Welcome back guys, today we’re taking a look at the Hamilton Jazzmaster Rattrapante. A limited edition run of only 365 pieces – now this guys, is a proper limited edition. This fine watch had been lent to us from GemBijou’s curated collection – huge thanks to them for sending this out, and if you’re ever in Toronto I recommend you check out their store there.
So back to the watch here – We’re not talking about 5000 units of an Omega with a special blue dial. This one here from Hamilton is a truly unique watch that was created in an almost unobtainable quantity – while also being created with a super cool complication known as the Rattrapante, a complication normally found on Patek watches – and other horological wonders from that calibre of a brand.
About the Rattrapante
Just a little bit about the Rattrapante complication before we take a closer look.
The Rattrapante is a chronograph movement with an additional seconds hand, unlike the usual single seconds hand found on regular chronographs. Basically the addition of this second, seconds hand allows the time tracking of two moments, but it allows you to stop the tracking of one of them before the other. To stop the tracking of the first second hand, it takes one click of the pusher, and the second – second hand takes one more click. That’s it guys! Pretty simple. You could do this on your mobile phone’s – but as watch enthusiasts – this is the life we chose.
In reality this complication is actually fascinating to experience, and at first you might not notice the additional seconds hand hidden and tracking underneath the first one, that is until you start and stop them at different intervals.
Now, another name for the Rattrapante is also “double-chronograph” or split second chronograph. Somewhat easier to remember and pronounce.
A Closer Look
When handling this Jazzmaster you can really tell Hamilton put a little extra attention in to the design, knowing how much of a coveted watch they’d be creating. There’s a lot happening on the surface and underneath the dial. It’ll take a little while to familiarize yourself with the flow of this watch, and it’s best discovered while enjoying a glass of scotch or your favourite evening beverage.
The watch dial is layered beautifully, consisting of an outer ring reminiscent of a Sector dial, but it’s blended in the most peculiar way with a skeletonized section of the dial in the middle – almost like a very classy watch with a touch of daring modernism. It’s a bit like an open heart movement, but again it’s not that either – as what is viewable through the center of the dial is moving gears, rather than anything beating. To add to the complexity and uniqueness are the three sub dials at 12 – 6 – and 9. With the regular time seconds being displayed in the smaller sized sub-dial at 9 – O clock.
All the markers and Arabic numerals are applied, again adding to the depth of this fabulous display. With the bottom half of the Arabic numbers being inverted in a really cool mesmerizing fashion – one of my personal favourite aspects of this watch.
The brilliant idea to keep the Arabic numerals inverted along the bottom half adds symmetry and flow to the dial, a really genius way to keep such a complex watch looking legible. The dial is simply stupendous and I want to write more about it as it’s inspiring.
Case and Movement
As to be expected a watch with a chronograph function can usually come out on the larger end of the spectrum, now one with an additional complication to a regular chronograph is certainly going to be pushing the boundaries.
Our official number on this one is 44mm. So that’s what we see here, it is indeed a larger watch, too large for my 6.5 inch wrist to wear comfortably on a daily basis. But with that said if you’re a man with a large wrist – please begin your mission to seek out an example of this watch and add it to your collection. The watch is of course thick, but Hamilton played the sizing well by keeping the lugs short, and with a very aggressive curvature.
The movement is viewable from the back, another excellent design feature. If Hamilton went out of their way to make something so special why not allow it to be viewable from the top – and bottom? This is the self-winding Valjoux Automatic 7770 – not in-house to Hamilton but a movement with a really neat history. It has a unidirectional winding Rotor, and as shown on the dial sports a 1/8 seconds counter, 30 minutes counter, and 12 hour counter.
Final Impressions
Just to conclude on this watch, this is the literal embodiment of the opposite of what a Rolex watch is – or at least a hyped up Rolex Sports watch. Hamilton went out of their way and took some risks to make something different in a tiny quantity, it’s a hot watch not because everyone wants one, but because not many people know about it except for the well versed watch collector.
For more information visit the official Hamilton website here.
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