If you asked a complete stranger to name a watch brand, besides being a little taken aback, it’s quite likely that they’d say Timex. A true household name in the world of watches, Timex is known for their affordable, approachable, and always fun timepieces, and respected for their long and significant history. Rarely do you meet a watch fan who hasn’t owned at least one Timex (usually many more), and for many, Timex even kicked off their lifelong love for watches. As enthusiasts for the brand ourselves, it is with a great honor that today we add Timex to the Windup Watch Shop.
While Today we associate Timex with a catalog of stylish, casual timepieces, when the brand was founded in 1854, their focus was on pocket watches (Snoopy dials were a long way away). Then the Waterbury Clock Company, the Connecticut-based company was known for their $6 watch (in the neighborhood of $185 today), and their innovative approach to manufacturing. An eventual partnership with Ingersoll and the breakout of WWI led to the development of the brand’s first wristwatch for men (previously considered a women’s accessory), a pocket watch with soldered on lugs, creating the iconic “trench watch.” Another partnership, this time with Disney, kept the company afloat through the great depression, and in 1943 the brand officially changed its name to the United States Time Corporation.
The name Timex first officially appeared in 1950 on the V-Conic, an affordable, mass-produced wrist watch that was well regarded for its durability. To drive this concept home, Timex created a famous marketing campaign built around “torture tests” in which they would subject watches to situations that would have broken most watches of the day, such as freezing them, violently shaking them, strapping them to the blade of a motorboat, and worse. It’s from this campaign the slogan “takes a licking, and keeps on ticking” was coined. The Timex watches became global bestsellers in the ‘60s, and in 1969, the United States Time Corporation changed its name to the Timex Corporation.
Timex continued to push-forward and innovate as a brand, maintaining its posture as a leading watch company. In the mid ‘80s Timex launched the Ironman, a digital watch designed with athletes for active and sports use. It became the best selling sports watch in the world. Children of the ‘90s will of course remember Indiglo, Timex’s full-dial illumination that was infinitely fun to turn on, a technology still used by the brand to this day.
Modern day Timex has a broad catalog that speaks to their rich history. Most recently they’ve embraced their past in truly exciting ways, digging through their archives to recreate some of their most iconic timepieces. In 2017 Timex released the Marlin, a 34mm throwback to the ‘60s and their first new mechanical watch since the ‘80s. Due to its immense popularity, Timex has since expanded on their mechanical and vintage inspired offerings, giving the storied brand a whole new level of collectability among watch enthusiasts.
It’s with this in mind that we are so excited to bring Timex in the Windup Watch Shop. As Timex continues to mine its back catalog for cool and unique pieces, as well as grow their mechanical lineup, all done with an unmatched eye for value, we are eager to be able to offer them to you, our customers.
To kick off our collection of Timex watches, we have a few of their current enthusiast favorites:
Marlin Hand-Wound 34mm
At this point the Marlin needs no introduction (also because I mentioned it just a paragraph ago). A near replica of a ‘60s design, this 34mm, hand-wound mechanical watch exudes vintage charm like no other. Featuring a massive domed acrylic crystal over a domed dial with highly stylized type, you wouldn’t be blamed if you thought it was actually vintage. The Marlin is available now in three colors, black or silver for a classic dressy style, or a gorgeous blue, for something more playful. $199, available now.
Q Timex Reissue
When quartz movements first hit the scene they were a revolution in watch making. Precise and durable, they led to a new generation of watches. A tech-forward brand, Timex embraced these electronic timekeepers and in the early ‘70s began to put them in their watches. With a bold Q on the dial, Timex wasn’t hiding the quartz ticker within - quite the opposite, in fact.
The Q Timex Reissue is based on one of these early quartz watches, originally from 1979. Featuring a 38mm barrel case with sleek lines and an exotic look, it’s very much of the era. A fun, functional sport watch at heart, the Q has a 12-hour bezel with two-tone coloration for tracking a second time zone, and a dial that speaks to dive watches with large lume plots and bold hands. Powered by a Seiko quartz movement, it’s a stylish, reliable watch with tons of vintage charm. Available now in blue with red/blue bezel, white with red/blue bezel, and black with black/green bezel, for $179.
Q Timex Reissue Falcon Eye
The Falcon Eye is the two-tone, dressed-up version of the watch above. With a longer, bezel-less case that has a couple of splashes of gold, it has an even more distinctive ‘70s style to it. A bold metallic blue dial with a wavy texture and applied gold accents give the Falcon Eye a unique personality with an abundance of bravado and swagger. If you’re looking for a conversation starter, the Falcon Eye is the way to go, $179.
T80 Digital
Queue the closest New Order album, it’s time for the Timex T80. A homage to the brand’s first digital watches, the T80 has that iconic LCD watch look, with large numbers that match your calculator and a squared-off case design. Featuring date, alarm, stopwatch functions, as well as indiglo backlight, the T80s are still full-featured digital watches. For those who remember the originals, these will bring back fond memories. For those who don’t, these are just cool, fun digital watches with some retro-flair. Available in black, silver or all gold for $59 - $65.
The Waterbury Classic Automatic
Not everything needs to be a vintage throwback, and the Waterbury Automatic proves it. These 40mm Miyota powered watches are cool, casual, everyday timepieces. Clean dials in white or black with large numerals and slender pencil hands give the Waterburys a timeless, easy-to-read design that can be dressed up or down depending on the situation. Perfect for the office, home or otherwise, or as a weekend beater, the Waterbury is the kind of watch that Timex is known for. The white dial is $249 and comes on a gator-patterned leather strap, while the black dial is $259 and comes on a steel mesh bracelet.
