The Murph 38 is Almost Perfect ! 

Join the discussion: www.watchcrunch.com/Max/posts/the-murph-38-has-competition-21219

My son is an Interstellar fan and since he saw the movie, he really fell in love with the Murph Hamilton, however he knew it was a big watch for his wrist, but he still was infatuated with it. I am glad I waited and I bought him the 38mm model and it fits his wrist just perfect! now he is in total bliss and enjoying it.

The Murph 38 does have AR coating, the original 42 does not. Also the strap is clearly black, not dark brown.

I think the Murph is a more aesthetically pleasing watch with a lovely proportion. Lack of good AR non screw down crown and mediocre Lume are definitely off putting but the Hammy gets my vote between the two. Nice video Max.

I like the fact that Hamilton listens to what the customers want. Same watch, smaller size.

Great video. Thank you. You make it sound as though there's no reason to spend the extra money on the Murph (over less expensive Hamilton field watches) unless your a big Interstellar fan. But from a design standpoint this 38 Murph is far superior to any other Khaki field offering and stands on its own, without reference to the film. Deleting the 24 hour markings on most Khaki field watches, thus creating more space around larger arabic numbers and deleting the Morse code preciousness on the second hand, gives this a clean handsome and more formal look than any ordinary Hamilton military field. The Murph is classic and clean, without the need for military or cinefile pretense.

The simple military look of the Murph is its strength and often less is more. It's on my Wishlist. Great video I subscribed on the strength of this review. Thank you

As a Seiko alpinist owner... the internal rotating bezel is a novelty (never use day to day) and the original strap on the SPB121J1 just never broke in for me - just too tough. On the plus, swapping in a green leather strap (similar to you bronze Alpinist) is recommended and the SPB121J1 green dial is a joy to view on sunny days. My vote is for getting the 2 if budget permits - alpinist for day time, Smurf (small Murph) for the office and evening :) Would be a great 2-watch collection.

Thank for the video and the face to face with the Alpinist. One detail is way more important to me than it should be : the date window. I enjoy so much more à watch without date ! I think it is more daring, more symmetric, more classy. So my take would be the Hamilton.

Wonderful video, sir. As informative as it is involved. Technically, the Alpinist comes out on top though with a score of 35.5, not 34.5.

I think the Hamilton website says the 38mm has an AR coating. As someone who would be interested in the 42mm, it makes me a bit sad that they didn't update the design of the 42mm when they released the 38. Judging from pictures, the 38 also looks to have slightly whiter numbers on the dial.

I picked this up 2 days ago, and I love it’s understated elegance on my 7” wrist. Yes, the AR isn’t the best. Yes, it doesn’t have a screw-down crown. Yes, I hate the strap. And yes, the polished bezel seems out of place on a field watch. You know what? I love it anyway, and you might too. Go try one on, and see if it ‘clicks’ with you. It’s simple and pure. Shout out to my friends at Topper Jewelers in Burlingame, CA. 👋 You guys rock.

Great review 👍👍 I think the Baby Alpinist vs the Murph is the more compelling comparison. Both are amazing watched and I think it comes down to personal preference. On a side note, you can currently get the 38mm Murph at a 20% discount from ADs so both watches are at a similar price.

Great video and points. Couldn't help but notice that with your ratings for the two watches, the alpinist actually added up to 35.5 which beat out the murph by .5 points, and not vice versa.

Definitely 38mm Murph. Not just the movie, but superb legibility.

Never saw the movie but I just love the simple dial on the watch, so many of Hamilton’s watches seem to busy. To me the Murph reminds me of the Tudor Ranger at a 1/3 of the price. I have one on order🤗

In my opinion the Murph looks way better than the Seiko… I bought the 42mm - Even though my wrist is a modest 6.6” my wrist has a shape which makes the size just about acceptable BUT now with the 38mm it will be replaced as it will be a much better fit… Just hope it will be just as accurate as my 42 which gains less than a second a day if worn 24/7 … The Murph is such a pretty and simple timepiece!

