Steve McQueen wears a Hamilton

The final hand of The Cincinnati Kid (1965) is five-card stud in Depression-era New Orleans. Steve McQueen's Kid holds a full house, aces over tens, and Edward G. Robinson's Lancey "The Man" Howard turns over a queen-high straight flush. Norman Jewison directed, taking over shortly after filming began when the producer fired Sam Peckinpah, and he later called the picture his ugly duckling, the film that moved him from comedies to drama. Ann-Margret plays Melba, Tuesday Weld is Christian, and Karl Malden's Shooter deals the fateful game.

The film gives the Kid's watch its own insert shot. During an early card game the wristwatch lies on the table beside his chips, and the camera moves close enough to read the dial: a small square steel case, ruby markers at the quarters, a square seconds dial at six, a woven metal bracelet, and the name Hamilton printed under the twelve. That close-up settles the brand and nothing more. No catalog of the film names a model, so which Hamilton it is stays open. The Kid also keeps a pocketwatch: when Melba wakes him claiming it is four o'clock, the watch he grabs from the bedside tells him it is only twenty-five to.