The connections between watches and science fiction are longer-established and deeper than many might think. Perfectly round watches of the 1950s, like the Audemars Piguet 5093, immediately picked up the nickname ‘disco volante’, or flying saucer, and as the genre acquired box-office success, watch brands were ready to create future-worthy timepieces. Hamilton created watches and clocks for Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968, and Seiko’s Alien watches have become cult classics of 1980s design. In between, the industry embraced otherworldly shapes and atypical displays, revelling in the 1970s’ enthusiasm for all things angular and unorthodox. In the early 2000s as a new generation of independent watchmakers set out to establish themselves, the world of sci-fi once again served up myriad sources of inspiration, with recognisable spaceship motifs at De Bethune and MB&F and an intergalactic aesthetic running through watches from Urwerk, Vianney Halter, Christophe Claret and many more.
This year watchmakers have once more ventured into outer space for our timekeeping needs, with a new generation of young watch brands showcasing sci-fi styles. At the same time, some major brands have drawn on retro designs to evoke a nostalgia for that great age of sci-fi cinema. Hamilton released a 50th anniversary tribute to one of its earliest digital watches, the Pulsar, in the form of the PSR 74. Available in steel or PVD-coated gold, the watch retains the distinctive red digital numerals of the originals as well as the cushion-shaped case and finely-tapered bracelet.