I like the Alpinist as well as Seiko watches ( have several). But I am very fond of Hamilton watches. I really like the Murph now it's available in the smaller size. I have the Khaki Field Automatic, but would consider selling it and stick with the Murph, which has sa bit more character (to my eyes, that is).

I have this watch - I believe the strap is actually calf skin made to imitate croc skin, it feels kinda cheap to me. Great video as per usual!

Crystal glare on Murph vs shiny polished numerals on the Seiko: On an outdoor sunny day, those Seiko polished numerals will be very annoying, while the painted numerals on Murph retain their legibility even though you may need to adjust the angle a bit. Another point, I think this Seiko, like most watches actually, even when they boast, only has a single sided AR coating (usually interior), and don't have double sided AR coating (which is the only kind to trully remove glare) anyway. While the overall style is subjective, I believe the Murph style will appeal to a larger crowd then the green dialed Seiko with gold numerals. To be fair, I don't think these should be directly comparable, as one is a 3 hand time only watch, the other a time and date watch with a cyclops lens, which significantly ruins symmetry, while of course providing more functionality.

Nice review and great looking ficus plant beside you 😉. I like the 38mm Murph since the original 42mm was too big on my tiny wrist. However, I'm not sure if I would get it since that one tiny but significant (Morse code) part that links it to the movie is missing. Hamilton could have put it on the case back if they wanted it to be differentiated from the 42mm. Or the real reason that they removed this direct linkage could be the rights or licensing issues (added costs). 🤔

I like the comparison with the Alpinist. Also interesting to see how it compares with the Oris Big Pilot.

To me personally, the Alpinist design seems rather unrefined and especially that prospex 'X' on the dial bothers me. I would give a 3 to the Alpinist and a 9 to the Murph, so to me personally there is a clear winner. I find the Murph to be brilliant in its simplicity and I'm certainly getting me one of these!

Your score addition screen at the end doesn’t add up the score for the seiko correctly.

Great review. I just can't decide between Hamilton H70455133 and Seiko SPB155J1. While Seiko SPB155J1 is available in India, Hamilton H70455133 is not. I hate it so much that I see both of them and then able to decide. If you had to, which one would you pick

7 1/2 inch wrist and I decided on the 42mm (just got it a few months ago. I found a 38 to be too small and the 42 to be just a tad too large. There’s no 40 so what are you gonna do? It may sound silly, but I chose the 42 because I wanted ‘Eureka’.

Whats your recommend 38 & 42 for 7.5 inch wrist?

I have both the alpinist and the murph. Both are pleasing to the eyes and perform well. Didn't think twice of buying either. My 2 cents, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" :)

Hey ! Nice video thanks :) What's the song in the intro ? Sounds great ? thx

I bought the original Murph and though it is on the large size, as a film fan it didn’t bother me. I also got it with the limited edition tesseract case, which is neat.

Agreed about the glare on the crystal. So irritating it prevents me from buying it.

The lack of AR coating, the disappointing lume and lack of a regulator pin makes it a lesser watch for me. I did not care about the Interstellar movie. But I like the way it looks.

I would like to see them both in the flesh before making a decision as it's a close call. I have the larger Murph which does not have AR coating if I recall but it's still very readable but less so compared to many modern watches around. The thing about the Murph is it's a new watch that has been produced to look very old so maybe that's why Hamilton left off the AR coating at the expense of legibility. The lugs drop down a fair amount so although on paper they are long I find it comfortable on my little under 7" wrist. I love the look of the Alpinist though and it ticks many of the boxes and in a 1:1 feature fight wins by quite a margin, the date, water resistance and internal bezel. At the moment I doubt if I'll purchase either but maybe in the future who knows. Oh and Interstellar is a brilliant film in my humble opinion.

For me Murph is the perfect watch and fixes the problem I have with the Alpinist which is the date window (I HATE dates).

I love the gold and green Alpinist. It is so appropriate to the concept. Wouldn't it also be cool if Grand Seiko teamed up with Seiko to do an exquisite white winter dial edition of the Alpinist?

I have the new alpinist and am actually considering getting both. I’m just a fan of field watches in general more than any other type. But I will probably end up getting the bronze khaki instead as it’s unique and won’t be so similar to my Alpinist.

