Timex Nods at Omega with an Affordable NASA Moonwatch of Its Own

No Timex watch has ever been worn on the moon, but that doesn’t mean the budget brand can’t take some inspiration from man’s greatest achievement.

Apollo 11 gets most of the attention when it comes to moon landings, given that it was the first, but humans successfully landed on the moon five more times between 1969 and 1972. In all of these missions, the astronauts were issued Omega Speedmasters to wear, which is why the Speedy is known as the Moonwatch today.

The last time man walked on the moon was during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, and that’s the mission that Timex used as its inspiration for its own take on a “Moonwatch,” the new Q Timex NASA.

Timex

To the moon (and sun)

At first glance, the Q Timex NASA resembles an Omega Speedmaster thanks to its black dial, three-subdial layout and black external bezel. But it’s actually quite a different design. In fact, it’s not even a chronograph.

Powered by a nondescript quartz movement, those three subdials actually depict different calendar functions. At 3:00 is a tonal date indicator, at 6:00 is a sun-moon indicator featuring the NASA logo, and at 9:00 is a display showing the day of the week with a red hand.

Timex

The day indicator is the most interesting of the subdials, as it’s stylized to look like a photorealistic image of the moon and is fully lumed using the same lume formula found on the hands and applied indices. The hands, by the way, are pencil hands like on the Speedmaster, but the seconds hand terminates in a lollipop rather than an arrow tip.

The external bezel does not feature a tachymeter scale like on the Moonwatch, despite Timex calling it an “ornamental tachymeter,” and instead features 60-minute markings like a dive bezel. Unfortunately, it’s only a static bezel, meaning you can’t actually use it to track elapsed time. That’s a bummer, but it does at least look nice.

Timex

Covering the dial is heavily domed acrylic, just like on a classic Moonwatch, and the water resistance is rated to 50m, again, just like on a Speedmaster. However, while Omega says you can take the current Speedmaster swimming thanks to its thorough waterproof testing, I wouldn’t trust this Timex in a pool.

As fetching as the dial is on this Q, the most interesting detail may actually be found on the caseback. The bulk of the solid caseback is covered in a full-color reproduction of the famous “Blue Marble” photograph of Earth taken from aboard the Apollo 17 vessel. It looks really nice here and adds a premium vibe to a decidedly affordable watch.

The 40mm x 13.5mm stainless steel case with its hooded lugs and tapering, flat-link, faux-integrated bracelet are the same you’ll find on many other Q Timex references.

Timex

Availability and pricing

Naturally, the price of Timex’s NASA watch comes a whole lot closer to the MoonSwatch‘s $285 SRP than it does the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch’s sticker price of $7,800.

On a bracelet, the Q Timex NASA retails for just $249. It’s also available on a black leather strap for even less at $229. Both are available now on Timex’s website.

Timex

Timex Q Timex NASA

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Quartz calendar
Water Resistance	50m

• $249 at Timex

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