Actor Gary Lockwood spotted wearing a Hamilton

In 1968, Stanley Kubrick reached out to Hamilton Watch Company with an unusual brief: design wristwatches that would look entirely credible on the wrists of astronauts in the year 2001. The resulting custom prototypes, built specifically for the film's production and never sold commercially, became some of the most iconic prop timepieces in cinema history. Gary Lockwood, playing mission crew member Dr. Frank Poole aboard the Discovery One, wears one of these pieces in multiple scenes — visible on his left wrist against the utilitarian grey of his flight suit.

The watch itself is a remarkable design artifact. The case is broad and cushion-shaped in brushed stainless steel, sized generously for the era, with a wide integrated strap system that wraps the wrist in a distinctly space-age fashion. The dial is dark — likely matte black or anthracite — with applied baton hour markers and a fine set of silver hands. Most striking is the lower portion of the case, which features three recessed pushers or sub-dials labeled '02,' '18,' and '07' beneath a 'GMT' designation, suggesting a multi-timezone or elapsed-time function. A red accent pusher sits at the upper case flank. Hamilton's name appears clearly on the dial, a deliberate product placement that Kubrick nonetheless subordinated entirely to the film's visual logic.

From a collector's standpoint, these pieces occupy mythological territory. No production run was ever made, and the original screen-used examples are exceedingly rare — appearing only occasionally in major film prop auctions where they command prices well into six figures. Hamilton later revisited the design concept in limited commemorative releases, but none have replicated the raw futurist drama of the originals.

Hamilton's relationship with film and military clients stretches back decades — the brand supplied U.S. military issue watches throughout WWII and Korea — and Kubrick's commission fit that utilitarian-yet-precise brand DNA perfectly. The director's insistence on rigorous technical authenticity meant Hamilton had to produce something that read as genuinely functional rather than merely decorative.

No retail price exists for these watches; they were never sold. Authenticated screen-used examples, when they surface at auction, have fetched sums reflecting their cultural weight rather than any standard horological valuation — underscoring how a single directorial commission turned a Swiss manufacturer's prototype into a permanent piece of cinematic history.