A 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.
Their latest Hollywood partnership – and biggest one yet – involved extensive collaboration between Hamilton’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. Accepting the challenge, Hamilton committed to merging creativity with craftsmanship to produce this key movie prop.
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 the Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO. To meet filming needs, dozens of the final prop watch were produced and Hamilton watchmakers were on the movie set to offer support with the watch’s unique functions.
For Hamilton, the creative process didn’t stop there. Our Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO served as the base for the wristwatch featured in Tenet, but since the watch was only made for the film, we 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 color 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 production designer Nathan Crowley features colors inspired by design elements in the film.
“I’m always impressed by Hamilton’s dedication to excellence and their willingness to think outside the box to create timepieces that do so much more than tell time,” says Nathan Crowley.
“This project was one of the most challenging and exciting collaborations I’ve been a part of,” says Hamilton 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.”
See the Tenet special edition BeLOWZERO watch in action here.
Learn more about the collaboration and how to purchase it here.
