When a Timepiece Becomes More than Just a Timepiece: The Hamilton Bel0w Zero

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Note: The watch model’s name has changed over the years from Bel0w Zero to Below Zero, and the latter will be used from here on out. This is not a review of the various generations of the Hamilton Below Zero but a personal story tied to the first-generation timepiece. The full review of the current generation, as of the time of writing, of the watch, as well as a retrospective look at the groundbreaking timepiece, will be published on the Watch Clicker shortly after this article goes live. The link for that review will appear here once it is published.

 

March 2009

 

The meeting was in another city over an hour and a half away. So, to be prudent and not risk being late, I left an hour early just in case of any delays along the road. Making great time, I made it to the investor meeting with more than an hour to spare, so I relaxed in my car and finished reading Gillian Tett’s Saving the Sun – still my favourite title from the amazing writer. As I set the book down on the passenger seat, my Blackberry buzzed in my car’s cupholder as one of my partners sent me a text.

“I got the meeting time wrong. It’s 11 AM and not 9 AM,” he wrote. The meeting was in his city.

This was not new and would forecast my exit from the project within the next few months. Annoyed but not surprised, I thought about going for a walk just as the skies opened and torrential rain started pelting my windshield.

I looked down at my TAG Heuer Carrera, and it read 08:38. Having finished Mrs. Tett’s book, I reached for my workbag and went over the presentation and meeting notes ad nauseum until it was time to exit the car and walked across the street into the potential investor’s office.

During the entire three-hour meeting, not once did the hairs on the back of my neck rest easily. Untruths and obfuscated answers to direct questions, all masked by serpent smiles and restless eyes, filled the faux-spruce-lined boardroom. It seemed that I was the only one that did not belong. Meaningless overtures covered with faulty perceptions of corporate mannerisms feigning legitimacy spoke to an undiagnosed but obvious cancer at the centre of the group we were meeting, and its tumours were eager to infect my spreadsheets. I looked at my partners and I was the only person who picked up on all of this. They were excited by the display, while every fibre in my being was gravitating for the exits.

The uncomfortably warm office resulted in mostly everyone disrobing their blazers and rolling up the sleeves of their ill-fitting dress shirts. Unfortunately, this meant that my highly polished luxury watch was now visible. Throughout multiple occasions during the meeting, others made comments about “running like a Swiss watch” while talking about their own operations. All the while glaring at my watch. I had the watch for more than a year, and this was the first time that it became a distraction. Three sets of eyes rarely left my left wrist for the remainder of the meeting, and this was the first time that I saw tear ducts salivate towards an inanimate object.

Later that evening, I returned home upset due to the calibre of people in the meeting and the trajectory of the meeting itself. I was also devastatingly crushed and disappointed by my business partners. Upon seeing me enter, my girlfriend poured me a glass of red wine and asked about my day. I told her about the fixation on my watch, which typified the meeting and the quality of the humans there, and she listened quietly as she always did. Being quite tall, she always looked down physically on everyone, including myself, but not while she talked and listened to you.

The next day, I arrived home, and she presented a big rectangular watch box. Inside was a giant black PVD case Hamilton Below Zero – her answer to my flashy watch woes while in business environments. Our relationship would only last another four months due to her having to move back to her country of origin after her work contract in Toronto was done. The watch, however, remained on my wrist for more than fifteen years, and saw many important events, trips and milestones along the way.

While we were together, and for quite long after, the Below Zero was a constant source of calm. Looking upon its dial and hilariously oversized and heavy case instantly reminded me of the person who gave me the timepiece. The overly sculpted case echoed her athletic shoulders while the stealth colourway mirrored her dark Spanish eyes, which made her pupils indiscernible from her iris. Her unruffled, tranquil character seemed to permeate from the watch and immediately calmed my nerves. The next few months were tumultuous due to work and for no longer having her by my side, but her Below Zero continued to be a source of strength and support.

