Space-Age Hamilton Ventura Gets an Elvis-Inspired Modern Day Makeover
Elvis’s favourite watch is looking more wearable than ever.
The iconic Hamilton Ventura might be 64 years old this year but, in its current guise, it has arguably never looked more youthful.
In its new Elvis80 Skeleton form, which is available in black/red and rose gold PVD-coated stainless steel versions, the watch’s Powermatic 80 movement and its Côtes de Genève stripes are visible beneath a skeletonised dial formed of lightning bolts.
Yes, the Ventura’s outrageous lines might have been tempered a degree by the modern-day Elvis80 case shape, but that only serves to make the Ventura a more wearable, everyday proposition. If anything, the rose gold version makes us wonder whether the market would support a new solid gold Ventura, in tribute to the original 14k watches.
Back in 1957, when the Hamilton Ventura was released it was the first watch to fully embrace the design language of the Atomic Age, somewhat appropriately given that it was also the first electric watch, which powered its mechanical movement with a battery rather than a mainspring. In recent years the original case was redesigned for a more contemporary feel, named the Elvis80 after Elvis Presley who famously wore the watch in Blue Hawaii in 1961, one of Hamilton’s some 500 appearances on film.
The Hamilton Ventura Elvis80 Skeleton will be available soon via Hamilton, priced $1,795 USD.
Elsewhere in watches, Jacob & Co.’s $880,000 USD Astronomia Skulls is a reminder of your own mortality.
