If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you’ll remember that I’ve quickly become a fan of the Hamilton Jazzmaster line. More recently, I’ve taken an interest in open-heart watches that allow you to see the movement at work, without resorting to an exhibition caseback. Well, it seems fortune has smiled, as Hamilton has seen fit to open up the dial.
To start off with, you have what we’ve seen before with the Jazzmaster series. Classic styling in a 40mm case on a 20mm strap, wrapped around an automatic ETA 2824-2 movement. Add in the sapphire crystal, 50m water resistance, and 20mm strap, and you’ve got a fairly standard dress watch. Well, sure, the WR isn’t so standard, but it is a nice addition.
Making this stand out from the crowd, of course, is how they’ve opened up the dial. Far from being a fully skeletonized watch, you can still see a good portion of the movement working away on your wrist. That said, this feels like a bit of a miss. I know most of the open dial watches I’ve shown are not exactly symmetric – but here, things are really off-balance.
For me, when it comes to a dress watch, I think subtlety is of higher merit. And here, Hamilton has made this watch a bit flashier (for lack of a better word) than it really needs to be. Frankly, it may be a treatment better suited to their Khaki line. Within the Jazzmaster family, I would prefer to see a much more subdued cutout. If this speaks to you, however, you can find it as low as $700 on Amazon.
