The trend of vintage-inspired watches is still going strong in 2017 and one of the most talked about watches at Baselworld this year was the Intra-Matic 68 by Hamilton. Not only is it inspired by vintage Hamilton chronograph replica watches, it also has a reverse panda dial, which is in fashion right now. To me, this new Hamilton Intra-Matic 68 is a logical progression from the two-handed Intra-Matic watch that was introduced by Hamilton in 2012. The two are not identical, but similar in spirit. So does the Intra-Matic 68 live up to all of its hype? Let’s take a closer look.
Now, a little history lesson is required before we begin, because it is necessary to understand the origins of this watch. The Hamilton Intra-Matic 68 fake watches, as its name might suggest, based on a vintage chronograph from the ’60s called the Chronograph B, which has a reverse panda dial with a black background and white registers. There’s a Chronograph A too – surprise, surprise – and it has a reverse configuration with white background and black registers.
Hamilton has history in creating modern reissues of vintage chronographs. Remember the Hamilton Pan Europ from 2011? That particular chronograph was also based on a vintage Hamilton watch design from the ’70s and it’s a handsome watch with lots of fans. And if anything, I think the Intra-Matic 68 looks even better.
We begin with the case, which is probably the most “controversial” thing about this watch. It’s not the design that is contentious, it has pretty straight lugs and a thin bezel, which are both design traits that you will see on vintage watches. What is widely debated about this watch, however, is the size. You see, at 42mm it is a tad large, especially when you consider its vintage roots and somewhat dressy overall aesthetics. Because of the large case size, the crown and pushers look a little oversized too. That said, I really like the vintage-style chronograph pushers here.
The bigger problem for me is the thickness. Hamilton black dial fake watches didn’t reveal the thickness but it must be around 14mm or so, and that’s too thick for a watch like this. Bear in mind, a Rolex Submariner is about 13mm. But I guess that can’t be helped considering it has an automatic-winding movement (more on the movement later).
The good thing about the Intra-Matic 68’s rather beefy case is the water resistance. When I first saw the watch, I thought it would only be 50 meters tops, but Hamilton says the Intra-Matic 68 can do 100 meters. This is a refreshing change from the usual 30 or 50 meters that we often get from a dressy chronograph watch, and not to mention that chronographs are also notoriously harder to make water-resistant.