In today’s post, I’m going to write about Hamilton Khaki Pilot Automatic review, which if you notice is also called the Hamilton Interstellar watch.
It’s actually the same watch model worn by Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) in the 2014 sci-fi blockbuster “Interstellar”. Without wasting any more time, let’s get on to the Hamilton Khaki Pilot review.
Hamilton Khaki Pilot Specification (H64615135)
Diameter: 42 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Case: Stainless steel
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Dial: Black dial
Watch Crystal: Sapphire Crystal
Hands: Skeleton sword shaped hands with Superluminova lume
Markers: Numeral markers
Movement: Swiss ETA Caliber 2834-2 Automatic Self-wind movement (Update July 2018: the watch currently uses Hamilton’s H-40 automatic movement)
Movement Features: 25 Jewels, 28800 vibrations per hour or 8 beats per second
Accuracy: +- 15 seconds per day
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Water Resistance: 100 m
Other Features: Date display, Full day display, Exhibition caseback
Best Place To Buy: Amazon
Screen grab of a scene from Interstellar. Pictured above is Matthew McConaughey wearing the Hamilton Khaki Pilot
Hamilton Interstellar Watch
The full name of this Hamilton Interstellar watch is quite long – It’s actually Khaki Aviation Pilot Day Date H64615135 (taken from Hamilton’s website) but it’s better known just as Hamilton Khaki Pilot or Khaki Aviation.
It’s worn by Matthew McConaughey in the sci-fi movie “Interstellar“. Hamilton sure knows how to market their watches by partnering with movie studios.
But one thing I’ve gotta admit is this watch really looks great on Matthew McConaughey in the film. Hamilton also produced another watch specially for the movie but sadly it’s not mass produced for their customers.
Large Aviation Dial For Easy Reading Of Time
The watch has classic aviation watch styling all over it. The first thing I noticed was the big markers which definitely help to make the watch easy to read.
It’s in silver, catches light beautifully and contrasts nicely with the black dial. One unique thing is the main markers are the 60-minutes markings – something that I’ve seen in many aviation watches.
It’s a bit different than normal 12-hour markers and will take some time to get used to but on the other hand, it’s a nice change from a normal watch.
If you feel that you will not be able to tell time easily because of the minute markings, don’t worry as Hamilton also put a 12-hour markers.
It’s positioned at the inner center of the dial, outside of the inner circle. This is nice touch and nicely pulled off by the brand. It gives this normal watch a little bit complexity to its dial.
At the top is a day window with full wordings which is something that I really like. It’s quite boring having to read short-forms of day display in normal watches so having a full word on this watch is certainly a breath of fresh air.
At the bottom is the date window. Some people complaints that the date is too small to be seen, but I beg to differ.
It’s in white color and highly contrasts with the surrounding black dial – this will make it very legible to read.
To have date and day function on a watch is something that I’ve always recommend, especially for a watch intended to be used as a daily beater. It gives the wearer a lot of functionality.
For a start, you don’t have to take out your smartphone just to know the time anymore =)
The hands are beautifully designed too. The minute and hour hands have skeleton and sword shapes, something that’s quite rare.
I also like how Hamilton plays with both of these: the hour hand has the empty skeleton at the tip while the minute hand got the empty space at the bottom part.
And the empty spaces ends/starts from the same inner circle line too! That’s an incredibly nice design by the team.
Another thing I have to mention is the tip of the seconds hand stops precisely on the edge of the outer edge minute markings – another great detail.
The amount of thoughts put into this watch design really astounds me. Not to mention the symmetry that the dial holds – it’s totally amazing to look at.
I’m always a big fan of details on watches as it really fascinates me. Having a watch with many details are incredible and you will find yourselves always looking at that small perfectly executed detail.
Solidly Crafted Stainless Steel Case
The case of the Hamilton Khaki Pilot automatic watch is proportioned nicely at 42 mm diameter which is the perfect size for a casual watch like this.
It can fit most men’s wrist nicely. At 11 mm thick, it’s also quite thin too which means it is not too heavy on wrist. The lug width is 20 mm which comes with a brushed stainless steel bracelet from the box.
Some distinctive characteristics of the watch case are the curves and layers of the stainless steel case.
Instead of having a normal straight sides, the curve has subtle curves at its sides. The case is brushed, but has a polished strip between the side and top of the lug.
This kind of detail reminds me of Seiko with their curving and inter-layer brush and polish finish (see this post about the Seiko SARB033 to see it).
It’s really nice to see Hamilton use this finish on this watch as it makes the case more refined and more exciting to look at instead of the boring straight sides.
The bezel on the other hand is highly polished and sloped from the body to the sapphire watch crystal at the top.
Sapphire crystal is the best material for watch crystal due to its resistant to scratching. You can use a watch with sapphire crystal and it will still look pristine after many years (read my introduction to watch crystal types here for more info).
Nowadays, sapphire is the common crystal used in most Swiss watches, though the same cannot be said for watch brands from other countries (yes, I’m talking about you Seiko).
On the back is an open caseback to view the ETA 2834-2 movement (more on this movement later).
Despite this, the watch has a water resistance rating of 100 m. All in all, this is a watch with perfectly executed stainless steel case.
