Did you know one of Hamilton’s most beloved watches is technically a Frankenstein?

Zach Blass

Those who frequent social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are likely familiar with the trend of “I was today years old when…” posts in which people reveal things they just learned but were very late to the game in realising. I myself had one such moment when I was with Hamilton at its Behind The Camera Awards earlier this month, in which the watch brand of the silver screen honours and celebrates those behind the camera. Prior to the glitz and glam of the show, I sat down to catch up with Vivian Stauffer, CEO of Hamilton, and during our chat, I learned a fun fact about one of the brand’s most celebrated and beloved watches. And in that moment of revelation, I thought: “I was today years old when I learned the Hamilton Murph is technically a Frankenstein watch.”

For those unfamiliar, a “Frankenstein watch” is a watch that uses parts from various different watches, with some potentially original, and some perhaps not. In the vintage world, this is a huge no-no, as it’s seen as a bastardisation of a timepiece’s originality. Now, the Hamilton Murph is a watch that was featured in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. And it was not just some passing-glance object in the film; it was basically a character in its own right – integral to the plot of the movie. The film, released in 2014, left watch geeks wanting the watch for their collection. At the time, however, it was strictly a prop watch. Fans of both the film and Hamilton alike were left scratching their heads, wondering why the brand had not made a production version. This was fortunately rectified five years later, but why the wait? Its origin story, to an extent, sheds some light.

Harrison Ford Hamilton Khaki Team Earth — No, that’s not the Murph… That’s the Hamilton Khaki Field Team Earth designed in collaboration with Harrison Ford and Conservation International.

“When Christopher Nolan’s team contacted us in 2013, they requested us to make a watch with them for the film, and they created, as I say, the Frankenstein. It was the case of Khaki Field, polished and brushed. The inspiration for the dial stems from a watch that we were doing at the time with Conservation International – a project with Harrison Ford,” Stauffer explained.

Khaki Field Automatic with Khaki Field Murph — As you can see, the Khaki Field Auto 42mm case is shared, but the Murph deviates from the collection’s signatures with its dial font, layout, and cathedral handset borrowed from the pilot-style Team Earth watch.

He continued: “Cathedral hands were then selected, and the strap of a railroad piece from the American Classic Collection. It’s something that we would never do in-house because we stay within the elements that define each collection. And that’s why, from the beginning, it was supposed to be a prop watch. If you look at the first interviews in 2014 at that time, we say, ‘Yeah, it’s a prop watch. It’s never gonna exist.’ But then, after the pressure from the community and the fanbase of Hamilton, we had to make it, and we decided to launch it in 2019.”

Hamilton murph railroad american classic — The strap style selected for the Murph was previously reserved for the American Classic Railroad.

Along with not being familiar with its Frankenstein origins, I’m also equally shocked (and appalled with myself) that I was unaware of the Khaki Field Team Earth watch and its flieger-style, Big Pilot-like styling.

It seems so silly that the technical “Frankenstein” nature of the Murph prop watch would have been such an obstacle for Hamilton that the brand would need to be convinced by its fans to bend its rules and make a production version. It would seem a natural conclusion that if you make a watch for a film, you would also use the opportunity to make and benefit from a version sold to consumers. This is a testament to the stringent tradition and vision of Swiss watchmaking, both very admirable and frustrating. Fortunately, Hamilton, as it is known to do, listened to its customers and fans and eventually moved forward with making the Murph (named after Jessica Chastain’s character Murphy in the film).

The Murph Auto 42 of 2019 has since been followed up with a Murph 38mm that answered the call for a smaller version of the sought-after watch in 2022. Two years later, a white-dialled Murph entered the fold, marking a turning point in which the Murph was no longer just a model but also a collection line of its own.

hamilton khaki field murph 38 white dial bracelet feature — The Murph 38mm line grew with a new white dial and a bracelet for both sizes as well.

In consideration of the idea each collection has stringent parameters that are not meant to be broken, I put the question forward to Vivian Stauffer. What does this evolution mean for the Murph moving forward? What now defines and constitutes what a Murph watch is? Will the Murph continue to grow? Could we see a blue dial Murph? A titanium Murph? In his response, another significant insight was offered. The “sacred” 42mm is not likely to see another dial configuration enter the mix.

“There is still a little detail that you’re not going to find on the 38mm compared to the 42mm: the ‘Eureka!’ found on the Morse code located on the second hand that defines the Murph. The watch of the movie is the 42mm,” Stauffer told me. “We are not expecting this, but even if people asked us to have new animations of the 42mm we personally think at Hamilton that the 42mm should remain the 42mm as it is, sacred as it is, as ‘the movie watch’, for the time being. But never say never.”

That being said, the 38mm model, which is less precious as an expansion of the true movie watch, is where potential new dial configurations could arrive.

“We don’t know what will be in the future, but the 38mm offers us an alternative to extend the collection a little bit. To animate this product,” Vivian Stauffer elaborated. But I don’t think that we are going to have 25 iterations of the Murph 38mm in the future. We have to stay true to the product as well, true to the spirit of Hamilton.’