HamiltonHamilton was created in the summer of 1892 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania by furnishing the failed Keystone Watch Company with the machinery of the failed Aurora Watch Company. The company was named for Andrew Hamilton, the owner of a 500-acre tract of land on which Lancaster Townstead was established in 1730. In 1742, Andrew's son, James, secured the original charter of government, and the settlement became a borough. The company was founded with the aim of producing Railroad grade watches, a newlyestablished market of the time.In a very short time the company became the leading manufacturer of high-grade watches, popular among railroad personnel, as well as the general population. Hamilton was run by engineers-turned-watchmakers, who were highly motivated to improve on existing horological methods. For instance, in 1931 Hamilton became the first company in the U.S. to secure the rights to Elinvar, a metal from which self-compensating balance springs were made. When Hamilton's engineers discovered that Elinvar fluctuatd in quality, they created their own lab, which resulted in the development of so called "Elinvar Extra", a much more stable metal. When the Navy asked for reliable marine chronometers, Hamilton, without any experience in this field, produced one of the most reliable marine chronometers ever made. Even the English, producers of the majority of marine chronometers, thought highly of Hamilton's chronometers, raving about the stability of Elinvar Extra. D.W. Evens of The Royal Observatory at Greenwch tested a Hamilton chronometer and reported an error of less than 0.005 seconds per day. This remarkable achievement was due in large measure to rigorous production control, and the employment of a Volet ovalizing balance.As early as the 1920's, Hamilton became one of the first American watch companies to concentrate production efforts on the wristwatch. In subsequent years, Hamilton became the leading American manufacturer of wristwatches for both men and women.The company never failed to experiment when a new idea arrived on the market, as demonstrated by the development of "Elinvar Extra", De Longe's escapement and special oils. In 1966, Stanley Kubrick asked Hamilton to create a futuristic watch for his popular film, "2001: A Space Odyssey".