This is a story about four millimeters, or the lack thereof. It's a familiar tale in recent years as watch sizes come into more harmony with average wrist sizes, but in some cases it's especially noteworthy. We loved when Hamilton announced in 2019 that the prop watch created for and featured prominently in the 2014 movie Interstellar was going into general production — but it was kind of, well, ginormously proportioned.
That all changes now. Hamilton has announced a new version of that watch in a 38mm-wide case, down from the original's 42mm.
Strictly speaking, 42mm doesn't qualify as supersized in the watch world, where timepieces can be much, much bigger. But the Murph's facade is mostly dial and very little bezel, which tends to give watches an even bolder look than their proportions would suggest. Most importantly, though, the 2019 Murph had a lengthwise (lug-to-lug) measurement of 52mm, and that's fine for the big-wristed, but resulted in a watch disappointingly unwearable for many.
With the new version's decreased diameter, of course, also comes proportionally shorter case at 44.7mm. But there are some other little differences to this version that we, at least, consider improvements. The 2019 Murph had some kitschy details that nodded to the movie, like markings on the seconds hand that spelled "eureka" in Morse code. This is just a great-looking watch with a cool reason for existing, and it doesn't need those gimmicky, "commemorative" details — so we're glad to see that the new 38mm version doesn't include it. (The watch in the movie didn't have it either, after all.)
In Hamilton's Khaki Field collection, the smaller version just feels more appropriate for this kind of watch, even if 42mm was accurate to the movie prop. The new Murph is otherwise a lot like the old Murph with an 11.1mm thickness and an H-10 (ETA) automatic movement inside with 80 hours of power reserve.
The other good news is that the reduction of those few millimeters of steel also makes the 38mm Murph even more affordable ($100 less) than its bigger sister, at a pretty reasonable $895. It's available online from the the brand now.
