The watch is synonymous with Ghostbusters, even though Seiko had actually released this watch for real a year before the movie came out. The piece was produced in very low numbers and, by today’s standards, the then-revolutionary technology is pretty underwhelming. The Voice Note should really be called the Voice Snippet: it had the ability to record in only four or eight-second increments. Still enough time to pick up on EVPs, apparently.
The Hamilton Khaki Navy BelowZero in Tenet
Making watches for Kubrick and turning out the first digital timepiece in history goes a long way in solidifying a brand’s Hollywood bona fides. Accordingly, Christopher Nolan has turned to Hamilton for several of his time-warping epics. For Tenet, Hamilton produced a prop watch that combined an analog display with a digital countdown timer. Hamilton CEO Vivian Stauffer told GQ the watch was made in total secrecy—not even the people who invented it knew how it would be used. In trailers, it looks like the watch counts down to something—but it’s unclear even to those who have seen the movie.
For now, the watches in Tenet are merely props. But those holding out hope for an exact replica can take comfort in the fact that Hamilton has a habit of putting out watches made for Nolan years after the release of the film they appeared in. The “Murph” watch Matthew McConaughey used to communicate with his daughter through morse code in 2015’s Interstellar just came out last year.
James Bond’s Rolex Submariner 5513 in Live and Let Die
This is a bit of a twofer. The Rolex Submariner is obviously a real watch, but it was modified extensively for 007. This particular watch, which came up for auction in 2015, doesn’t even have its original movement anymore. In its place is a fan-like mechanism that made it possible for the bezel to spin around and serve as a tiny, portable buzzsaw. In the movie, the Submariner also works as a super-powerful magnet that can deflect bullets—and, in one scene, unzip a dress. A Rolex that can assist a secret agent in saving the world? Talk about form and function.
Agent J’s Hamilton Ventura XXL in Men in Black
Funnily enough, one of the strangest most futuristic-looking watches on this list wasn’t exactly a custom-made piece for Men in Black. In fact, the Hamilton Ventura might be more famous for its appearance on Elvis’s wrist in the movie Blue Hawaii. However, for Men in Black, Hamilton stretched the Ventura out, emphasizing its triangular shape and making an even odder piece for Will Smith’s Agent J. It’s hard to believe this watch wasn’t produced with alien-fighting special agents in mind. The sleek piece could be a UFO—the crown on the right side looks a lot like the ship’s space-age engine.