Watching Movies: Cillian Murphy Wears Three Vintage Hamiltons As J. Robert Oppenheimer In Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’
A new film by Christopher Nolan is, more often than not, an event unto itself. His films always deliver for those of us who love the intersection of horology and cinema. In 2014, it was Interstellar and the Murph watch. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Nolan unleashed Tenet – and with it, a digital prop watch that re-imagined how time could be told. The one thing both watches have in common is that they come from the brand Hamilton – a company known for its involvement in the movie industry. The watches of Tenet and Interstellar were also conceived specifically for these Nolan films, which makes the association less of product placement and more a continuation of a certain filmmaking tradition of which Hamilton is very much a part.
I’ve covered both of those films rather extensively and spoken to the prop masters and production designers behind them. Nolan is as passionate as they come, and he’s worked well with the brand to bring these watches to the silver screen in unique ways. The Murph watch is a modern cult classic and is also the watch Nolan is known to wear daily.
Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan on the set of Oppenheimer. Image courtesy of Hamilton
This weekend, his latest feature – and possibly his greatest cinematic achievement – Oppenheimer hits cinemas everywhere. Continuing his past films, one of the great directors of our time turned once again to Hamilton for this period epic based around the eponymous Oppenheimer, the father of the Atomic Bomb.
Why We’re Watching
Oppenheimer – and “Barbenheimer” – fever is at its zenith this weekend. The run-up to both films has been a textbook exercise in marketing and is certainly putting butts in seats in theaters across the globe. When I got out of the five o’clock PM showing of Oppenheimer yesterday (the earliest possible showing there was), I entered a sea of pink in the lobby and concession area where moviegoers prepared for the 8:30 showing of Barbie. Some in my theater were getting set for part two of the Barbenheimer double feature. Needless to say, this is why we’re watching.
Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema behind the lens of an IMAX camera as Christopher Nolan directs Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer. Image courtesy of Hamilton
This film is nothing short of a passion project, a utilization of the film medium at its highest form. With Oppenheimer, Nolan cements himself as one of the all-time auteurs as he elevates the biopic in ways others wouldn’t dare. From filming the entire movie in IMAX format to the mixed use of color and B&W film stock to not using a single frame of CGI, Oppenheimer is an experience. And while we know the story, I hesitate to spoil the way the film tells it.
But what I can spoil are the watches that Nolan and his team chose to populate it. For Oppenheimer himself, actor Cillian Murphy wore three distinct Hamilton watches in a film that spans roughly 40 years, from the 1920s to 1960s. Unlike the timepieces in Interstellar or Tenet, these were not created for the film but are actually vintage models pulled from the Hamilton archives (i.e. not a re-edition a la Indiana Jones).
The Hamilton Cushion B (left), Lexington (middle), and Endicott (right) models used in the film Oppenheimer. Image courtesy of Hamilton
The models themselves are the Cushion B with its ornate handset and Deco numerals, the black and white Endicott, and the Lexington with its applied numerals. The watches on Oppenheimer’s wrist do not get a ton of screen time as the character wears his long sleeves tightly. It’s honestly hard to make out which watch we’re seeing when one peeks out from under his wrist at any point in the film. However, it is possible to surmise which watch is being worn based roughly on the years of production.
The Cushion B watch dates back to the early 1930s, the Endicott toward the end of that decade, while the Lexington seems to have been made prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, with a rather short production run into the early 1940s. While it’s hard to take it all in on the first viewing of a film, it appears as though the Cushion B and Endicott watches are most visible in Oppenheimer. If you see otherwise, please let me know. I’ll be catching a second viewing in 70mm soon anyway, to be sure.
Hamilton Endicott. Image courtesy of Hamilton
Hamilton Cushion B. Image courtesy of Hamilton
Hamilton Lexington. Image courtesy of Hamilton
Murphy’s Oppenheimer wasn’t the only character to wear a vintage Hamilton in this one. Matt Damon’s Lieutenant General Leslie Groves Jr. wore the Hamilton Military Ordnance and Piping Rock, while Emily Blunt’s Kitty Oppenheimer wore the Lady Hamilton A-2.
Hamilton Military Ordnance (left) and Piping Rock (right). Image courtesy of Hamilton
Hamilton A-2. Image courtesy of Hamilton
It would have been far too easy to utilize Hamilton’s vast catalog of modern vintage-inspired pieces. It shows Nolan’s attention to detail to take a known American watchmaker of its day in a complicated tale of American history – and reach back into the archives to do it right.
When We’re Watching
Towards the middle of the film, Oppenheimer and his team are getting ready to do the first test of the bomb they have spent considerable time developing. Just before the bomb drops and the practically-created explosion goes off (again, no CGI in this film), we see a medium close-up of his wrist showing what appears to be either the Endicott or the Cushion B.
Image courtesy of Hamilton
A few years after the tragic events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer faces an issue with his security clearance with the United States government. In a scene with Robert Downey Jr.’s Lewis Strauss in his ornate living room, we see a quick shot of the Hamilton Endicott with its applied numerals beneath the cuff on Oppenheimer’s wrist.
Oppenheimer (starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Matt Damon) is directed by Christopher Nolan with props by Guillaume DeLouche. It is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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