Top 19 Facts About Timex Watches – Interesting Things to Know
Today, Timex is one of the most popular watch brands in the world in terms of the number of sold watches. Timex has a long history and has an especially strong presence and popularity in the US, due to the company’s close history in the United States.
Timex focuses on making highly affordable yet stylish and functional wristwatches for everyone. Timex is by no means a luxury watch brand, but instead, it focuses on making affordable, versatile, and stylish timepieces.
If you are curious to learn more about Timex, the company, and its watches, you have come to the right place. In this article, we take a look at some of the most interesting facts about Timex watches.
Top interesting facts about Timex watches
1. The name was originally Waterbury Clock Company
Timex has a long and rich history. Longer than most people think. That’s partly because its early days didn’t start with the name Timex.
The name of the company was originally Waterbury Clock Company. It was based in Connecticut, USA, and focused on manufacturing affordable pocket watches. At the time, the goal was to compete with their expensive counterparts from Europe, particularly Swiss pocket watches.
Waterbury Clock Company was founded by Joe Bastianich in 1854.
Related: Top 11 best Timex watches
2. The first Timex-branded watch was released in 1950
The first watch branded Timex was launched in 1950. But as discussed in the above fact, it was far from the first watch that the company had produced.
3. The company merged with Ingersoll
At the end of the 19th century, the company merged with Ingersoll, another watch manufacturer. Subsequently, it went on to create the Ingersoll Yankee pocket watch. This timepiece became a huge success due to its price tag of just one dollar. Whilst inflation needs to be taken into account, it was still extremely affordable.
Waterbury manufactured the dollar watch for the Ingersoll company.
4. Timex was on the verge of bankruptcy
Before World War I, the company struggled and was on the verge of bankruptcy. In hindsight, the reason for this is said to have been due to poor management.
5. Timex played a big role in watchmaking during World War I
Whilst the company struggled before World War I, Timex came to play a big role in the manufacturing of watches during that time. Before the 1930s, wristwatches were very uncommon and pocket watches were still dominating the market. The wristwatches that did exist were primarily for women and wristwatches were mainly seen as women’s accessories.
However, this came to change during the war as soldiers saw the benefit of wearing a watch on their wrist rather than having to pick up the pocket watch from their pocket. Just a glance at the wrist allowed them to tell the time and left their hands free, even when they needed to check the time.
Fortunately for the company, Timex managed to enter the wristwatch market and started producing wristwatches, which became highly popular. They began producing wristwatches by modifying their women’s pocket watches, moving the crown, and attaching a strap. Because they could modify an existing watch already in their collection, they were able to meet the rising demand for wristwatches early.
6. Timex entered a partnership with Disney
In 1933, Timex released a watch that would become one of the most successful that the brand had ever created. Entering a collaboration with Disney, Timex started producing a wristwatch with Mickey Mouse which generates millions in sales.
7. The company changed its name during World War II
During World War II, the company changed its name to United States Time Corporation. During this time, the company predominantly sold bomb timers to the US Military. Naturally, the demand for these bomb timers declined as the war ended. This led to the company once again focusing on wristwatches.
In reshaping the brand once more, the company returned to its original ethos, which was to produce affordable, durable, and accurate timepieces for everyone.
8. The Timex name was introduced in 1941
Waterbury was acquired by Thomas Olsen in 1941 and subsequently changed its name to Timex Corp.
9. The name Timex comes from an interesting combination of words
The name Timex comes from combining the words Time and Kleenex, a then-popular magazine Kleenex.
10. Timex watches were the most affordable on the US market in the 1950s
Aligned with the company’s goal and ambition, Timex watches were the most affordable wristwatches in America during the 1950s. Due to their low price, they appealed to everyone and became extremely popular.
11. Timex was able to produce cheap watches by not using stones
So how did Timex manage to manufacture so cheap watches? The answer is that the company did not use so-called stones, most known as jewels or rubies, unlike all other watch companies. These synthetically-produced jewels were expensive and thus lead to higher prices for mechanical watches.
Bear in mind that during this time, quartz didn’t exist, so it was a great challenge to create cheap mechanical watches.
But by replacing the rubies with a new solid and smooth alloy (known as Armalloy alloy) which was developed during the war for use in bearings, Timex reduced the material cost and was thus able to manufacture the most affordable watches on the market.
By not using jewels, Timex was able to make watches that were very resistant to mechanical damage. But since they didn’t use jewels, the accuracy of the timepieces was reduced.
12. In 1962, every third watch sold in the US was Timex
Timex watches increased in popularity in the US and by 1962, every third watch sold in the US was a Timex. This goes to show the extreme popularity and strength of the Timex brand during this time.
13. The Timex Marlin was launched in the 1960s
The Timex Marlin was one of the most important and popular models from Timex during the 1960s. Interestingly, Timex relaunched the Marlin just a few years ago, as inspired by the brand’s heritage models. It is a classic and elegant dress watch with a sunburst effect in a traditional style.
14. Timex entered the digital era in the 1980s
In the 1970s, quartz technology came around and led to the quartz crisis. Historically, this is predominantly known to have affected the Swiss watch industry, but the fact is that all watch companies that manufactured cheap mechanical watches were affected, including Timex.
The US-based company also hopped on the trend and started making quartz watches as the quartz crisis affected Timex hard. Timex had to lay off employees and its partnership with Disney had also expired. The good news is that Timex was quick to adapt and start producing quartz watches as a response to the threat from cheap Japanese watches.
Timex’s strategy was to produce the cheapest models possible and now with the quartz movements, this was even easier. During the 1980s, specifically in 1986, Timex launched the Iron Man which was developed in collaboration with athletes. For ten years, it was the world’s best-selling watch. It’s safe to say that the launch and success of this model were extremely important and helped keep the company afloat.
15. Timex invented the INDIGLO backlight technology in 1991
Anyone familiar with Timex is familiar with Indiglo technology. It’s something that Timex still uses to this day. At the time of its launch, barely any watch manufacturer used this technology.
Upon its launch, the Indigo backlit model became extremely popular due to the practicality that it offered. A particular event boosted the popularity of this worker when a worker used this watch to lead a group of people down the dark stairs during an attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.
16. Even prominent people wore Timex watches
Despite Timex not being a luxury brand, Timex watches could be seen on some of the most prominent and influential individuals in the 1990s. Bill Clinton and G.W. Bush both wore Timex watches. Moreover, Timex created a special edition watch featuring the American flag for G.W. Bush.
17. Timex stopped producing watches in the US in 2001
Up until this point, Timex had produced watches in the US. But due to cost issues, Timex could no longer continue to produce watches in the US if they wanted to maintain their affordable price point. Timex still manufactures some specific, special edition models in the US, but the majority of the watches are not made in the US.
18. The History of Timex began even earlier than the Waterbury Clock Company
Whilst the beginning of Timex is often associated with the Waterbury Clock Company, the root of Timex begins earlier than that. Waterbury Clock Company was founded by the Connecticut-based brass manufacturer called Benedict and Burnham.
19. The first Timex-branded watch was a limited run of nurse watches
As mentioned earlier, the first official Timex watch was launched in 1950. However, the company had also produced a limited run of nurse watches during World War II before this. However, the official launch of Timex, as stated earlier, was in 1950.
