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Best Hamilton Watches

Updated June 2021
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Pros
Cons
Best of the Best
Hamilton Khaki King Automatic
Hamilton
Khaki King Automatic
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Bottom Line

Rugged yet stylish automatic, self-wind watch with an attractive analog display.

Pros

Solid and reliable timepiece. Water resistant to 165 feet. Clear face and anti-reflective sapphire dial window. Automatic self-winding function. Features day with the date.

Cons

Deep-set face can be hard to read in the dark.

Best Bang for the Buck
Hamilton Khaki Field Officer Mechanical Watch
Hamilton
Khaki Field Officer Mechanical Watch
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Casual styling and earthy good looks are sure to make it your everyday watch. A good choice for men who like masculine but minimalist timepieces.

Pros

Traditional face with Arabic numbers and hand-wound movement. Sleek stainless steel bezel and sturdy khaki canvas strap. Resists water to 165 feet. Has a date window and sapphire crystal.

Cons

Green face may not appeal to all men. 38-millimeter case is ideal for some but may be too small for others.

Hamilton Jazzmaster Thinline
Hamilton
Jazzmaster Thinline
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A larger 42-millimeter watch with an elegant and lasting slim profile. Hamilton presents a simple yet dressy quartz timepiece.

Pros

Large and elegant watch that's also slim. Good strap quality. Features a date window.

Cons

Illumination markings are weak. Lacks a second hand.

Hamilton Ventura Black Dial
Hamilton
Ventura Black Dial
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Bottom Line

Unusual yet dressy design is certain to turn heads.

Pros

Water resistant to a limited depth. Striking retro-flavored timepiece. Stainless steel case with black dial and slim dot-and-stick markers. Sapphire glass.

Cons

Deployment clasp can be difficult to secure.

Hamilton Intra-Matic Silver Dial
Hamilton
Intra-Matic Silver Dial
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Bottom Line

Classic minimalist design recalls iconic timepieces of the 1950s and 1960s.

Pros

Swiss-made movement with 42-hour reserve. Water resistant to 165 feet. Slim and elegant.

Cons

Lacks a second hand. Can be tricky to set.

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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and all opinions about the products are our own. About BestReviews  
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We buy all products with our own funds, and we never accept free products from manufacturers.About BestReviews 
HOW WE TESTED

We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections.

30
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Buying guide for best hamilton watches

A quality watch should be handsome, practical, and dependable, but a truly great timepiece is so much more than that. Elevated beyond a way to tell time, the best Hamilton watches deliver a high-quality mixture of styles, watch face designs, and configurations, including some unique looks that you won’t find in other brands.

Hamilton watches are geared toward customers looking for a premium product. Their designs range from classically inspired minimalism to asymmetrically eye-catching to everything in between, all but guaranteeing there’s a watch in the Hamilton catalog for you. We’ve selected some of our favorites, but to learn more about how watches work and what features to look for, continue reading our extensive shopping guide.

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Quartz movement watches utilize piezoelectricity, the current that flows through a piece of cut quartz when it is put under mechanical or electrical pressure.

Key considerations


Style

Generally speaking, Hamilton watches are designed with elegance and simplicity in mind, resulting in styles that are, for lack of a better word, timeless. However, there are more striking alternatives with triangle-shaped faces, textured alligator-skin bracelets, and other notable details such as luminous hands or faces. Yet even in the classic styles, there’s more variety than you might think because the watches present information very differently.

Typical watch face features include the standard clock, chronograph, day/date display, and 24-hour military time readout. How these elements are displayed makes a world of difference, though, because the look of your watch can be tailored to what you’re wearing, what you’re doing, and even where you’re going. A simplified but attractive design might be better suited to your job or chosen fashion choice, but a data-packed or flashy alternative could be a better fit for another. Decide what is important to you and go from there.


Durability

Your watch goes where you go, and it has to be durable enough to keep up. The watch case, glass, and strap are the main parts to consider when discussing durability.

Case: Some watch cases are constructed from plastic and alloy metals, but the majority of Hamilton timepieces are equipped with tough stainless steel bodies.

Glass: As for the glass that covers the watch face, it comes in three flavors: acrylic, mineral, and sapphire. Acrylic is clearly the cheapest because it’s essentially plastic, and while it’s tough, it is more vulnerable to scratching than the other two. Mineral glass is extremely common and scratch resistant, but overall, sapphire is the most desired material. Whether it’s genuine or synthetic sapphire, it offers extreme toughness and scratch resistance. On the Mohs scale, which measures the relative hardness of minerals, sapphire sits just behind diamond, and sapphire is featured on a large number of Hamilton products.

Strap: Leather is among the more prevalent materials used, but cloth, plastic, and alligator skin are found on Hamilton watches, too.


Battery life

The battery life of your watch is vital because, well, the watch won’t work without it – if it uses a battery at all, that is. Several of Hamilton’s watches don’t have batteries, instead relying on a complex internal winding mechanism that stores energy in a tightly wound spring, which we’ll touch on below.

