The New Hamilton Jazzmaster Skeleton Gets With New Sizes And Colours

The charm of a mechanical watch mostly lies in the fact it is a completely analogue experience. It’s the sensation of a rotor whizzing away as you move or wind a watch by hand, to power a mechanism of gears and levers to tell time the old-fashioned way that excites us the most. Usually, that spectacle is viewed only from the back, if at all, but in some cases, you get a glimpse of a watch’s inner workings from the front as well. One such watch is the Jazzmaster Skeleton, a long-standing model in the ever-popular Jazzmaster range by Hamilton. The new Jazzmaster Skeleton balances the classique aesthetics of the casual yet dressy watch and jazzes it up (pardon the pun) with new dial designs and colours, as well as a new 36mm size.

The cases look virtually identical in design to the previous editions of the Jazzmaster Skeleton (and Open Heart for that matter) yet Hamilton has slightly reworked them and now introduces it in a reduced 36mm alongside the existing 40mm size. According to Hamilton, the new design is more rounded yet the differences seem very minimal based on these images. We’d have to see them in the metal to be able to tell you more. The stainless steel cases come in at a height of 10.05mm (for the 36mm size) or 11.05mm (for the 40mm size), making both well-proportioned on the wrist. Elements that made the previous Jazzmaster Skeleton noteworthy, such as the sculpted lugs, have been retained in this new series. A sapphire crystal covers both the front and back, as you’d expect.

Hamilton splashes new and fresh colours on some of the new Jazzmaster Skeleton models, with striking plum or pink dials for the 36mm one. The colours are quite unexpected, yet we’ve seen in recent times that pretty much anything goes. The 40mm size comes with either a dark blue or white dial. The dials also feature a new design, that exposes some of the key elements of the movement underneath. The openworked sections on both sizes are exactly alike, with bevelled edges all around to create an appealing finish.

The difference in size between the 36mm and 40mm Jazzmaster Skeleton does mean that the proportions of the dial outside the cutouts are a bit different. This is most noticeable in the index at noon, which touches the opening over the balance wheel in the smaller of the two. Speaking of which, the indices are nickel-plated on all models except for the 40mm white dial, which gets rose-gold coloured indices. The same goes for the hands, which all get Super-LumiNova inserts for the hours and minutes by the way.

Inside all new references, we find the same Calibre H-10-S, Hamilton’s skeletonized version of Swatch Group’s widespread Powermatic 80 movement. This means it runs at a rate of 21,600vph, and has an anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring and 80 hours of power reserve. From the front, you get a glimpse of the running gear, the barrel and the balance wheel at noon, while from the back you can see the central rotor driving the movement.

Both sizes of the new Hamilton Jazzmaster Skeleton are fitted to either a leather strap, plum or pink for the 36mm variant and blue or green for the 40mm size, or a stainless steel bracelet with a folding clasp. Prices range from EUR 1,245 for the smaller one on leather or EUR 1,295 for a steel bracelet to EUR 1,325 for the larger of the two on a leather strap or EUR 1,375 for the bracelet.

For more information, please visit HamiltonWatch.com