The Ventura was introduced by the American Hamilton Watch Co in January 1957. It was unique in being one of the first range of watches to have an electrical powered balance mechanism that removed the need for the watch to be wound every day. The Hamilton Cal. 500 was battery powered as is a modern quartz watch, however, this movement proved to be unreliable and damaged Hamilton’s reputation badly.

The watch case, designed by Richard Arbib, was the other revolutionary component of the Ventura. Its futuristic appearance and award winning design has been rereleased by Hamilton, now Swiss owned, with a modern quartz movement.

My example of the current Ventura has a highly polished stainless steel case measuring 32 mm by 50 mm with a black dial that closely follows the original design of 1957.

The modern version of the Ventura was in much evidence in the 1997 film “Men In Black”. I suspect that those involved in the creation of the original Ventura would be proud to see that their creation (in updated form) is still being produced after nearly 50 years.

I am equally proud to own a watch of such stunning design.

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