Huckberry’s Affordable New Timex Exclusive Brings Back a Notorious 1970s Cult Favorite

Every time Timex and Huckberry get together, good things happen.

Previously, we’ve seen the budget watch brand and men’s gear retailer collab on an affordable automatic titanium field watch and an outdoor-themed redux of the beloved digital Ironman Flix from the ’90s.

But the two companies’ latest project might be its coolest yet, as it resurrects a pioneering 1970s sports watch with something of a notorious reputation.

To the Max

In 1978, Timex launched the Black Max — a short-lived model that nonetheless ranks among the coolest-looking designs to ever come from the affordable American watchmaker.

The original Black Max was heavily motorsports-inspired, with a dial that resembles mid-century stopwatches with a contrasting silver metal tachymeter scale on a dramatically sloped inner bezel, five-minute markings instead of hours on the indices and a burnt orange seconds hand that resembles a chronograph hand.

Huckberry

But the watch wasn’t a chronograph. Instead, it was an automatic three-hander (also available with a date at 3:00), meaning the tachymeter scale was really just for looks and, well, attitude.

“Attitude” is what the Black Max is best remembered for. The model was an early example of an all-black watch, drawing clear design inspiration from the Porsche Design Chronograph 1, which debuted in 1972 as the first watch to feature a black-coated case and bracelet. The Black Max followed suit with black coating on both its helmet-shaped 38mm base-metal case and three-row plastic Oyster-style bracelet.

But the best representation of the Black Max’s attitude, and what people seem to remember most about it, was a notorious commercial featuring a woman in a Maserati sports car introducing the watch “for men” and claiming “it takes a real man to wear it.” Everything about the ad is hopelessly dated, including the watch’s $17.95 retail price, but it functions as an interesting time capsule of (often sexist) 20th-century watch marketing.

Now, Huckberry and Timex have resurrected the Black Max after five decades, with some notable changes. Some I would describe as improvements, others as downgrades.

Let’s start with what’s improved. The materials have been improved considerably. The case and bracelet are now made of stainless steel, with the three-row bracelet now sporting a premium-looking new H-link design. (Editor’s note: Huckberry currently lists the case as titanium, but this appears to be an error. Timex lists it as stainless steel.)

Huckberry

The dial design is the same as the original, and it still looks great. Sure, the tachy remains pointless unless you’re really precise with your start time (i.e., hit the gas exactly when the seconds hand hits 60), but it still looks great and I’m glad Huckberry kept its bowl-like concave design.

The water resistance has been improved to 100m, which is always welcome (the original was simply rated as “water-resistant,” without getting more specific), and the dial is protected by a mineral crystal.

The case has been sized up from 38mm to 41mm, which I don’t love, but I can give a pass to as the watch should still be plenty wearable at that size. But I’m definitely bummed that the original helmet-style case — which was very ’70s-coded — has been exchanged for a more standard case design featuring traditional lugs. The watch still looks good, but it’s lost some of its funky charm.

Huckberry

The change I most lament, however, comes down to the movement. While the original was an automatic, Huckberry and Timex have opted for a nondescript quartz engine for the remake.

This makes little sense to me. It’s one thing if the original was quartz, but why change a vintage automatic watch to quartz? Looking at the 1/5th of a second markings on the minute track, it’s obvious this watch was made for a sweeping seconds hand, so I don’t really follow the logic here.

Pricing and availability

The only reason I can think of as to why a quartz movement was chosen here instead of an automatic was to keep the cost down. The black PVD coating for the full case and bracelet — which looks quite nice, by the way — wouldn’t have been cheap, so making the watch quartz is one way to keep the price from climbing to, say, $400.

As it stands, the new Black Max is a bit pricier than the $18 original, but it’s still quite affordable for a modern blacked-out sports watch from Timex. The 1979 Black Max is priced at $249 and is available now from both Huckberry and Timex.

Huckberry

Huckberry x Timex 1979 Black Max

Specs

Case Size	41mm
Movement	Quartz
Water Resistance	100m

• $149 at Huckberry
  $249 (40% off)
• $249 at Timex

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