the French spelling in order to avoid copyright issues). Funny enough, there weren't any scenes where the original prop was showcased, so this offering may still have been a futuristic surprise for fans of the movie back in the space race era.

The case shape was very futuristic in that retro kind of way. What I personally couldn't get over was how deep/thick the indexes (indices?) were on the watch (definitely check out the larger version of the image). I also love how the bulbous head-shape is balanced with the dial design itself with the inner-ring and markers gradually tapering. It almost gives you a sense there is an air bubble trapped within or that watch was traveling at such immense speed that it was dragging the bottom half behind it.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie, in 2006 Hamilton decided to make the original prop design a reality with the release of the ODC X-01 (we see what you did there Hamilton with the letters... very clever).

For me, there were a couple immediate noticeable differences from the prop. The first being the dial design lacked some of the fun colors and the numerals were sadly missing. The second is the use of the Hamilton's updated brand typography which I actually sorta hate but does work well on this piece. It falls right in line with the futuristic vibe this watch holds, though I do feel its a bit tragic that it lost the elongated numerals on the watch face.

You like complications? This watch has you covered. Who wouldn't love to wrist roll over to see at a glance their Home Time (HT), Dream Place Time (DPT), and of course their Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The instruments here were also changed - likely still too difficult to manage for Hamilton to have a month and day complication separated from the watch?

I bet the X-01 is a fun watch to look at and play with, but when it comes right down to it, I think the original Odyssee 2001 is ultimately the winner here. Beyond being seemingly more wearable, its charm and more subtle design choices surpass anything the other has to offer. While the X-01 is a futuristic cockpit on your wrist, the Odyssee reminds me of the how architects and automobile designers drew inspiration from the US Space program with their parabolic roofs or cockpit-like windshields.

So, which watch would you prefer to add to your collection? We have any future space travelers out there?

Note: None of these images are my own. I am also not a historian - as I relied on the magical interwebs (which is never wrong) to gather all the background on this watch. Just wanted to share! 👍