Josh Brolin wears a Hamilton Ventura

Men in Black 3 sends Agent J back to 1969 to stop his partner from being killed before they ever meet. Will Smith plays J; Josh Brolin plays the younger Agent K, doing an uncanny Tommy Lee Jones impression, in a story that ends at Cape Canaveral on July 16, 1969, the morning Apollo 11 launched. On young K's wrist is a Hamilton Ventura, the same watch the older K wears in the present day.

The Ventura is the franchise's watch. Tommy Lee Jones wore one in the first film in 1997, Will Smith was paired with one, and Hamilton has kept the placement going through every sequel. It is an easy watch to recognize: an asymmetric shield-shaped case that Hamilton introduced in 1957 as the world's first electric watch. Brolin's version sits on a steel bracelet rather than a strap, which is how the screen-used prop turned up later at auction.

What makes it a good fit for a time-travel film is that the Ventura is barely an anachronism. The shape has been in Hamilton's catalogue more or less continuously since 1957, so a Ventura belongs on a wrist in 1969 and on the same wrist in 2012, which is a rare thing for a prop that has to cross fifty years.