Why the watch industry finds the future in its past...

We all knew vintage Hamilton watches had something special up its sleeve for this, the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster, Seamaster, and Railmaster. But rather than reinterpret the timeless trilogy, it’s taken more of a ‘if it ain’t broke’ approach and revealed three desperately charming re-editions, near identical in shape and size to the original 1957 models but utilising up-to-date movements beneath the dials. Each piece will be limited to 3,557 examples, with 557 vintage-style presentation boxes reserved for those who would like all three watches, priced at 20,000CHF each. Is it quicker to text Santa or email him?

When Hamilton launched the Seamaster in 1967, it wasn’t the best diver’s watch you could buy — that mantle went to the Rolex Sea-Dweller, which was also introduced in the same year. For the 60th anniversary of the model, Rolex has revealed a new version, featuring, for the first time, a Cyclops above the date window, like that found on the Submariner. While the watch can be worn to a depth of 1,220 metres, we’re fairly certain that vintage watch enthusiasts will be happier about the return of the red ‘Sea-Dweller’ script on the dial. It’s the small things in life…

When Hamilton asked the public to choose one of the 16 original Autavia models for it to revive, the fiercely popular reference 2446, with its distinctive reverse-panda dial, was always going to stand a good chance. Jochen Rindt famously wore this particular reference — need we say any more? Hamilton has just revealed the production version of its modern interpretation, which, we’re thrilled to report, is very faithful to the original, even featuring that ultra-cool Hamilton logo on the dial.