These days, it’s rarely surprising when a Hamilton shows up on screen. More than just about any other brand, Hamilton has made screen time a part of not only its marketing, but its identity, with Hamilton watches showing up in everything from last year’s Indiana Jones outing to The Martian, The Avengers, or any number of Christopher Nolan films. The Hamilton Murph in particular has been a massive hit for the brand, despite the polarizing nature of the film which inspired it.
All that said, when I saw the press release for a Dune: Part Two-inspired watch hit my inbox, I was genuinely taken by surprise. A big part of what set Villeneuve’s Dune apart was the otherworldly visual language that he, and his team, created. There is very little in the movie that feels familiar, and there is nothing that feels out of place. To add something to that world was surely no small feat, and Hamilton worked closely with the film’s prop master, Doug Harlocker, to build a watch that would feel at home in the hyper-specific world that is Villeneuve’s Arrakis.
The prop built for the Dune sequel
The resulting prop is unlike anything we have seen before, and looking at stills of the “watch” does little to clue us in on its function. This shouldn’t come as much of a shock — per Hamilton, the need for a Fremen watch came directly from Denis Villeneuve, but they were not clued in on what function the device would serve in the movie, or indeed why the Fremen would need a watch at all. It’s not even clear that the filmic device is actually a watch, it may just be packaged in something approximating the shape of one, albeit one sufficiently greebley so as to fit in with Dune: Part Two’s lived-in sci-fi aesthetic.
I’m certain that those looking to perfectly recreate Timothée Chalamet’s Stillsuit will soon be able to find replicas of the prop watch on RPF and Etsy, but for anyone perhaps slightly less patient — and who actually wants to be able to read the time on their Dune watch, Hamilton has you covered. To celebrate the release of Dune: Part Two and their small part in the movie, Hamilton is releasing a pair of prop-inspired Venturas.
The Ventura has a long on-screen history and is best associated with Elvis, who wore the Ventura on screen as early as 1961’s Blue Hawaii. The Ventura’s out-there shape and first-of-its-kind electric movement have made it a darling of science fiction, having made appearances on the original Twilight Zone television series, as well as being the go-to model for agents in the Men in Black films. Now, they serve as the perfect platform to bring the Dune watch to the real world.
The first of the two models, the Hamilton Ventura XXL Bright Dune Limited Edition is a familiar one. Hamilton first released the standard version of this watch in late 2022, and what we have today is very much a reworking of that watch. The Dune limited edition replaces the earlier release’s light-up red electric circuit motif (triggered by a case-side button at the nine o’clock position) with a light-up blue design inspired by the face of the prop. Besides this change, the watch maintains the format of the Ventura XXL Bright.
The Ventura XXL Bright is not a small watch — the PVD-coated black case measures in at a beefy 52mm x 46.6mm. Thanks, I’m sure, in part to its quartz movement (necessitated by its electronic features), the watch does maintain a thin profile at just 11.8mm. I’d be hard-pressed to call a big, black, glowing watch subtle, but the Ventura XXL Bright is certainly the more conventional choice for those looking to display their Dune love on their wrist.
On the other hand, the second of the releases is a little bit more special. The Hamilton Ventura Edge Dune Limited Edition finds a happy medium between the classic Ventura shape and the prop worn in the movie. The Ventura Edge takes the familiar Ventura case design and replaces its swooping retro-futuristic lines with a brutalist angular shape. The dial is replaced by a prop-inspired molded frame holding in place a divided digital display.
The same vibrant blue as on the XXL Bright makes several appearances here, most notably on the crown, as a glowing element in the center of the dial, and as the backlight to the digital display. The Ventura Edge is slightly narrower and taller than its sibling, coming in at 51mm x 47.2mm, and is a little thicker, at 13.8mm.
A molded rubber strap completes the look and makes for a genuinely different take on the Ventura. In fact, I can’t off the top of my head recall another instance of Hamilton putting a digital display in the Ventura case. If this watch is any indicator, maybe they should consider it.
Both the Hamilton Ventura XXL Bright Dune Limited Edition and the Hamilton Ventura Edge Dune Limited Edition are available now. The Hamilton Ventura XXL Bright Dune Limited Edition is priced at $1,750 in an edition of 3,000, and the Hamilton Ventura Edge Dune Limited Edition is priced at $2,500 in an edition of 2,000. Hamilton
