Hamilton Ventura watches

The Hamilton Ventura is the brand's triangular-cased watch, made today in automatic and quartz versions. Hamilton launched the original in 1957 as one of the asymmetric case styles of the Hamilton Electric 500, which Hamilton describes as the world's first electric, battery-powered watch. Richard Arbib designed the case.

Elvis Presley wore a Ventura and featured it in the film Blue Hawaii, and the modern line leans on that connection. Hamilton presents the Ventura Elvis80 Auto as a tribute to him: it runs on the automatic H-10 calibre with an 80-hour power reserve, a figure the brand ties to what would have been Presley's 80th birthday. The Elvis80 also comes as a quartz and as a Skeleton with the skeletonised H-10-S.

Around that core the shape stretches a long way. The Ventura Quartz 24 is a 24 mm watch with a mother-of-pearl dial, the Ventura S Quartz a 34.5 mm one, and the Open Heart Auto measures 34.7 mm. At the other end, the Ventura XXL Auto and American Classic Ventura XXL are 45.5 mm and 11.3 mm thick, with the ETA 2824-2 and a date. The Chrono Quartz 32.3 adds a chronograph and date; its PVD Yellow versions are gold-coloured PVD over steel, not gold. The Ventura Skeleton Auto (H24595331) is limited to 999 pieces.