For now, let’s discuss electricity. On a powered watch, the battery sends energy to a microchip circuit, which then causes a cut piece of quartz to oscillate (hence the term “quartz movement”). The microchip detects these oscillations and turns them into electrical pulses. These pulses drive the various motors and gears inside the machine, resulting in a constant “tick, tock” from the watch. The process utilizes very little battery power, meaning the power source can last for several years.

Hamilton watch features


Winding mechanism

We’ve covered how a battery-powered quartz movement watch works, so let’s turn our attention to wound mechanical units, which make up a large part of Hamilton’s catalog.

Mechanical watches store energy in a tightly wound coil called the mainspring. The spring then distributes its energy through the gear train, balance wheel, and a mechanical linkage called an escapement to drive the hands around the dial. But how does the spring get wound?

Mechanical watches have two variations: hand-wound/manual watches and self-winding/automatic watches.

Manual: These watches are wound by the wearer, and it’s typically accomplished by turning a crown knob on the side of the case. Some models use a winding key. This style is generally lighter than an automatic watch and provides a certain level of clout to those who value micro-mechanics and timekeeping tradition. These watches do require more attention, though, because they need to be wound weekly or daily.

Automatic: The mainspring of an automatic watch is wound by a weighted internal rotor that spins when you move your wrist. This is incredibly convenient because it requires little to no effort by the owner to maintain so long as the watch is used often. The only real downside is the slight increase in weight due to the rotor, which is why automatic watches are the flagships of the premium market.


Water resistance

Hamilton watches aren’t necessarily designed for diving, but their tight tolerances and exceptional build quality allow them to competently travel deep underwater. All the watches on our list are rated for 50 meters (164 feet) of water resistance, a depth that generates 5 bar (73 pounds per square inch) of pressure. Hamilton does make watches rated for 1,000 meters of depth, however they are rarer. To check yours, consult the manual or look at the bottom of the watch case. A conversion table can be found below:

  • 3 bar (30 meters) = 43 psi (98.4 feet)
  • 5 bar (50 meters) = 73 psi (164 feet)
  • 10 bar (100 meters) = 145 psi (328 feet)
  • 15 bar (150 meters) = 217 psi (492 feet)
  • 20 bar (200 meters) = 290 psi (656.1 feet)
  • 100 bar (1,000 meters) = 1,450 psi (3,280.8 feet)

Hamilton watch prices

Hamilton watches are firmly entrenched in the premium timepiece bracket, but there’s a wider price spread than you might realize. And even at the more attainable end, the level of quality is impressive.

Inexpensive: For around $300, buyers can enjoy a sturdy stainless steel case with a scratch-resistant mineral or sapphire glass. Tolerances allow these watches to handle depths of about 164 feet without issue. And while every power source can be found at every price point, the most common version you’ll see at this level is a quartz movement.

Mid-range: Double that price to $600 and you’ll see manual and automatic watches, leaving quartz battery power in the rearview mirror for the most part. Sapphire becomes increasingly common here, as does improved water resistance and design intricacy.

Expensive: Finally, at prices up to $1,300, you’ll encounter sapphire watches of the highest quality featuring extreme depth ratings, hassle-free automatic winding, clever features like tachymeters, and the most intricate design philosophies.

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Did you know?
Hamilton’s quartz movement watches have very little deviations in timing. They generally range from minus 0.5 to plus 0.7 seconds per day, depending on environmental factors.
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Tips

  • Minimize scratches with toothpaste. Sapphire glass rarely scratches, but acrylic glass can be scored quite easily. To remedy this at home, use the “toothpaste trick” by rubbing toothpaste into the scratch, waiting a few minutes, and polishing it circularly with a soft cloth.
  • Avoid direct contact with harsh solvents and detergents, including chlorine. These can damage the watch strap or gaskets. If the watch comes in contact with these substances, clean it with soapy water and rinse thoroughly.
  • Do not subject your watch to abrupt temperature shocks. For example, exposure to bright sunlight followed by immersion in cold water can cause damage to the glass or gaskets.
"Avoid intense magnetic fields like electromagnetic appliances, large medical equipment, and metal detectors. These devices can impair the accuracy of your watch."
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Do you have a Hamilton watch that is water resistant? The manufacturer recommends that you have the water resistance of your watch checked once a year by an authorized service center.

FAQ

Q. I want wear my watch while diving. What do I need to know?
A.
Hamilton recommends that you set the crown knob to position 0. If your watch has a screwed crown, verify that it is screwed all the way back down so water can’t enter the mechanism. Do not use push-button functions or turning bezels while underwater. If you submerge the piece in salt water, clean it thoroughly with clean, fresh water afterward.

Q. How do I replace the battery on my Hamilton watch?
A.
Changing a watch battery sounds simple, but there are complex mechanical components at play. The basic steps are: loosen the screws on the back, remove the backplate, then carefully remove and replace the battery. That said, when replacement is necessary, Hamilton strongly urges you to take the timepiece to an authorized service center or retailer.

Q. What is a helium escape valve?
A.
A helium escape valve is a decompression system that allows helium to vent from inside the watch. Helium is used in breathing gas mixtures for deep-sea divers, and since helium is the smallest natural gas particle found in nature, rogue atoms can find their way inside timepieces. If the diver surfaces too quickly or doesn’t vent, a pressure differential can form between the trapped helium and the surrounding environment, potentially causing damage.