It has unique curves at the sides and its lugs which are really nice to look at. The usage of sapphire crystal will give the owner an assurance that the watch crystal is well protected from scratches.
Swiss ETA Caliber 2834-2 Automatic Movement
Inside the Khaki Pilot is an ETA 2834-2 automatic movement. Being an automatic, it means the watch don’t use battery.
Instead it uses a self-winding mechanism to recharge the watch’s mainspring. This mainspring is the one responsible to “move” the watch by slowly winding out.
After 38 hours, the mainspring will exhaust its tension and need to be rewind again by rotating the crown. But since this is an “automatic” watch, the owner can rewind it just by simply wearing the watch.
The self winding mechanism using rotor (the half circle metal seen from the open caseback) will rotate when our hands move – and wind the mainspring.
Simply using the watch everyday will keep it running, and there is no need to change the battery at all (unlike those normal and boring quartz watches =p).
The movement features 25 Jewels, with 28800 vibrations per hour or 8 beats per second. This mid-high beats gives the watch a beautiful sweeping second hand which is prettier than 6 beats movement normally found in Japanese watches.
The accuracy is quite good. Even though it has a published accuracy of +-15 seconds per day, the actual accuracy as testified by its owners give it around +-6 seconds per day, well within COSC Chronometer range.
A video showing the Hamilton Khaki Pilot up close
Conclusion
Overall, this is a watch that is good looking with unique look on it. There is no doubt why Christopher Nolan and team chose this watch to be used by Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar.
The well thought dial design, with lots of details really astound me. The case also is carved with beautiful curves and comes with brush and polish finishing.
The usage of a tried and tested ETA 2834-2 movement with sapphire watch crystal helps to give assurance to its owner that the watch can withstand everything thrown at it.
It can even survive intergalactic journey for god’s sake =)
Hope you find this Hamilton Khaki Pilot review helpful. If you guys have any questions about this cool Interstellar watch, feel free to drop it down at the comments section below. Till next time!
Cheers!
Isaac.
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Can this watch act as a chronograph?
Hi Jack. Unfortunately it’s only a normal watch. You can read my guide here on what’s the difference of chronograph and what you should expect from it. An example of chronographs that I’ve reviewed are Citizen Blue Angels, Bulova Marine Star, and Seiko Flightmaster.
Hamilton has been slowly phasing out the ETA 2834-2 movement in exchange for their proprietary H-40 movement in this particular watch since 2015.
If you purchase this watch brand new you will get the newer movement regardless of what any website says. I ordered mine directly from Hamilton a couple of months ago thinking I was getting the older movement (their website still lists the ETA movement in the specifications). I spoke with them and they told me they would try to find one with the older movement; however, even they were unable to locate any after weeks of calling their distributors.
Just wanted your readers to be aware of this beforehand. You can do your own research on the newer H-40 movement. Personally, I think I like it better.
Thanks for the info! A quick check on Hamilton’s site shows the Khaki Pilot now uses the new H-40 auto movement. It also has an 80 hours power reserve though I think it might have a slower beat rate at 6 beats vs. the 8 beats on the ETA. Thanks for the heads up man!
The Powermatic 80 is still an ETA 2834-2, just with a fixed laser calibrated balance bridge and a lower beat frequency. The is no noticeable reduction in accuracy (In fact I am getting +/-3 seconds with this watch). Early Powermatic watches still have ETA 2834-2 printed on the case back…and that is not inaccurate.
Thanks Doug for the insight. Never knew that before. By the way just to add that even though the Powermatic movement has lower beat rate compared to the ETA (6 vs 8 beats per second), it actually does not have a big visual difference in my opinion. The sweeping second hand action of both movements looks similar to my eyes..
My only issue with these Powermatic watches is how manufacturers (especially Tissot) seems so proud of it and print the word “Powermatic” on the dial! I’m someone that likes his watches to be simple and proper and that word placement just seems out of place. The only signatures that I prefer on my watches are the brand name, huge water resistance rating (200 m and above) and chronometer (or even better “spring drive”) =P
I just got the interstellar watch from amazon, it has a different rotor, & powermatic 80, I would think u would want the excact 1 from movie, amazon fckn lies by showing pictures of classic, but sends you 2017 version. Powermatic was just put in all the watches last year. Is the powermatic still a interstellar watch. Wasn’t out in 2014.
Hi George. Are you sure you ordered the same watch from amazon, the watch with model no H64615135? A quick check shows that this Interstellar watch is still in production, as shown by Hamilton’s own website (link here). If you did get the wrong watch, I suggest you file a complain and get refund or exchange with the correct watch.
Hi author, actually my husband does not like this silver chain watches . He used to wear leather straped watches. I have read it’s review and found it quite classy and elegant with automated features. I want to ask you that is there any leather straped watch by Hamilton having same features as in that automatic interstellar watch? Let me know because I need to order one for my husband ‘s birthday as a gift. Thanks
Hi Arooj. Thanks for visiting my blog. After a quick check on Hamilton and Amazon websites, they did produce this Hamilton Khaki Pilot watch but with black leather strap. You can check it out by clicking this LINK. Your husband is truly lucky to be getting this beautiful watch as his birthday gift. Let me know how it works out ya =)