2018, the celebration of a milestone as they mark their century in providing aviation watches.
Hamilton’s close connection with aviation began early in their history. They gained a reputation for accuracy with railroad watches, and soon began creating watches specifically for the flying community.
Their prestigious history of providing essential cockpit tools to pilots and co-pilots began in the early days of commercial aviation where watches are essential–everything is based on accurate timing. Even modern pilots need a watch as a reliable backup to their digital multi-instrument display.
In Canada, Hamilton is proud to support the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and worked with the crew to design an exclusive Hamilton Khaki Aviation only distributed to the Snowbirds members.
Hamilton also is the Timekeeping sponsor of some of the most prestigious Canadian Aviation organization as ATAC (Air Transport Association of Canada), the Air & Army Cadet League of Canada, the DCAM (David Charles Abramson Memorial), the Northern Lights Aero Foundation & the Webster Trophy.
The year was 1918 when Hamilton’s watches were chosen to be the official timekeepers of the first U.S. Airmail flights between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. The milestones since then have been regular and significant, and in 1926 a Hamilton watch timed the first flight to the North Pole.
In the 1930s, their reputation for producing aviation watches led to Hamilton becoming the official watch of the four major airlines of the United States at that time, and they were selected as the timekeeper for the first non-stop, coast-to-coast service from New York to San Francisco.
Since then, Hamilton has developed and maintained partnerships with military squadrons, air rescue services, demonstration teams and aerobatic pilots around the world.
In 2017, Hamilton became the Official Timekeeper of the Red Bull Air Race, established in 2003 as an international series of air races where contestants navigate a challenging obstacle course while competing for the best time. The championship focuses on speed and precision and requires split-second timing. The pilots use the fastest, most agile and lightweight racing planes to navigate the low–level aerial tracks at high speed. With the Official Timekeeper partnership, Hamilton is at the forefront of the most exciting branch of aviation.
As developments in aviation have increased, so has the demand for watches as flight instruments that can withstand the most severe and challenging geophysical conditions, and meet pilots’ ever-evolving needs.
The current Hamilton collection reflects the needs of modern aviators, including watches with the ability to log up to 20 flights, with two time zones, and equipped with numerous calculators including those for landing speed, drift angle and fuel requirements. CJ