By Patrick Kansa
If you’ve followed my watch writing for any amount of time, you know that I’ve spilled plenty of digital ink singing the praises of the Jazzmaster lineup from Hamilton. What you may not be aware of is that I’m also quite a fan of The Dark Knight. While this latest Jazzmaster isn’t really a Batman-licensed product, it’s the first reference I thought of when I heard the name.
That name, of course, is the Jazzmaster Face 2 Face. Rather than being some hideously scarred guy (Two Face) that decides your fate with a flip of the coin, though, the Jazzmaster allows you to change the look of your watch with just a flip of the case – you have your choice of a more classically-styled three-hander, or a sportier chronograph.
Now, I’ve played around with watches that have two movements in them before (See here), so I was a bit curious as to how Hamilton handled the reversing, especially as one of the movements is a chronograph (with it’s attendant pushers). You really should watch the video, but I can easily describe it – the pivot points are at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock.
This means the chrono pushers on the external case stay in place, and only mate to the recessed pushers (like you may have used to set a day or date function on a watch) when the chronograph dial is facing upwards. This means, of course, you functionally have two watches within the slightly oval case (53mm by 44mm), allowing for tracking of two time zones, or just a change in style.
The crystals also play into the changing style – the classic side features a clear sapphire crystal, while the chronograph one has a bit of a smoky tint to it. Regardless of which side is up, you’ll see the skeletonized rotor of the opposing movement. Frankly, I like watching a movement at work, and this is a fun way to both tell the time and see a movement working, without taking the watch off of your wrist.
Oh, and those movements aren’t any slouches either – the chronograph is driven by the ETA 2094, and the classic face is driven by an ETA 2671. In other words, some quality Swiss movements are tucked away tidily into this case. I think that this is certainly a fun idea. Many times there are larger cases that have a lot of empty space in them. With the Face 2 Face, they’ve just made a little more space, and made interesting use of the space afforded.
Of course, when you factor in the limited-edition nature of the watch (only 888 pieces), and the fact that you’ve got two ETA movements inside, it’s not much of a shock to hear that pricing is firmly in luxury territory: 6195 USD / 4900 € / 5900 CHF. Still, for that sort of coin, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more visually interesting (and no doubt fun to play with) watch to place on your wrist.
Patrick Kansa – Contributing Writer
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