Hamilton Otis 'Reverso'

We love vintage watches for all sorts of reasons, chief among them being the stories they tell. Well, this one has a hell of a story. 

You’ve no doubt heard of the Reverso, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s famous reversible wristwatch, patented in the early 1930s. And if we were to show you a version of said wristwatch made by Hamilton — an American-founded company based halfway across the world — from the same decade you’d no doubt cry ‘foul.’ 

Well, you’d be half-right: Hamilton did indeed merely use the design of the Reverso for its Otis model, named after Otis Bryan, a TWA executive, chief pilot, and close friend of then-Hamilton vice president Ross Atkinson. However, Hamilton didn’t just copy the Reverso — it asked permission. In 1938, the American watchmaker agreed to pay Jaeger-LeCoultre $0.60 per Otis watch produced in a licensing agreement. How’s that for some cool horological history!

An unmarked Otis in good condition would be a special enough find — these watches had a relatively short production run. However, this one is even better: Dating to the 1930s, it’s beautifully inscribed on the back “To my dear husband on our twentieth anniversary with love Julia.” And if that sentiment weren’t enough, the reverse of the caseback features a gorgeous Masonic crest, executed in fine detail by someone who was clearly a master craftsperson.

Housed in a 28mm 14K yellow gold-filled case, it features a beautiful, brushed silver-tone dial with applied stylized Arabic indices, an outer railroad minute track, a matching gold lance handset, and a sub-seconds register at 6:00. Powered by the manually wound Hamilton Caliber 980, it comes paired to a taupe suede leather strap with a gold plated pin buckle.

Honestly, what can we say — this time capsule of a timepiece is the reason so many of us are so deeply fascinated by vintage watches. It’s the type of watch that deserves to live its second life with someone who will appreciate its charm and its story.

If that’s you, then you know what to do!