Another Thing: How Hamilton’s Timepiece “Murph” Received Its Nickname

From its first onscreen appearance to this latest iteration, the watch has proved every bit as popular as the blockbuster that inspired it.

Article by Felix Scholz

Hamilton watchPhotograph by Jedd Cooney. Styled by Virginia van Heythuysen.

As a watchmaker, you know you’re onto a good thing when one of your timepieces gets a nickname. And for Hamilton, the Murph has been a very good thing indeed. The design, which draws on Hamilton’s rich legacy of military field watches, was originally a one-off prop watch made for Christopher Nolan’s sweeping space epic from 2014, “Interstellar”. Unlike most watches on the silver screen lucky enough to get a flash on the lead actor’s wrist, Hamilton’s, worn by the character Murphy “Murph” Cooper (played by Jessica Chastain), is an important plot device — but more than that, it’s a potent example of how an object can be imbued with great emotional weight.

While the watch initially wasn’t something you could buy, there was, unsurprisingly, demand from fans, leading to the release of the original 42-millimetre Murph in 2019.

A few years later, Hamilton again listened to the people and scaled down the watch to an even more wrist-friendly 38 millimetres. The latest evolution of the popular design sticks to the smaller size and adds a crisp white dialled version — with hour markers and hands filled with a warm-toned luminous material that evokes the patina of vintage watches. For those who prefer the black dial, there’s a new option there, too: a steel bracelet. Both versions are powered by Hamilton’s H-10 automatic movement, which offers 80 hours’ power reserve. From its first onscreen appearance to this latest iteration, the Murph has proved every bit as popular as the blockbuster that inspired it.

hamiltonwatch.com. Murph 38mm A$1,500.00