Hamilton is not an American watch

[ROBERT A]

Hamilton is widely recognized - past and present.

[Monocrom]

I don't know of any watch that is even close to being American made so I appreciate what Swatch has done with the Hamilton brand and the classic styling.

RGM is currently as close as one can get.

[iam7head]

Does it bother anyone that Hamilton bills itself as an American watch when it hasn't been made in America in over 40 years?

I really like the looks of Hamilton watches, especially the Jazzmaster series. They are very classic pieces, but I just can't get past the fact that they call themselves American when they are part of the Swatch group & haven't had anything to do with the US in nearly half a century. It just seems like false advertising, which I know it isn't thanks to some clever wording, but it does seem very misleading and kind of phony. Does this bother anyone else?

Most Italian roadbike are made & assembled in Taiwan and China because it's more cost effective and the Chinese actually built better bike out there(for manual intensive Carbon fiber bike at 5-15k USD price range)

is Bianchi, Pinerallo any less italian just because it's done out there? um...maybe. But it sure beats putting down 10k to have an inferior built bike with 2 years lead time.

Just be grateful your hammy isn't 15k..they would if hamilton follow the foot step of the other "American" watch company by Mr. Jones

[watch_tech]

Yes, it is now owned by the Swatch group but it is still a great American brand and most of their watches are inspired by or still true to it's original properties. No, it does not bother me because the best watches on the planet are still made by the Swiss. So, in a way you are getting a lot more than what you really paid for and I do love a great bargain.

[glengoyne17]

Actually, Hamilton is a pretty well known brand. Hollywood adopted it long ago, and quite a few celebs actually wear Hamiltons. Any elderly man who served in WW2 knows Hamilton quite well also.

US veterans. However I'm from Europe. Hardly anyone here knows it.


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[napel]

US veterans. However I'm from Europe. Hardly anyone here knows it.


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Lots of Europeans and Asias wear and know about Hamiltons

[ErikS]

Hamilton isn't made in America? Oh no, say it ain't so....................oh crap & I was planning a trip to the factory next weekend..........bummer

</sarcasm>

..................... You ever drive their Sprinter series? Junk.

Yeah, they hvae that just horrible Merc diesel in them...................what a goob, and you have a drivers license?

Chrysler unfortunately has been putting out junk cars long before the merger. ................

Longer still, they've pretty much always made rubbish. Last time they made anything decent was the muscle car era - bodies were still trash but the drivetrains were good. Couldn't break a 727...........some of us tried pretty hard though.

Chrysler was one of the most profitable car companies prior to the Mercedes merger. Mercedes took all their cash and then split apart the companies.

When exactly? Between which three times of near bankruptcy were they profitable? Just before Iacocca? Before Merc bought them, or recently before going to Fiat (the POS builder who hade to leave the US market because they couldn't compete).

And exactly what is the huge plus of being built Americans? The morons who b*tch about $4/gallon gas while paying $16/gallon for freaking water?

[Monocrom]

Yes, it is now owned by the Swatch group but it is still a great American brand and most of their watches are inspired by or still true to it's original properties. No, it does not bother me because the best watches on the planet are still made by the Swiss. So, in a way you are getting a lot more than what you really paid for and I do love a great bargain.

You can't take away the history of the brand. That is firmly American for sure. There are plenty of companies out there headquartered in America, but their products are made in a different country. Technically, such companies are American. But not in a practical way. As far as car brands go, a Toyota Camry assembled in a plant in America is far more American than a Chevy Impala built in Mexico. I'll give credit where it's due. The Swatch Group saved Hamilton from oblivion. A good reason why was out of respect for the brand. Clearly the executives at the Swatch Group felt that it was still a popular and profitable brand. There's good reason for that mentality.

Back when pocket-watches were still the norm, Hamilton was making timepieces that had the Swiss shivering in their boots and causing them plenty of restless nights. Hamilton's line of pocket-watches was used as the railroad standard. A standard that today, some quartz watches couldn't live up to. Current COSC certified timepieces wouldn't be good enough. Railroad standard timepieces at a time when quartz technology didn't exist were insanely accurate. At around $2,000 back during an era when $5 literally bought you a huge luxury meal at a high-end hotel or restaurant, a Hamilton pocket-watch wasn't inexpensive even in the most remote sense of the word. Hamilton pocket watches were things of functional beauty. They were mechanical watches that would put modern-day quartz watches to shame! And, Hamilton's pocket-watches were consistently made to the extremely rigid railroad standard.

At one time, if you wanted the absolute "best watches on the planet," you didn't buy a Swiss-made timepiece . . . You bought an American-made Hamilton.

[sirpouncealot]

You can't take away the history of the brand. That is firmly American for sure. There are plenty of companies out there headquartered in America, but their products are made in a different country. Technically, such companies are American. But not in a practical way. As far as car brands go, a Toyota Camry assembled in a plant in America is far more American than a Chevy Impala built in Mexico. I'll give credit where it's due. The Swatch Group saved Hamilton from oblivion. A good reason why was out of respect for the brand. Clearly the executives at the Swatch Group felt that it was still a popular and profitable brand. There's good reason for that mentality.

Back when pocket-watches were still the norm, Hamilton was making timepieces that had the Swiss shivering in their boots and causing them plenty of restless nights. Hamilton's line of pocket-watches was used as the railroad standard. A standard that today, some quartz watches couldn't live up to. Current COSC certified timepieces wouldn't be good enough. Railroad standard timepieces at a time when quartz technology didn't exist were insanely accurate. At around $2,000 back during an era when $5 literally bought you a huge luxury meal at a high-end hotel or restaurant, a Hamilton pocket-watch wasn't inexpensive even in the most remote sense of the word. Hamilton pocket watches were things of functional beauty. They were mechanical watches that would put modern-day quartz watches to shame! And, Hamilton's pocket-watches were consistently made to the extremely rigid railroad standard.

At one time, if you wanted the absolute "best watches on the planet," you didn't buy a Swiss-made timepiece . . . You bought an American-made Hamilton.

Sorry mate, but I'm afraid the required accuracy for railroad watches in the heydays of American watchmaking industry was only +/-30s per WEEK, better than the overhyped COSC and definitely better than bog-standard-off-the-shelf modern mechanical movements but in fact, pale in the face of any bog-standard-off-the-shelf quartz movement within +/-15s per MONTH. AFAIK, modern affordable quartz mvmt like Citizen/Bulova Precisionist can attain the very respectable accuracy of +/-10 (or is it 15~20 - I don't remember ) seconds per YEAR.
Back to the brand, I think Swatch has done a good job with Hamilton, their designs always manage to retain the American lineage at very reasonable price points. I understand the sentiment some feel seeing a top American brand become another low level Swiss sub-brand but I'm (and many more) really glad Swatch didn't keep this much loved brand in a higher price bracket.

[Perseus]

When exactly? Between which three times of near bankruptcy were they profitable? Just before Iacocca? Before Merc bought them, or recently before going to Fiat (the POS builder who hade to leave the US market because they couldn't compete).

And exactly what is the huge plus of being built Americans? The morons who b*tch about $4/gallon gas while paying $16/gallon for freaking water?

In the 80's and 90's. Have you heard of the minivan?