favorite of filmmakers for decades, Hamilton timepieces have played an integral role in films and inspired audiences. “The Murph” created for Christopher Nolan’s hit Interstellar became a fan favorite, and a clock designed for Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey influenced the invention of the world’s first digital watch.

Hamilton’s latest Hollywood partnership – and its biggest one yet – involved extensive collaboration between the brand’s design team and the production design team behind Christopher Nolan’s latest film Tenet, coming soon to theaters. Initial conversations revealed that the film required a watch with features that do not currently exist in a commercially available Hamilton watch. The brand took on the challenge of producing this key movie prop.

“The film required a watch with features that do not currently exist in a commercially available Hamilton watch.”

A special edition

The 18-month preparation included technical development, testing and production at the Swatch Group’s lab in Switzerland where engineers found a way to combine the needed technology with the display on the dial of Hamilton’s Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO. To meet filming needs, the Swiss brand produced dozens of the final prop watch and its watchmakers were on the movie set to offer support with the watch’s unique functions.

“To meet filming needs, the Swiss brand produced dozens of the final prop watch and its watchmakers were on the movie set to offer support with the watch’s unique functions.”

For Hamilton, the creative process didn’t stop there. The Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO served as the base for the wristwatch featured in Tenet, but since the watch was only made for the film, Hamilton decided to celebrate the collaboration with an inspired-by special edition.

Cased in lightweight titanium, this special edition features a blue or red-tipped second hand as a reference to key colors in the movie. Each colour version will be limited to 888 pieces, the number chosen as a nod to the movie title, which is also a palindrome, something that reads the same backwards and forwards.

Special packaging created by Tenet’s production designer Nathan Crowley also features colours inspired by design elements in the film. “I’m impressed by Hamilton’s willingness to think outside the box to create timepieces that do so much more than tell time,” he said.

“This project was one of the most challenging and exciting collaborations I’ve been a part of,” said Hamilton’s former CEO Sylvain Dolla. “It was truly a partnership of creativity that transformed ideas into a reality we’ll get to see on movie screens around the world.”