Timex is a brand that most all watches lovers know about, but we tend to not think about Timex watches that often. That might be a shame because Timex has an important history in the American watch industry, and is also a brand that today offers a lot of watches. Timex sort of shot themselves in the foot by making too many budget watches for people with bad vision or the elderly. Not that anything is wrong with that, but style and quality conscious people typecasted the brand as boring. Those watches do exist, but in the last few years Timex has been offering more fun timepieces that focus on fashion as well as their history.
Most Timex watches are $200 and under, with the majority of watches in this article being priced at under $100. Many of these are part of the Timex Originals collection or other lines that offer contemporary timepieces with a very of a retro flair. Even the ubiquitous Timex Easy Reader is getting more treatment as Timex has celebrated the king of dorky watches by offering them in new colors and materials. I never thought I’d enjoy wearing a sub-$100 watch with a name called “Easy Reader” as much. My favorite is at the top of this post with the black case and tan leather strap.
Timex makes a lot of watches, and because of their volume they can offer a pretty decent watch for even $75. You can get a lot of bang for your buck, but these are not what you would consider high-end pieces. The watches have quartz movements and mineral crystals, with steel and plastic cases. Overall they make for excellent fashion accessories, gifts, or watches for people who “keep breaking their watches.”
I was pretty impressed with Timex’s focus on handsome styling and colors. They did a good job at reinventing classic watches in terms of feel and proportions. While you can get a camper style Timex in purple plastic – aside from some interesting colors – there isn’t really anything dorky about these watches. This is me making an appeal to fellow watch snobs that a Timex can be on your radar when looking to make a sensible budget buy.
Part of many Timex watches is their special Indiglo night-light feature. These helpful backlights are usually operated by pressing in the crown which lights up the dial. Watches with Indiglo are great and I would love to see more high-end pieces offer stuff like that. It is a feature that is easy to miss on watches that don’t have it. You can get a lot of these watches on Timex’s website or at a range of stores. Certainly something to look at during the holiday gift buying season.
See Timex Originals watches on eBay here.
