The New, Earthy-Toned Hamilton Pan Europ Automatic Models (Live Pics & Price)

For over a decade now, vintage-inspired designs continue to reign in the watchmaking kingdom, with brands drawing from vast archives of the 1960s and 1970s. In 2011, Swatch Group’s Hamilton revealed the Pan Europ Chronograph, a limited re-edition of the 1971 Pan Europ Chronomatic, which was one of the first Swiss-made Hamilton watches, equipped with the now legendary Calibre 11 – one of the world’s first automatic chronograph movements, developed in cooperation with Breitling and Heuer on a base from Buren. A faithful re-interpretation differed from the emblematic original in many aspects; still, it was a hit, as it kept alive the vintage vibes and groovy moods, and it was trendy, too. The success led Hamilton to add a simplified non-chronograph version to the assortment in 2014, a day-date Pan Europ Automatic. The model remains in the Hamilton American Classic collection, executed in blue with white and red elements and with another capsule version in black and gold, and it is now joined by two new references, presented with light green or beige sunray-finished dials.

These new versions of the Hamilton Pan Europ come in the same 42mm cushion-shaped stainless steel case with the exhibition caseback fixed by four screws, with the “H” signed crown, which is still not the screw-in type, just like the 2014 edition. The case is fitted with a polished unidirectional rotating bezel with a burgundy aluminium insert, with numerals indicating 5-minute increments, and marked with one-minute differences for the first quarter-hour. These bezel features are standard and even compulsory for a diving watch. However, the Pan Europ Automatic, with just 50m water resistance, is not made for deep-water action; it is “the perfect passenger on a classic American road trip,” to quote the brand’s website.

The dials align with the 1960s and 1970s style Hamilton carefully recreates, earth-toned, with an already familiar layout and elements. The two apertures at 3 o’clock – the distinguishing feature – for the day and date indication are straight out from the era, as are the rectangular, sloped hour indices (with middle Super-LumiNova stripes), bulged-in the inner bezel ring with the minute track. The nickeled hour and minute hands are coated with Super-LumiNova, and the second hand is lacquered to match the bezel colour and the markings on the dial.

The movement driving the Hamilton Pan Europ Automatic is the H30, based on the ETA C07 series (Powermatic 80) calibre, a powerful entry-level workhorse first introduced in 2011 that is also found in many other watches across the Swatch Group brands. An evolution of ETA’s 2824-2 calibre, the Powermatic is a better and significantly improved movement with up to 80 hours reserve, among other features. Upgrades include reworking the kinematic chain from barrel to escapement, updating the escapement regulator, and putting in the Nivachron balance spring. 

The new Hamilton Pan Europ Automatic references are offered with a green or beige soft touch leather racing-style strap, closed with a pin buckle, with an additional brown or burgundy NATO textile strap, depending on the dial colour. The leather straps have holes cut on each side, with the walls of the cuts painted to match the dial colour, a nice touch. The watches are now available as non-limited editions, and the price is EUR 1,195 or USD 1,195.

For more information, please visit www.hamiltonwatch.com.