Hamilton Introduces a Wild New Jazzmaster Face-2-Face

A few weeks ago, Zach Weiss told us about a little watch from Vario with a neat party trick. The Versa is actually two (quartz) watches in one, and thanks to a hinge, the dials can be flipped around to your liking, giving the owner options for a second time zone, or just a fun tactile sensation that is rarely seen at the Versa’s modest price point. Now, in a proverbial “Hold my beer…” moment, Hamilton has introduced a watch in their Face-2-Face series, a Jazzmaster that’s somehow both a business and a party on the front and back thanks to a clever rotating case design. 

The Face-2-Face III continues a line that Hamilton has been working with since 2013, creating elaborate double-sided dial watches within the updated Art Deco framework of the Jazzmaster collection. These watches take a maximalist approach that is the antithesis of Hamilton’s pilot and military watch bread and butter, but in doing so serve as a reminder of the brand’s sometimes surprising ability to create a design that is truly off the wall. This is the brand that created the X-01, after all. 

The Face-2-Face III starts with a 44mm case that can be flipped around on its axis by the wearer to display one of two distinct dials. The primary display is for time telling and chronograph functionality, while the secondary dial provides a view of the movement and a series of scales that one can use in concert with the chronograph. The architecture of the main dial is multi-layered, creating a sense of depth and additional complexity with the exposed date wheel, chronograph scales, and outer hour and minute scale built on multiple planes. The main dial is made up of largely gray and white tones, with a blast of blue at 6:00 in the form of the chronograph hour totalizer. 

The reverse side features an outer pulsometer and tachymetric scale, and a single chronograph seconds hand mounted at the center. The idea here, I suppose, is that if the chronograph needed to be engaged for either of those two functions, the watch could be easily “flipped” and the user would have a clear, unobstructed view of the scale they needed. It seems just as likely, though, that the decision was one driven by aesthetics. I wonder how practical a flippable case like this really is. I’d argue that it’s almost certainly not as practical as it is cool for the sake of being cool, but that’s not something to be taken for granted in watchmaking. The satisfying “click” of a hinged case locking into place is a unique pleasure. 

The watch is powered by Hamilton’s H-41 automatic chronograph movement with 60 hours of power reserve, and the chronograph can be operated while the case is in either position thanks to recessed buttons built into the case that line up with the large pushers in the customary positions. As you’d probably expect, the Face-2-Face III isn’t exactly slim and trim, and comes in at a total of 17.25mm tall. Not exactly under the radar, but all the better for showing off the watch’s more unique attributes. 

The Hamilton Jazzmaster Face-2-Face III is available now through authorized Hamitlon channels. The retail price is $2,995. Hamilton