I have a baby alpinist and although the movement runs within spec, the 6R35 movement is way less accurate compared to the H-10 movement in my Khaki Field Auto. The alpinist gains about 15-20 seconds a day, while my Khaki gains 1 second a day. But I also have a murph 38 coming in, and soon I’ll find out if just got really lucky with the H-10 movement in my Khaki. Maybe my 6R35 needs to be regulated, but the thing is, I can get it to run at +/-3 for about a minute if I wind it up a lot before testing. If I run the test for more than a minute I can see the watch start to gain time quickly, which is something the H-10 doesn’t do. I also have a seiko with a 6R15D and that one gains about + 6 or 7.

I do have that Alpinist, but the baby Alpinist in blue is now preferred to that one. As for Hamilton, they’ve never really gelled for me. I can’t put my finger on why though.

Definitely the Hamilton. I just cannot stand cyclops date windows which is an immediate turn off of the Seiko.

The "Murph" done right: 1) 39mm 2) 18 layers of internal A.R. coating 3) Seiko diver bright lume 4) +/- 2 per day for every unit, like Rolex 5) Eureka on seconds hand in MORSE code.

I have both the Coop and Murph as I love the movie, pre-ordering the Murph with the tesseract box as soon as it was announced. I have a 7.5” wrist and am glad that I own the Murph rather than the Smurph as, for me, it has a closer connection to the film. Nonetheless, the smaller Murph is a gorgeous watch in its own right.

It's a good enough looking watch but the price premium over other Khaki models isn't worth it to me. I ordered a Seiko Alpinist SPB241J1 which arrived yesterday. It's as nice as I thought it would be. Admittedly it's more of a dress/daily but that's how I'll use it. I got a hefty discount which made it 2/3 the price of the Murph. As an aside, I had no idea how small the collars in the bracelet are! Fortunately I was ready for anything and didn't lose one.

Hi great video, wondering if you would do a comparison between murph 38mm with the new Seiko alpinist GMT SPB379J1, I'm considering to get one of them for my first automatic watch. thanks!

I've just received murph 38mm, my first hamilton. What a great watch, perfect for my 6.75-inch wrist.

Okay, so here it is, Murph is classic three hand no date, cleaner dial, good enough water resistant (with 100 meters you can shower with it tbh!), no screw down crown (remember that screw down crown wears down sooner), and better sized. No contest in my opinion. Murph wins by a long shot.

If you add up your scores, the Seiko gets 35.5, not 34.5. So the Seiko scores higher than the murph

I wanted to get this but I’m happy that I got my 36mm PRS29A which I find to be the perfect field watch for my 6.25” wrist.

Did anyone else notice the math not adding up correctly and saw that the seiko actually won by “0.5,” with a score of 35.5?

I think the alpinist is a great watch but the murph is special because of the movie tie in. If you haven’t seen/don’t like the movie I’m not sure if there’s anything else especially special about the murph. A good watch but a little boring. I love the film and of the two I’d definitely go for the murph myself Lovely video as always thanks

I like the original larger size that was made to incorporate the prop mechanism,had to have the engraved hands !

I chose the Baby Alpinist on the bracelet over this one because of the Powermatic 80. I buy Swiss for the smoother sweep and quick date change.

This watch does have ar coating on it. Could use a couple extra layers imo. The domed sapphire makes it seem there's none though.

The Murph is classier in my opinion, more elegant and doesn't have the same dedicated tool aesthetic of the Alpy. That being said, I own and love both!

