Hamilton 500

For your information, I do not repair this type of watch.

Article by RÉMY SOLNON

On 3 January 1957, the American brand Hamilton Watch Company revolutionised the watchmaking sector by presenting the first electric watch in history: the Ventura. Its design was futuristic at the time, and today it is a celebrated icon.
The innovation resulting from 10 years of research is technologically unprecedented! The Ventura represents a major evolution in watchmaking since the creation of the mechanical watch. It is the very first mechanical watch powered by an electric battery.

Revolutionary mechanism and aesthetics

The energy required to operate the movement is no longer provided by manual winding with a crown, or automatic winding with an oscillating weight, but by a small button-cell battery. The system marks the beginning of a new era, for let us not forget that at that time, all watches were mechanical. No more need for regular and tedious winding of the watch, the battery powered the movement for a whole year.
This technological feat of the Hamilton brand is the result of more than ten years of research begun in 1946, under the code name of "Project X", to develop and make reliable the very first electric movement. If the Ventura is technically disruptive, it is also aesthetically so with a triangular case, a unique shape in the world watchmaking production of the time.

Hamilton Ventura

The study of a mechanical watch powered by a battery began in 1946 under the guidance of George Luckey, head of research and development at Hamilton. The appearance of miniature batteries opened up new perspectives in many fields in terms of miniaturisation. Two prototypes were designed between 1946 and 1952. After several tests, Hamilton decided to develop the one presented by Philip E. Biemiller and James H. Reese, under the name "Project X". A team led by John Van Horn was formed to design a wristwatch with a battery that would last at least one year.
Hamilton developed its electric calibre by manufacturing all the components in-house. At that time, the company machined all the parts of its watches - movement, dial, hands, indexes, etc. - except for the cases.
One of the main difficulties in developing the electric calibre was to find a battery suitable for powering the mechanical movement of a wristwatch. Hamilton found the solution with the help of the National Carbon Company (now Energizer) which developed a specific battery.
After the manufacture of several prototypes, a pre-series model was produced. The mechanical movement powered by an electrical energy source was born, and it was finally a reality!

Commercial success of the "watch of the future

The "first electric watch in the history of watchmaking" was presented on 3 January 1957 in New York at a major press conference at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in front of more than 120 journalists from the international media. The "Watch of the Future" - considered to be the most important watchmaking innovation in centuries - was the subject of hundreds of articles. At the same time, Hamilton launched a second, more conventional electric round-case model: the Van Horn. The advertising campaign at the time focused as much on the revolutionary technology as on the original and futuristic design: "It's the perfect gift for the man who looks to the future! It's the perfect gift for the man who looks to the future!
Unfortunately, Hamilton will have to deal with numerous returns to the factory after the first models are released, due to repeated failures. The brand was in such a hurry to market the Ventura after the success of its presentation to the press that it did not take the time to make the H500 series movement completely reliable. The problems were finally solved in 1961 with the introduction of the H505 calibre. In spite of this, the Ventura is a real commercial success and will sell more than 11'500 pieces between 1957 and 1963. Just think! A watch that no longer needed to be wound was the nec plus ultra at the time and a timepiece that absolutely had to be worn on the wrist to show that one was at the cutting edge of progress.
Hamilton marketed other electric watches, the most famous of which were the Pacer, Meteor and Altair. Other Swiss, French, American and Japanese watch brands also adopted electric technology, either by developing their own movements or by producing Hamilton calibres under licence. Among them, Ebauches SA, Lip, Timex, Tissot and others...

The arrival of quartz changes the game

1969 marked the end of mechanical electric watches with the introduction of the first watch using a quartz oscillator: the Seiko Quartz Astron-35SQ.
This new generation timepiece, powered by a battery like the Ventura, was more reliable, more accurate and more robust than a mechanical watch. Hamilton stopped production of its electric watches that year after producing more than 42,000 pieces.
In 1970, the American manufacturer, always at the forefront of innovation, reacted by launching the Pulsar "which made the electric watch obsolete as well as the recently announced electro-mechanical quartz watch", according to the press release published in the New York Times on 10 May 1970. It was the world's first watch without any moving parts and without hands.

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