Hamilton’s Mid-Century Masterpiece Watches – WorthPoint

Like so many other collectors, I’ve had to resist the urge to go in many different directions over the years. There’s just so much cool stuff out there. Case in point, I’m ardently drawn to mid-century everything from furniture to housewares to atomic jewelry and watches. I don’t collect these things, but I love vicariously admiring and learning about anything from this style period.

Even though I’m not a watch person per se (other than my trusty Apple watch), I’ve blogged about a couple of different luxury models I’d love to own if money were no issue—namely Corum’s Buckingham Artisan Collection and colorfully funky watches by Franck Muller. Another one I’d add to the list is an original Hamilton mid-century watch. I particularly like the Pacer model, but there are several that I consider to be masterpiece designs.

And to be clear, these watches are what I believe to be masterpieces in terms of design because they’re so very mid-century in their styling. The Hamilton Watch Company also made a line of watches named Masterpiece, often used for service awards and the like. You might be looking at one of those models if you run across a round timepiece with company affiliations and/or a person’s name on the back. Ironically, even though the company called them Masterpiece when they were new, these are much more ordinary-looking than the Hamilton watches I admire more, like the Ventura and the Pacer.

The Ventura

If the Ventura has an atomic look to you, there’s a good reason for that: it was based on a bomb design. That’s right, the designer of this watch was a World War II artillery designer for the United States, according to watch historian Jarett Harkness. The designer’s name was Richard Arbib, and he conceived this forward-thinking watch style first at a time when the public was embracing modern design in all aspects of life. This watch style was first marketed in 1957.

The Ventura and other modern-styled Hamilton watches designed by Arbib were innovative in another way. They were the world’s first electrical watches. After an extravagant press conference in New York, literally hundreds of newspapers across America shared news of this innovation. They used a small battery to keep the mechanism running, making them forerunners to later quartz watches. These gold timepieces by Hamilton weren’t cheap either. Advertising dating to the late 1950s offers them at $200 apiece, equating to more than $2,100 today.

Another fun claim to fame for the Ventura is its appearance in movies and television. Elvis Presley wore one of these hip watches in Blue Hawaii, and Rod Serling sported one as he hosted the television series The Twilight Zone back in the day. The agents of the Men in Black franchise also donned Ventura watches decades later.

You’ll sometimes run across reissues of the Ventura with gold-plated and stainless-steel cases produced in the 1990s and early 2000s. Those tend to be more reasonably priced than the older gold watches, and because they’re quartz models instead of electric, they can be a bit more reliable. Newly crafted limited-edition gold watches in this style are now being marketed as well.

The Pacer

This Pacer is also a Hamilton battery-powered watch with an Arbib-designed case and, at first glance, is very similar to the Ventura. In fact, some online resources mistake the Pacer for the movie-worn timepiece since they’re so close in appearance.

In all honesty—with no disrespect to Elvis, who not only wore a Ventura but reportedly gave them to others as gifts—I’m more enamored by the Pacer’s scaled-back metalwork around the dial. The artistry of the asymmetric case is more subtle, and that’s just more attractive to me. I even like the geometrics of the way the band attaches to the case rather than being hidden behind the metal.

Adding this one to a collection is a bit more difficult than finding a vintage Ventura, however, since even fewer working Pacer models enter the secondary marketplace today. With some persistence, if I ever get serious about owning one, I’d expect to pay $400 to 600 for a nice example. It’s not dirt cheap, but it’s certainly within reach, considering the price of the other luxury timepieces on my wish list.

Other Mid-Century Hamilton Watches

There are a few other intriguing 1950s and ’60s watches by Hamilton, like the Vega and Everest models, with unusual case shapes. Think trapezoid, modified shield shapes, and teardrops to get an idea of other options. You can also hunt down rare European models with double teardrop cases known only by their reference numbers, like Model 64010-4 and Model 60007-4.

One challenge with these watches is finding them in good condition and working order. So many of these watches were clearly worn to death by the original owners, and they just don’t look all that great anymore. If I ever decide to get serious about owning one, I will likely have some diligent vintage shopping ahead of me. In the meantime, I’ll keep admiring these super cool watches at a distance.

Pamela Siegel is a freelance writer and author who has been educating collectors for more than two decades. In addition to three books on topics relating to antiques and collectibles, she frequently shares her expertise through online writing and articles for print-based publications. Pamela is also the co-founder of Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI) and the proprietor of Chic Antiques by Pamela.

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