Hamilton watch stars in `Pearl Harbor'

William George Shuster, JCK Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 5/23/2001 5:08:00 PM

Hamilton, which supplied more than one million watches to the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, does it again in the new Touchstone Pictures film Pearl Harbor, which opens Friday.

The watch brand ''proudly supplied the military during World War II,'' says Hamilton (U.S.) president Caroline Faivet, ''so it made sense that we outfit the actors and actresses of this film.'' Of special note were the many Khaki watches produced by Hamilton for ground troops (many who kept and wore them long after the war) and which are replicated in the new movie.

Hamilton helped launch Pearl Harbor, expected to be one of this summer's movie blockbusters, with a two-day pre-Memorial Day event in New York City. On Thursday evening, Hamilton co-sponsored (with Premiere move magazine) an advance screening of the film for almost 300 trade and consumer press journalists, and Hamilton's retail customers, and a reception afterward, which featured World War II Hamilton watches.

On Friday, Hamilton scheduled to hold a breakfast seminar for the press at the new Hilton Times Square hotel featuring watch historian Rene Rondeau, talking about 'Hamilton, the War Hero.' Veteran actor Eli Wallach, an avid watch collector and WWII veteran, and Faivet, will discuss Hamilton's current and future Khaki watches. (In conjunction with Pearl Harbor, Hamilton has added a timepiece called the Khaki Field Pearl Harbor Watch, a 38-mm sandblasted stainless steel watch in the same style as Hamilton's World War II Khaki watch, retailing for $195).

Hamilton, founded in 1882 in Lancaster, Pa., is a member of The Swatch Group, the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of watches.