In 1966, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke commissioned a variety of companies to imagine and design futuristic products for the year 2001—and to be featured in their film 2001: A Space Odyssey. They hired Hamilton, a U.S. watchmaker, and John Bergey, a Hamilton developer known for helping to invent the digital watch, created a digital clock and analog/digital wristwatch. (See the movie prop watch …
The past few years have been an interesting time in watchmaking (granted only on the haute end of the stick), but nevertheless, innovators like Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner of Urwerk are breathing inspired fire with their 103 series and the Opus 5. The platinum 103.05 (pictured), an edition limited to 50, has orbiting satellites that align with the bottom arc of minutes to tell …
The year was 1958 and in a fresh spark of innovation one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious watch companies—Patek Philippe—designed the Cobra watch, unique for its unusual time display and aggressive profile. Time is displayed through two graduated linear openings showing the hour and minute marks which are printed in a spiral on rollers, thus eliminating the traditional dial and hands. The Cobra, …
