How Christopher Nolan Helped Create a Beloved Sub-$1,000 Watch

Early in Christopher Nolan’s 2014 film Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey’s Coop soothes his inquisitive daughter Murphy when she asks about the meaning of her name: “Murphy’s law doesn’t mean that something bad will happen. It means that whatever can happen, will happen.” And boy, does stuff ever happen from there on out. In the film, grown-up Murph goes on to become—spoiler alert!—the savior of the human race. And meanwhile, in the real world, the Hamilton watch that bears her name has become an unexpected stalwart in the world of entry-level watches.The Hamilton Khaki Field Murph—which was originally designed for the film, before eventually getting a public release after years of fan demand in 2019—is a vintage-inspired spin on the watchmaker’s iconic Khaki Field model. In the six years since it became widely available, it’s become a staple of Hamilton’s catalog—and an unlikely patron saint of Reddit watch forums. “New people coming into the hobby, if they’re in that budget range, the Murph is one of the first things out of my mouth to recommend,” says Nicholas Franklin, one of the moderators of the r/watches subreddit. “Because it's a watch that is, surprisingly, going to be timeless if it hasn't already achieved that status.”When newly indoctrinated watch guys announce their purchase of a Murph online, they’re often greeted with more fervent congratulations than I received for the birth of my second child. One of my favorite recent posts about the watch just goes: “[Murph] finallyyy!!”—a siren call that sent swarms of approving users to the thread. Another: “I finally bought my dream watch and it ruined all my other watches.”The watch’s appeal extends far beyond these digital circles, however. I wasn’t all that shocked to spot it on the wrist of vice-presidential hopeful Tim Walz during his 2024 campaign. Why the love for this Christopher Nolan-inflected watch? And in a hobby that often lives and dies on epic origin stories, how has this particular timepiece shed its association with a movie to simply become a classic of the category?“It’s just a really damn good watch,” says Franklin.The standard Khaki Field is Hamilton’s most famous model, a watch that defines the field watch aesthetic the way the Rolex Submariner does for divers. First released in the 1980s and inspired by Hamilton’s US military watches from the ’60s and ’70s, the Khaki’s rugged good looks and approachable price tag ($675 for the 38-mm version) have made it a fan favorite for generations. To my eye, though, in exchange for its impressive functionality, the traditional Khaki sacrifices a lot of clarity on the dial that’s crowded with the traditional 12-hour indices and, hunched inside them, an additional 24-hour track. The Murph is a Khaki Field family member by name, but its chilled-out design takes cues from understated vintage watches. Nolan’s take on the watch allows for just a single flourish: its cathedral-style hands, with an hour indicator that always looks like a big onion to me. (Much like the movie, this watch will make you cry.)Patrick Branigan, a 38-year-old new(ish)comer to the watch scene, was the ideal customer for such a watch. He started obsessively scrolling the subreddit a few years ago and put Hamilton’s standard Khaki Field watch on his wishlist. He visited a boutique in Dallas that had the Murph instead, and he bought it on sight. It’s now his most-worn watch, he tells me. Funnily enough, Branigan didn’t even know the watch had any relation to Nolan’s Interstellar until after he bought it.The movie’s loose grip on this watch is somewhat ironic given that an origin story like the Murph’s is the type of marketing gold all watchmakers would kill for. It’s especially funny considering just how important the watch is to Interstellar’s plot: without its second hand quivering out Morse code and serving as a conduit between Coop and Murph, civilization itself would’ve collapsed. But the Khaki Field Murph’s staying power is a testament to its excellent design.“The Murph’s enduring appeal comes from the unique balance between great design and great storytelling,” Francesca Ginocchio, Hamilton’s CEO, tells me over email. “While its origins are rooted in Interstellar, its success goes far beyond being a movie prop or collector’s piece. At its core, the Murph is a beautifully understated watch with a timeless aesthetic: clean lines, classic proportions, and a versatility that makes it easy to wear every day.”While Hollywood is good at bolstering the popularity of existing models like Bond’s Submariner or Steve McQueen’s Monaco in Le Mans, it’s rare to see a piece created explicitly for a movie collab become a lasting part of a brand’s core collection. Hamilton has had a long association with Hollywood: Stanley Kubrick collaborated with the maker on a special piece for 2001: A Space Odyssey; the swooping midcentury Ventura model was modified for the special agents in Men in Black; and Nolan has returned to work with the brand on several projects, including a special-edition release tied to this year’s Odyssey (despite the fact that the movie is set about 600 years before the invention of the wristwatch). And yet none of those watches have ever transcended their filmic ties the way the Murph has.“There is a very natural connection between Christopher Nolan and Hamilton because we share a fascination with storytelling and, above all, with time,” Ginocchio says. “Time is not simply a measurement in Nolan’s films; it is often a character in its own right. And that makes a watch much more meaningful within his stories than simply being an accessory.”She’s right! And yet, it seems to matter very little in the Murph's success. “The Murph is one of the most interesting watches to come out in the last 30 years,” Franklin says. So while Nolan played a role in bringing this watch to life, his influence on it has largely been absorbed into a black hole. “It's just now a watch that we happen to call the Murph.”