I own the larger Murph and an Alpinist similar to the vid. They are not really competitors. The Murph for the story, and frankly I’m using a field khaki auto as my everyday… so I treat the Murph as an investment and bring it out for social settings. The Alpinist is just one everybody needs. I use it everywhere, outdoors, social… just when I want green/gold. It’s very true that the H movement is better. Better time, etc. both are calibrated to the extent they can be and the H is always perfect with the seiko adding a few seconds a day. Field watches come in all flavors. These have some history, but my Ranger is tool all the way and better than both. The explorer micros are also my style but don’t get a lot of wrist time. Lorier is dressy, smith has history, islander is white and a bit day date, Timex Titanium is just cool, even have a McGyver (again, just cool), Casios work when you know they’re going to get bashed about, and even my land tortoise fits in …the only cushion/Willard in my collection. So while I like them all, the Murph fits all settings, and is a great conversation piece. I’d only consider a 38 if I couldn’t pull off the bigger model, and I can. I get there are some small wrists. What an advantage! No need for custom straps or too short bracelets, but the trade off is, that I have a slightly larger wrist though I’m not a large person… genes I guess. Best of luck if you need a small version of anything but it’s supposed to be a watch with a story that didn’t exist. Try the 42 if you can live with 52 lug to lug

Hi Max, A very good video, with a peculiar and interesting question. Despite I have I Seiko Alpinist Blue ("Hodinkee"), which I really love, the Prospex Alpinist Sunbeam Forest Khaki with that yellow gold case would have been added to my collection if it wasn’t for the annoying “cyclops” magnifier, with the day date under a big white background. If Seiko had chosen a non date dial or, at list, a discreet date window with a green background, and without that ugly magnifier, it would have been a triumph. Unfortunately, whereas the Murph has a sober and balanced dial that transmits harmony, the dial of the gold/green Seiko is completely unbalanced and, at least, to me, transmits a bad vibration, completely far from Zen tranquility. A pity because it had potential. Kindest regards, David

Love em both but I lean towards the Alpinist. I just love that green and gold combo.

Two of my favorite watches. I do like interstellar. But theyre both enough money I'd really just go with whichever i find a good deal on first. So most likely the alpinist.

LOVE Interstellar. Would love to get my hands on a Murph!

I would choose the Murph on looks and superior movement in spite of the glare and without concern for the movie connection. The price is the main issue with it. A modern baby Alipinist would be a much closer decision though.

I really liked how the Murph 38 looked on your wrist and I like a field watch with Full Numbers and a black dial. The 42mm sells for around £900 and can be picked up between £550 to £650 used so I'm going to let someone else buy the 38 then pick it up when they're bored with it. Great vid again Max and loved the Dylan Thomas in the intro

Even if there wasn't a movie tie in, the watch is stunning. I'm not really a fan of the movie but I want the watch.

What size it your wrist?

Nobody is going to mention that it was the Alpinist that won?

It is preferable for a military field watch not to have bright lume. A field watch is for frontline troops not for those who serve in rear echelon areas. When on the frontlines, it's necessary not to give away your position at night. A subdued lume is a better choice for that. When watchmakers use lume that is not brilliant, they are staying true to the tradition of what a military watch should be: small profile, large numerals, and just enough lume to see at night, but not advertise your position to the enemy.

Why not swim with a push/pull crown and 100m of water resistance? This “conversation” still baffles me to this day.

Thanks for the review! Much appreciated. For me, the lack of an AR coating these days is just unacceptable IMHO. My (relatively) inexpensive Victorinox INOX has triple AR coating on the inside, and if they can do it, so can Hamilton. As well, I already have the Khaki field (and like it) but the lack of AR is such a disappointment.

Hamilton's web site says it does have AR coating fore the 38mm size.

I have a previous version of the Alpinist. One that still had Alpinist at least on the caseback. I can't forgive Seiko for putting a Prospex X on the dial of the Alpinist instead of Alpinist. In fact to me that watch is not an Alpinist anymore given historically Alpinists had it written on the dial. Otherwise very good watch overall. That said I love the Murph in 38mm. The overall easthetic is perfect with very nice numerals and especially no date that would have broken the harmony. The relation to the movie is a plus but really even without that this is a very nice watch in its own right. I would be curious to fit it with an acrylic domed crystal for some more vintage vibe.

If it’s not a diving watch (who dives with fancy Swiss watches anyway?) it should not have a screw down crown. It’s so wonderful to be able to just wind your watch manually without having to first unscrew the crown, and then re-screw the crown carefully. I can’t stand or understand the obsession with screw down crowns on non diver watches. It’s 100m water resist, rain or swimming is not going to mess it up. But why would you swim in a leather strapped watch anyway?

