Timex’s Affordable Heritage Lineup Gets Its Most Ambitious Design Yet

Timex’s Waterbury series is starting to hold a lot of weight. 

Since last year, we’ve seen the watchmaker turn its heritage-inspired collection into a lineup of affordable alternatives to legendary timepieces, mostly from other brands. 

You have the Rolex GMT-Master II pastiche in the Waterbury Heritage Automatic GMT. Or the Waterbury Ace, which serves as a formidable IWC Pilot’s Watch dupe (along with its Chronograph variant). The Ace evolved once more for 2026, leaning into its field watch ethos to look strangely similar to the Hamilton Khaki Field. All of these land under the $300 mark.

Timex

Now, Timex evades copycatting altogether with its latest Waterbury model, instead looking back to its own short-lived sub-brand from the mid-’00s.

A forgotten brand

Timex launched the TX Watch Company in 2006 as an attempt to compete with the premium market. The idea was to put sophisticated tech, like proprietary four-motor quartz movements and perpetual calendars, into timepieces.

Timex

The four-motor quartz was a pretty interesting innovation. It debuted with the TX 730 Series Fly-Back Chronograph, which featured fan-shaped retrograde subdials at the 4 o’clock and 10 o’clock positions. Rather than being all powered by the same motor, each of the subdials, along with the central handset, got its own independent electric stepper motor.

Due to bad timing with the financial crisis and a consumer base who was already well familiar with the budget-friendly reputation of its parent company, TX was discontinued. But not before its tech was migrated to the main Timex lineup. 

Quartz and all

The multi-motor technology was rebranded as Intelligent Quartz and has been used in certain mainline Timex releases over the years. And the specific 4-and-10 retrograde setup has been employed a handful of times as well.

Nevertheless, the design has typically succumbed to the foibles of a busy dial. Even the highly-coveted Pan Am Fly-Back Chronograph from 2024, which finally removed all of the numerals, felt more like a tool watch than the retro homage it purported to be.

All that changes with the newest Waterbury Ace addition, showcasing the cleanest — and most wearable — iteration of the retrograde pilot’s watch yet.

Timex

Flying Ace

The Waterbury Ace Fly-Back Chronograph plays off of the heritage aesthetics of the previous Waterbury Ace models but feels strictly like a Timex creation more than a copycat. 

Removing all of the hour numerals, the dial sticks with baton hour markers, and a double baton at the 12, all filled with yellow lume. Even the contrast of the cream indices and orange accents against the black dial are in the service of legibility. Around the dial you get an inner tachymeter bezel in OD green to match the central minute and hour hands. 

Continuing the cleaner look, the watch also removes the date window this time around too.

Timex

Timex

The watch is a flyback chronograph, meaning you can reset the timer to show you the time without needing to stop it first. While the chronograph seconds are displayed with a fourth central hand, the chronograph hours and minutes are handled by the upper and lower retrograde subdials, respectively.

When the 24-hour subdial isn’t being used as a timer, it can also display a second time zone.

Measuring 43mm across with 100m of water resistance, the stainless steel case is given a stealthy black finish to match the dial. It’s paired with a very vintage-looking brown leather strap with gold stitching along the perimeter.

Availability and pricing

The Waterbury Ace Fly-Back Chronograph is available right now from Timex’s website for $299. This is not a limited edition.

Timex

Timex Waterbury Ace Fly-Back Chronograph

• $299 at Timex

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