Hamilton Gives the Original Auto Chronograph a Race Day-Ready Modern Makeover

The Intra-Matic Auto Chrono gets its first major paint job since being reintroduced.

the case and dial of a black Hamilton chronograph watch

Published March 20, 2025

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Updated March 20, 2025

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According to the legendary story, Hamilton joined forces with Breitling, Heuer and movement manufacturer Dubois-Depraz in the late 1960s for the cryptically titled Project 99.

The horological cohort set out to create the world’s first automatic chronograph movement. In the summer of 1969, they narrowly succeeded, beating out efforts by Zenith and Seiko by mere months.

an all black Hamilton chronograph watch with white details — Hamilton stripped down its iconic Intra-Matic design to clean black surface with minimal detailing.

For Hamilton, the cutting-edge movement powered the Chrono-Matic, a watch intimately tied to auto racing history.

In 2017, the Intra-Matic Auto Chrono was introduced as a near-identical reproduction, except for the updated H-31 movement. Since then, a few different dial colors and case sizes have been introduced, but the line has stuck close to the late 1960s racing aesthetic.

a black chronograph watch with orange details on a man's wrist — The physical case design is unchanged, including the 40-millimeter diameter.

Hamilton finally changed stylistic lanes with the new blacked-out Inta-Matic Auto Chrono collection. It consists of three watches, each with a matte black case, mostly-black dial and black leather two-piece perforated racing strap.

Just a hint of color

Since its inception, the Intra-Matic Auto Chrono line has been characterized by vintage appeal. Staying true to watches from the golden era of chronographs, which are highly sought after on the resale market, was a smart choice.

a black chronograph dial with yellow details — On two of the three models, only the chronograph seconds hand and tachymeter track have color.

However, the iconic watch was due for a refresh, and Hamilton nailed it with this stealthy makeover. By only changing the colors and not touching the physical case or dial design, the shockingly new look still feels familiar to fans.

The black-and-white model, reference H38446730, is the most approachable. It is essentially the Intra-Matic painted over in black, with just enough white detailing to be legible. The look is not a far departure from the watch’s popular “panda” style dial.

The yellow and orange models, reference H38446731 and reference H38446732, respectively, use just a hint of color to create a completely new vibe to a heritage-rich watch. It modernizes a design that has otherwise remained almost unchanged since 1968.

a black chronograph watch on a man's wrist — The steel case is coated in matte black PVD.

The new all-black Intra-Matic Auto Chrono fits in with the top competitors in modern auto racing timekeeping, like TAG Heuer, IWC and Tudor. It says a lot about how well-designed the original Chrono-Matic watch was if the Hamilton can jump into that tight race by just covering it in black and adding a hint of bold color.

Race day ready

The Intra-Matic is still a high-performance chronograph despite sticking to a heritage design. By virtue of being in the Swatch Group family, it is powered by Hamilton’s caliber H-31 movement, which is a branded version of ETA’s venerable caliber 7753 automatic chronograph movement.

a black chronograph watch with yellow details — On the yellow and orange models, the perforated leather strap has an exposed colored center layer.

Two piston-style pushers operate the chronograph complication. The top one initiates the central second’s counter hand, and the lower one resets it virtually instantly.

As a genuine racing watch, the Intra-Matic is outfitted with a tachymeter track around the outer rim of the dial. Along with the central chronograph seconds hand, these are the only dial features highlighted in color on the orange and yellow models.

A PVD coating achieves a matte black finish on the stainless steel case. Another new case feature is the decorative vanishing point design etching on the case backing using a collage of “H”s.

the engraved case back of a Hamilton watch — The case back features a vanishing point “H” mosaic.

This new color scheme is topped off with a perforated leather racing strap, which has surprisingly not been offered on an Intra-Matic Auto Chrono before. It is all black on the black-and-white model and features an exposed colored inner layer on the orange and yellow models.

Availability and pricing

Truly brilliant watch designs don’t take much change to fully reengage an audiance. Hamilton’s Intra-Matic Auto Chrono is a perfect example, having been intriguingly refreshed with simple color changes and bracelet updates in the past.

While this radical new color scheme feels like a big change, it simply creates a bank slate over the existing design and adds just enough detail to make it a functional watch. The fact that it looks so great is a testament to how well one of the original chronographs still holds up.

All three color options of the new blacked-out Hamilton Intra-Matic Auto Chrono are available now from Hamilton and authorized dealers for $2,295.