Introducing the new hand-wound Intra-Matic Chronograph H from Hamilton

Hamilton is returning to their popular Intra-Matic Chronograph collection this year with a new model called the Chronograph H. Offered in two colorways, the new Chronograph H may look familiar, but the watch offers some significant changes from the existing Intra-Matic Auto Chrono (which we reviewed here) that have certainly caught our attention. The biggest of which is the use of a hand wound movement.

I’m a sucker for hand-wound chronograph, and the prospect of Hamilton bringing one to their mid-century Intra-Matic design language has been on my mind since the launch of the first 68 Auto Chrono in 2017. And here we are, with two new models called the Chronograph H, directly inspired by the Chronographs A and B of 1968, with a hand-wound movement developed for Hamilton, though still based on the ETA-7753. What’s more, they’ve removed the date window at 6 o’clock, leaving an open, clean design that feels authentically old-school. 

The two colorways are exactly what you’d expect in panda and reverse-panda configuration. The off-white dial gets a pair of black registers at 3 and 9 o’clock, while the black dial gets white units. Unlike the pior models we’ve seen in the Intra-Matic line, the tachymeter scale is color matched to the dial, reducing any possible fuss around the crisp contrast created by the dial colors and functions. 

The dial does make use of some faux-patina for the lume, but it doesn’t get in the way here and does a good job of not stealing attention from the design as a whole. The dial is otherwise sparsely populated, with a simple OG Intra-Matic logo at the top, and the word ‘Mechanical’ written at 6 o’clock, replacing the ‘Automatic’ found on the Auto Chrono watches.

Inside, Hamilton is the H-51, now providing 60 hours of reserve. Removing the rotor did save some thickness on the case, but sadly, not by much. The case now measures 14.35mm in thickness, compared to the 14.6mm of the automatic models. The fully polished case clocks in at 40mm and will come affixed to your choice of leather strap for $2,045 or period-appropriate mesh bracelet for $2,095. There’s a lot to love here and we applaud Hamilton for throwing a bone to the enthusiast crowd with this one. Keep an eye out for our hands-on impressions coming soon. Until then, learn more from Hamilton.