Is there a watch brand that has changed its public image more drastically over the past decade than Timex?
Just a few years ago, Timex was very much an afterthought in the watch industry. A legacy American brand that had become a has-been known only for churning out cheap, mass-produced quartz watches with little interest in appealing to anyone outside of an impulse buyer in a shopping mall or drug store.
But then the brand changed directions, hard. Following the vision of design director Giorgio Galli, the brand began mining its back-catalog for contemporary inspiration. First came the Marlin in 2017, a resurrected 1960s dress watch that marked the brand’s return to mechanical watchmaking after decades away. Two years later marked the arrival of the Q Timex, another vintage redux that made quartz cool again and became a viral hit.
In the years since, the hits have kept coming, with a now-constant focus on increased quality and attractive designs that appeal to enthusiasts and collectors, peaking with the launch last month of the brand’s new luxury sub-brand, Timex Atelier — a move that would’ve been unthinkable a decade ago.
Timex releases often generate actual buzz now, with the brand’s hottest watches selling out at speeds that can even make Rolex’s head spin. The brand is also gaining attention from tastemaking collectors at the vanguard of deciding what the next big industry trend will be.
Case in point is the new Teeny Tiny Timex, the brand’s second collab with chic watch publication Dimepiece and a watch aimed squarely at collectors who want in on the hottest current watch trends.
