Hamilton & Co. Desk Accessories

George Romney is the artist who painted Lady Hamilton. He actually produced several Romantic portraits and drew many sketches of her, as he considered her to represent the ideal of feminine beauty. Later in his career, Romney produced a series of paintings inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. Shop a variety of George Romney art on 1stDibs.

No, Hamilton Watch is not made in China. Since 2003, Hamilton’s timepieces have come from an atelier in Biel, Switzerland. Prior to that, Hamilton manufactured its watches at its factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where it was founded in 1892. Explore a selection of Hamilton watches on 1stDibs.

Hamilton watches became Swiss in 2003 when the watchmaker moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Biel, Switzerland. While based in the U.S., the company produced watches for the winners of the 1928 World Series and was the official watch for the employees of four commercial airlines. Shop a variety of Hamilton watches on 1stDibs.

The Hamilton 992B Railroad Watch was first produced in November, 1940, nine years after design and research began. The 992B featured brand-new technologies and was made with gold, steel and gilt parts and the newly designed Elinvar Extra hairspring. The last Hamilton 992B was sold in 1969. Shop Hamilton 992B Railroad Watches from top sellers worldwide on 1stDibs.

The story behind Hamilton watches goes back to the late 19th century. As railroad tracks were laid across the United States and steam locomotives began traversing vast distances, the American railroad system ran into a problem. Time was not standardized across the country.

Therefore, in 1883, the railroad companies established the four time zones as we know them today. However, train conductors were not always synchronized, leading to deadly railroad accidents. Enter watchmaker Hamilton, founded in 1892. Railway workers would be required to wear a pocket watch to keep on schedule, and the watchmaking industry — especially pocket-watch manufacturers such as Hamilton — benefitted. The company’s timepieces eventually earned the moniker “The Watch of Railroad Accuracy.”

Hamilton transitioned from pocket watches to wristwatches in 1914, as it supplied timepieces to American troops fighting in World War I. The new style of watch also appealed to aviators, and Hamilton aeronautical watches became all the rage among pilots, particularly those flying for the new U.S. Airmail service.

The general public’s interest in Hamilton watches grew rapidly in the 1920s. Legendary polar explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd timed his historic flights over glaciers and chunks of sea ice with a Hamilton pocket watch in the late 1920s. Hamilton’s Piping Rock watch, an Art Deco-inspired design featuring elegant Roman numerals set in black for the hour markers, debuted in 1928 and was gifted to the New York Yankees to celebrate their World Series win that year. The model was also featured in the film Shanghai Express alongside the brand’s Flintridge watch, further expanding Hamilton’s popularity. (Hamilton watches can also be seen in the films The Frogmen, Blue Hawaii, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Men in Black.) In the second half of the 20th century, Hamilton became well known for several innovations: It developed the first-ever battery-operated electric watch, the Ventura, in 1957, as well as the first-ever digital wristwatch, the Hamilton Pulsar Time Computer, in 1970. Three years later, superspy James Bond donned a Pulsar in Live and Let Die.

Today, the company is part of the Swatch Group, and its headquarters and production facilities relocated from Pennsylvania to Switzerland in 2003.

On 1stDibs, find a wide range of Hamilton watches.