The Soundgarden tune Black Hole Sun always comes to mind when I look at this Hamilton with its unusual black sunburst pattern dial. This really is a great looking watch which somehow manages to be both classic and different at the same time. It’s not all looks though; the ETA Swiss movement is a strong runner. Interestingly, the balance shock spring design resembles Seiko’s diashock design in both form and function. Seiko released the first diashock watch in 1956, while ETA ramped up production of the 1080 caliber in the mid 1950s, so it’s not clear who was first here.

I love the elegant black dial of this Benrus with its slender indices and single numeral at the 12:00 position, and the slender stainless steel monoblock case really wears well, although the thru-crystal design makes adjustments a bit more of a headache than most. Overall this is a great example of 1960s Benrus style. The swiss 17 jewel movement is by ETA.