Good video, but I am really sorry you cannot give less vote on History at the Seiko only due to the fact the Hamilton has a movie heritage although very recent. Seiko and Alpinist have a very interesting history far more interesting than the Murph 😉 Anyway good review I will cite It into my channel 😉 good work, 😏

Great video

My question is, how do I stay crunchy? Do I preserve myself inside a Tupperware? Murph over alpinist any hour of the day, twice at 12 o clock.

I just don't get the added cost of the Murph. My Khaki field is awesome for half the price. Maybe cuz I'm not a movie fan? Nice watch but it doesn't trip my trigger. Nice comparison with the Alpinist! One of my 'keepers' for sure.

Have the 42mm and enjoy wearing it. It has only 2 flaws and they only fixed one flaw on the reissue 38 while introducing 2 new flaws (no Eureka and too thick). Absolutely NO reason for the 38 to be any thicker than the 42. The clunky lowbeat movement on both is a shame. Seriously considering swapping the movement to a smoother highbeat 2824 or SW200 movement. A $700+ watch should have a 28.8k bph movement.

Back to math class. The Alpinist total is 35.5 not 34.5

Great video as always….. The Murph is a stunning, classic design and it gets my vote over the Seiko which, although iconic, has a design which has always jarred with me for some reason… Please keep the content coming. Yours is one of the top channels out there… Rob

Not sure what the "big problem" was in the Murph you alluded to. You just compared it to another similar watch and scored it higher.

I really love the look of the 38 Murph. It needs a bracelet option, in my opinion.

Nice watch. Could not care less about if related with a movie or some real history, I just look at the design and specs. The Hamilton has several problems, bad AR coating, poor lume, lack of screw down crown. However I kind of prefer this dial Vs the normal khaki, don't like the dual marker (13/24h) nor the date window on the normal khaki

i am done with seiko and their 6r35 movement. i will take a swiss movement any day. watch is to tell time and accuray matters.

I own the 42mm "Cooper" and love this piece. I've been apprehensive about picking up the Murph is 42mm but might take a look at the 38. I wish the 38 had the Morse code on the seconds hand like the original release.

Love this review and the 38mm gang are very happy.

i'm just drooling over these watches, i'd take either one!

The problem with the Murph 42mm is the lume sucks and is a disgrace, compared with the rest of the quality of the watch. They should have paid Seiko to lume it. Mine is running at +/- 4/ day

Which would I choose? I must have a date but cannot abide a cyclops, so neither.

This guy is as real as fireplace behind him.

It does have AR on the underside of the crystal.

Beautiful and timeless design 😍

The Murph is an integral part to a movie. Am I missing some important detail about the Alpinist that made it so closely matched? Seems like some fluffy numbers to me tbh.

I think the bigger problem is not the Alpinist, but that the 38 mm Khaki Field Automatic exists and costs about $450 even through some ADs.

Alpinist loses for me because the outer dial isn't ratcheted which means a bump can rotate it off centre. It also loses because when rotating it, there's a very slight movement vertically in that outer dial. It kills my OCD quite badly.

Enjoyed your review! The crunch score reminds me a lot of Doug Demuro's "Doug score". Maybe in one of your future videos, you'll say "THISSSSSS is the Seiko Alpinist" 😉

Great video! not sure anyone else caught this, but i think the Alpinist scored 0.5 higher according to your scores!

The alpinist has applied numbers, better lume and more detailed second hand but you give to the murph the same score on fit/finish...btw still waiting to know the problem that has de Murph due to the video title, cheers.

I wonder how the Murph 38 would stack up against the NIvada Super Antarctic (38mm) with 3,6,9 dial just recently released.

I think you may want to double check your math. The Alpinist edges out the Murph 35.5 to 35.

So, What was the problem..?

Murph. Any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I’d buy one tomorrow but my god the last thing on earth I need is another watch.

The Hamilton website states that it has AR coating

i love Hamilton. my first watch was a Hamilton my grandmother got me for graduating 8th grade. but i get into the Murph