Life without liberty is misery, as Andrew Hamilton had put it while defending freedom of speech at House of Representatives, Pennsylvania.
Andrew Hamilton owned the land on which factories were built and the watch company took his name. He is the lawyer who founded the city of Lancaster in Pennsylvania and imposed strict law and order in the Thirteen Colonies.
Hamilton is primarily a classic American watch brand. Their models often sound presidential, so it’s no wonder they will transport their ideas to Swiss watch making expertise. It has made them live up to their names; stylish yet affordable, reliable, too.
It’s the most American of all Swiss brands, to put them the other way round. That shows why the American Classic Spirit of Liberty Auto offers from both the sides.
They are nicely done, basic watches; the leather straps carry the famous quote engraved with laser. The stylish colour options get straps in similar tones with the dial; polished and hand-dyed. No two leather straps will be exactly similar in color for this.
The stainless steel bracelets are dense and quite substantial at their feel. The links fold over smoothly without any choppiness interrupting a smooth flow. Doubly secured by fold-over clasps, it’s virtually impossible to tear it open at one go.
The American Spirit is fuelled by Swiss precision in this watch; it’s an automatic H-10 movement a.k.a ETA C07.111 often carrying the prefix Powermatic, is an ETA 2824 stock movement upgraded to deliver 80 hours of running power. The mono-block rotor is distinctive due to a skeletonized H-shape and cut-outs resembling aviation designs. They add a signature of individualization to the whole ensemble. The C07.111 takes less power to run; its operating frequency is 3Hz or 21,600 bph. A high-performance silicon escapement reduces friction to help power-saving, the two resulting in 2 less jewels in the movement. The reduced diameter of the barrel’s core lengthened the mainspring to store more energy and to top it all, the balance wheel is laser regulated at the factory. All that makes it seem them to be very accurate movements. Unless the movement is physically damaged from a heavy impact, moisture or some other damage-inducing factor, the system shouldn’t need to be adjusted as the regulation should stay more or less the same throughout its life.
The sapphire glass got an anti-reflective coating. You can take it down under water to 100 feet at the most, to be on the safer side.
The Spirit of Liberty Auto watches by Hamilton are stylish creations, ticking all boxes for a great, value-for-money piece. They compete well in the dress watch category, standing out from the very crowded entry-level watch segment at their own merits.
Watches mentioned in this post are listed below. Click to see details and buy them:
- https://www.creationwatches.com/products/hamilton-watches-250/hamilton-spirit-of-liberty-h42415102-automatic-mens-watch-16791.html
- https://www.creationwatches.com/products/hamilton-watches-250/hamilton-spirit-of-liberty-h42415101-automatic-mens-watch-16790.html
- https://www.creationwatches.com/products/hamilton-watches-250/hamilton-spirit-of-liberty-h42415501-power-reserve-automatic-mens-watch-16989.html
