Original Vintage Pulsar Wristwatch Papers, ca 1970
Fully illustrated, including operating instructions
Format: 8.5 x 15.5 cm x 3 panes
N.B.: Papers only.
Hamilton Pulsar History
Already having produced the first successful electric wristwatch in 1957, the Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster Pennsylvania again made worldwide headlines in 1970 with its launch of the Pulsar, a light-emitting-diode quartz wristwatch.
The origins of the Pulsar can be traced back to a 1966 visit to Hamilton by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and movie director Stanley Kubrick, who were working on their film 2001: A Space Odyssey and wanted to furnish the spaceship Discovery with futuristic timepieces. Hamilton agreed to design and build these free of charge in exchange for including the firm's name within the movie's credits.
For the landmark motion picture, Hamilton designed a table clock with a streamlined, elliptical, midnight-black plastic case. The hours, minutes, and seconds were displayed by luminous orange digits that lit up in synchrony with a quartz oscillator which selectively excited seven bar-shaped segments, combining to form a rectangular "8" as still used on liquid-crystal displays to this day.
Then, in February 1968, the results of a chronograph contest held by the Neuch?tel Observatory were made public, and quartz movements came out as the winners of all 15 first prizes.
Hamilton immediately decided they needed to also compete in this area, but Switzerland and Japan were so far ahead of their competitors that it seemed impossible to catch up. Hamilton needed to develop something fundamentally new!
As a result, they decided to miniaturize the Space Odyssey table clock, creating a wristwatch entirely devoid of moving parts. But, shortly after development began, Hamilton was contacted by Electro/Data, a small electronics firm in Garland, Texas. They had built a working prototype of a point-matrix light-emitting-diode (LED) display digital clock, and were prepared to miniaturize it down to wristwatch format.
A deal was struck, and Electro/Data produced the first 500 works in Texas, before production was transferred to Hamilton's factory in Lancaster. Initial unit manufacturing cost was $700, but ultimately could be reduced to just under $50.
The Pulsar immediately triggered a worldwide sensation. The Emperor of Abyssinia, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, U.S. presidents Nixon and Ford, Soviet Head-of-State Leonid Brezhnev, actors Jerry Lewis and Roger Moore, as well as numerous other celebrities ordered Pulsars in 1970 – but had to wait almost two years before taking delivery. The first series of 300 pieces was sold out within three days.
Equipped with a solid gold case and an integrated wristband and retailed for an extravagant $2,100. Despite the steep price, Hamilton received thousands of orders. A version in a steel case was soon launched, selling for a more modest $275.
As the years went by, other companies entered the market with mass produced inexpensive digital watches boasting permanently illuminated liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). These included Fairchild, Texas Instruments, Hughes Aircraft,Microma, National Semiconductors, etc. ; and by 1976, thirty million watches of this kind already were sold, the number climbing to 42 million only twelve months later.
Hamilton, who purchase all of the Pulsar's components from third-party suppliers and occupied itself solely with the task of assembling these parts was particularly vulnerable. Vertically integrated electronics companies enjoyed an unbeatable structural advantage, and Hamilton ceased operations in 1977.
The Pulsar brand and the related production know-how were first sold to Rhapsody Inc., a jewelry manufacturer in Philadelphia, ultimately came under Seiko's ownership.