Unboxing and taking a closer look at the Hamilton PSR

In this video I’m unboxing a Hamilton PSR (Ref. H52414130) wristwatch. The PSR is a modern interpretation of the first all-electronic digital watch, the Pulsar watch from the 1970s.

A Pulsar P2 was prominently used by Roger Moore as James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973).

Hamilton has recreated the watch in virtually the same case design and cool red digits, but with modern and more energy efficient screens to get that effect.

Watch the Hamilton PSR unboxing video on YouTube

or watch it below:

After taking off the white sleeve, we find a black Hamilton box, which contains a nice wooden Hamilton box.

The watch I’m looking at is the Steel watch, similar to the movie watch, but Hamilton also offers a limited edition Gold version and that gold version comes in a special PSR branded box.

Read more about both new watches in this news Article

Taking of the protective stickers shows the watch in its full glory. The PSR looks very good. It's smaller than I expected, but actually very similar to original. Unfortunately I don't have the original to compare, but I believe it's virtually the same case size and design.

The watch is very thick, it could have been made thinner, more flat, but I guess this really gives that vintage futuristic feel of the original.

Hamilton PSR in the box with manual and cards
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The original Pulsar came out in 1970, exactly 50 years ago, when Pulsar was a brand of the American Hamilton Watch Company. With an 18-carat gold case, the world's first all-electronic digital watch was also the first to use a digital display – created with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A button was pressed to display the time.

The watch was very expensive at the time, with the first Pulsar P1 selling for for $2100, more than a gold Rolex at the time.

The LED technology was quickly replaced by LCD, since the LED was not very energy efficient, even with the watch only showing the time when the button was pressed.

After the P1 came the P2 in 1973, a more affordable and steel version. It was this P2 model that appeared in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

The watch can be seen on Bond's wrist in the first scene after the opening credits of the film, when M comes knocking at Bond's door and Bond checks his Pulsar P2 watch to see what time it is: 5:48 am.

Roger Moore as James Bond checks the time on his Pulsar P2
photo © Danjaq, United Artists

Bond demonstrates how the watch works: to see the time, he pushes the button on the side of the watch, so that the LED digits light up. Bond demonstrates this twice, to make sure the audience sees this neat feature of the watch.

This was probably one of the most unique, technically advanced and modern watches to appear in a Bond film. Audiences must have been amazed by the digital electronic wrist computer watch, at a time when computers still were the size of a large room.

In the film, Moneypenny also comes to Bond's apartment and hands him his Rolex Submariner, “Q has repaired your wristwatch”.

James Bond wears a Pulsar P2 while holding his Rolex Submariner in Live And Let Die
photo © Danjaq, United Artists

We see two Bond watches in the same scene. Something also seen in Thunderball when Sean Connery as Bond receives his (Breitling) Geiger Counter watch while wearing his Rolex Submariner. And Daniel Craig gets his new Seamaster 300 watch from Q in SPECTRE while wearing (and then taking off) his Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra.

The back of the new PSR watch features the engraving of the Pulsar Star after which the original brand was named.

Hamilton PSR caseback with pulsar star
photo © Bond Lifestyle

A Pulsar star is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles.

Pulsar stars have been given names that start with PSR, so that's where Hamilton probably got the idea for the name of the Hamilton PSR watch.

The watch clasp is a double folding clasp and integrated bracelet, which you might have to resize to make it fit.

The Hamilton PSR features a hybrid display mixing reflective LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and emissive OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) technologies.

The beautiful red digits on the screen of the Hamilton PSR light up when you press the button
photo © Bond Lifestyle

Pressing the button will once again bring up light red digits in the familiar ‘digit dot’ style, but this time in OLED, while the energy efficient LCD display ensures that time is also permanently visible in daylight conditions.

Pressign the button again will show the seconds.

The display has very low energy consumption and should last several years.

Hamilton really created something special here with the two screens (LCD and OLED) to bring back that amazing red dot screen at the push of a button.

I'm definitely a big fan of this watch, the look and feel are exactly like the original Pulsar P2 (read more about that watch here) while it is now much more usable.

Prices are €695 / $745 / £675 for the stainless steel version (Ref. H52414130, buy at the Hamilton website), and €945 / $995 / £900 for the gold version (Ref. H52424130, buy at Hamilton). Note that the gold version comes in special box and is limited to 1970 pieces (a reference to the year the Pulsar P1 was revealed).

The Hamilton PSR watches are available now at the Hamilton website or your local high end jeweller.

So what do you think of the Hamilton PSR watch? Let me know in the comments!

Read more about the Pulsar P2

Watch the Hamilton PSR Unboxing on Youtube

Read more about the steel and Gold Hamilton PSR

Visit the PSR page on HamiltonWatch.com