 

January 2010

It was the dead of winter of 2010. The extreme overnight cold warped the water bottles inside all vehicles and cracked the pavement under my feet as I walked by the parking lot that morning. Tensions were muted yet fraught as I made my way through the corridors and past the waiting room of the large regional hospital. On the floors of the waiting rooms were makeshift sleeping bags made out of winter jackets, scarves and backpacks. Exhausted eyes of the next of kin and emergency contacts did their best to remain shut, only to be betrayed by anxiety as they darted back and forth intermittently. One mother struggled to piece together what future her daughter could possibly have as she rested in a coma from a gruesome car accident. She coped by making friends with everyone else in the waiting room, including myself, as the weeks passed, and we all mourned alongside her as her daughter’s prognosis worsened by the day.

It had been over three years since I saw my close friend and seeing him as a patient in the ICU of one of the biggest hospitals in Canada was not how I imagined seeing him again. I made my way quietly past the nurse’s station and into the room designated for my old friend, who was awake. His eyes stared past the bare window, full of uncertainty and all the possible revelations on how he may have ended up in that room.

Thankfully overnight, he had made a turnaround, and his prognosis had gotten better, but they still were not certain as to what the underlying cause that landed him in the hospital was.

“It’s been way too long,” he said slowly as we made eye contact.

“It definitely has been,” I replied as I sat down and rested my workbag on the second chair next to me.

“Is that,” he said before pausing and adjusting himself upwards on his hospital bed. “A Hamilton Below Zero?” My large watch was extremely hard to conceal due to its dimensions jutting through my parka’s sleeve.

“It is,” I said with a smile. I could feel my shoulders relax and my eyes soften when I heard these words. They were confirmation that even though he was not at his best, my friend was still my friend and that he had the capacity to notice such things. Furthermore, the joy in his eyes upon seeing my watch reflected back toward me exponentially.

“I have one as well in steel without the PVD coating. I always knew we had similar tastes in watches.” As he said this, both of our eyes welled up. “Life’s too short not to make time for each other.”

And so, my Hamilton became integral to reigniting our friendship, which became stronger as the years passed. Throughout the years, watches became central to our friendship. During unpleasant weeks at work, we’d continually send each other text messages to link for watches that we wanted and wished to reward ourselves with. We even bought watches together and made it a point to do so. Even if we had nothing to talk about, watches were always there, and the Below Zero was always central to our discussions, even if it was not mentioned

Present Day: Winter 2025

Over the years, I have encountered people who do not have hobbies or collect anything, and every single one questions how a watch, pen, car, or camera can gain significant meaning. A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed the founder of a new watch brand, and to my surprise, he admitted that none of the watches in his collection, save for his father’s watch, had any sentimental meaning.

My Below Zero is just one of the watches that I use as an example of how a timepiece can tie one’s memories to friends and past relationships that, as the years go on, I tend to cherish more with every passing day.

Last week I received two recent iterations of the Below Zero from Hamilton to review. Unlike my hulking watch, they are not made of steel but titanium. One of the biggest issues with my timepiece was its wearability over time. I recall multiple occasions while driving back home at night, I had to take the watch off and place it in the glove compartment due to its sheer mass. Thoughts of braking hard and sending the heavy watch throughout my cabin like a deadly projectile was amusing on those late nights. As I am in the middle of the review process, both of the new versions, all black and the yellow model, are quite enticing. One thing had changed since I was initially gifted the Below Zero. I am now a scuba diver and involved in the field. I never considered diving with my beloved Below Zero, but these new models, especially the yellow watch, would make ideal diving companions.

The Below Zero was always considered an impractical timepiece more appropriate for Hollywood sets than seeing any time at depth. Its 1000-metre water resistance seemed more like a punchline than a feature. Even though I would love to purchase one of the new models for work on dive sites, my Below Zero’s personal history draws me in and pulls me away from making such a purchase.

I know and deal with many collectors, and my only advice for them is to wear their beloved and meaningful watches and stop looking for a new purchase. The gratification that these wonderful mechanical wonders can give you is truly one of life’s treasures.

– Time of writing, March 17th, 2025