6 Vintage Hamilton Watches Appear In ‘Oppenheimer’

There’s a lot of buzz around the new Christopher Nolan film, “Oppenheimer,” the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb.” The award-winning director known for his attention to detail once again chose Hamilton watches to play a prominent role in the three-hour movie that will be released in the United States and the United Kingdom on Friday.

The film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. Matt Damon portrays Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, Jr., director of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Downey, Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a founding member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Three of the main characters are seen wearing Hamilton watches. However, in this case, instead of wearing current production models, Hamilton and Nolan chose to achieve the highest level of period accuracy and expression of character through vintage timepieces from 1930s and 1940s. All of the vintage models were sourced by Hamilton from its network of collectors and enthusiasts.

For the Oppenheimer character, three models were selected. The Cushion B, Endicott and Lexington, which combine heritage American design with Art Deco styling. Hamilton, in a statement says, “the references balance scientific precision and focus with a pioneering spirit of individuality.”

In contrast, Kitty Oppenheimer wears the elegant Lady Hamilton A-2 in 14k gold. Hamilton’s rugged, military prowess is on display with the Piping Rock and Military Ordnance timepieces worn by the Groves character.

Nolan has worked with Hamilton in his past films, most prominently in the movies “Tenet” and “Interstellar.” In a Hamilton promotional video for the Oppenheim film, Nolan says Hamilton was integral in securing period-appropriate watches.

“We’ve had a great experience working with Hamilton in the past. In the case of Oppenheimer is about recreating the history, really looking back at the Hamilton watches of what these characters would have worn at the time,” Nolan said.

“They were incredibly helpful in securing the appropriate watches for these characters. It is that kind of detail working in combination with … the costume work and the prop work in the film that becomes so important to involving the audience in the story in a world that they can recognize. And it has a nice tactile and a relatable sense to it … that is historically accurate.”

In many of the Nolan’s films, time plays an important role in the story. This one is no different.

“The whole film is one big countdown to this world changing event,” he said in the video. “It’s the portrayal of time, the importance of time to the characters in the story is enormously important.”

Oppenheimer is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.

It is filmed in a combination of IMAX 70mm and 70mm large-format film photography including, for the first time ever, sections in IMAX black and white analogue photography.