Hamilton
Best Watches You’ve Never Heard of Before: Timeplan
Hamilton
Best Watches You’ve Never Heard of Before: Timeplan
It was nearly 20 years ago. Roberto, then in charge of the small, jam-packed shop in Piazza Duomo with new and second-hand stocks, knew I was a Hamilton enthusiast, as well as one who lusted after military watches. He had something rather special, not – as I anticipated – an actual Hamilton military issue, but something based on the Khaki. Its dial could have been lifted from a Khaki, with its triangle at 12, and white numerals against a black dial, but there the resemblance ended.
It was a feature I had never seen before, though I have since learned of one or two other models with this function: not one but two rotating bezels. I was instantly intrigued. The dial said “Timeplan” and “Automatic”, there was a small date window at 3 o’clock, the hour hand was a Mercedes-type, with dagger minute hand – all very Submariner – and the sweep seconds hand was red.
Surrounding this handsome, cod-military dial were the two bezels, the inner marked in Roman numerals, I-XII, a chunky affair with each numeral in a recess, but no detents, its bi-directional rotational path completely smooth. Its edges sloped down to a flat outer bezel, also bi-directional but with detents, marked in increments of “5” and ending in a triangle. With the two able to represent minutes and hours, a number of time-marking combinations were possible.
Now, when the brand manager of a well-established watch company tells you he’s never heard of, let alone seen, the watch you’re wearing, you know it’s something pretty rare. All Roberto knew about it was that it was said to be exclusive to Italy. I don’t recall how it came to me, but a faded fax I chanced upon much later provided all the known information. (If you are under 20, please note: faxes were a prehistoric method of sending documents down phone lines, to a thermal printer, hence the fading.)
What the fax added was fascinating, its intended recipient clearly a retailer or sales representative. The Timeplan’s reference number was 90030 AP/BCP, the fax’s original sender Tradema, the Italian importer. Beyond the obvious and self-explanatory – automatic movement, date, 38mm stainless-steel case – I also learned that it was offered with dials in blue and white as well as black, and that the two bezels were expressly designed for the outer to serve as an elapsed or remaining timer and the inner to indicate a second time zone.
And the only other Timeplan I‘ve ever seen? A few years later, I found one with the white dial… at Grimoldi, Piazza Duomo. And, to this day, I’m kicking myself for not buying it.