Timex - A Storied Brand Worth Looking At

Let's be clear about it - vintage watches are about fun and collecting as opposed to being a necessary functional item.  Sure they tell time reasonably well, but still they pale in comparison to the always up to date and split second accurate time on your smart phone. And even among watches, a $25 quartz watch from Wal-Mart will blow away even the most accurate mechanical watch let alone a fifty or more year old vintage watch.  But, like I said, there is something fun about vintage watches with their tiny gears, springs and levers moving repetitively within a relatively small enclosure to provide a wholly mechanical measure of time with no batteries necessary. 

With the foregoing in mind, I have expanded Mechanical Aesthetics offerings to include one of the most important American brands ever, Timex.  Sure, Timex watches are not heavily jeweled horological masterpieces but mass produced utilitarian devices masking as a fine fashion accessory. And yet, they have their place in the history of wrist watches as one of the most prolific manufacturers of watches ever. For many of us over the age of 50, they are also just plain nostalgic.   There was nary a drug store or five and dime in the 60's and 70's that didn't have a countertop carousel filled with many different models of Timex watches.  To this day many of us here the name "John Cameron Swayze" and immediately think, "It Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking".  Of course, for many of us, our first watch was a Timex often with a dial in the form of a mouse with his arms for hands. 

Whereas, a fine Hamilton or Bulova would have cost the equivalent of  $500-$1250 in today's dollars, a Timex could be had for the equivalent of $50-$100.  You could easily buy ten Timex watches for the price of one jewelry store watch.  To some they were an impulse buy as they stood in the checkout line. To yet others, they were all they could afford, yet they looked good and worked about as well as expensive watches.     

Simply, Timex watches are an important part of mid-century Americana and deserve a place in any watch enthusiasts collection. Nice looking, properly functioning Timex watches, while not particularly rare, are becoming harder to find. When these watches broke or became unsightly, users often just threw them out.  They were not meant to be repaired.

Check out my Timex listings. You may find yourself impulsively adding one to your cart, and only days later proudly sporting one of these utilitarian masterpieces on your wrist for all to see.  Enjoy!