Why Vintage Timex? Written by Vintage Watchfam

Collecting vintage watches is a niched down hobby as it is, but fanboying, daily searching, and borderline worshipping specific brands takes it to a whole other level of collecting. Call it what you will, a passion for wristwatches or an unhealthy obsession over material things, let’s go over my discovery of Timex and why I value vintage Timex, a sub-collection of pieces that are worth paying attention to.

Before collecting vintage, I got hooked to every watch channel on YouTube from TGV to Theo and Harris. One day, through TGV’s lengthy videos, he discusses the value of vintage Timex. He picked up this vintage 60’s Timex marlin. A manually wound, silver dial, gorgeous watch…for 40$. Now we’re talking. TGV was going over all the valid points to pick one of the Timex’s up. After TGV’s persuasive video, I was hooked. (Of course, after TGV mentioning the hidden value of vintage Timex, his “TGV tax” was in place in the vintage Timex market afterwards). Part of the charm was its asking price. As a broke college kid on a limited budget, vintage Timex answered my prayers. For days, I would constantly stalk and hunt every listing on Instagram, eBay, etc…My journey with vintage started out with vintage Timex and I couldn’t ask for a better start.

What’s so special about vintage Timex besides it’s affordable price point?

There’s distinctive design, robust movements, and true heritage that comes with each piece. These old Timex’s use of colors and funky case shapes and sizes really separate od Timexes from other brands in history. In the 60’s and 70’s, Timexes were made with manual wind and automatic movements. They made great, everyday watches for the everyday man. Their robust movements and hard cases still tick away today. Unlike Timex’s current production models as quartz, disposable, and fashion pieces, the Timex brand used to be company full of heritage in terms of history and production.

Currently, I own about 8-12 vintage Timex’s, which constantly go in and out of the collection. From dress, to casual, to sport, vintage Timex packs so much punch for its current price point on the market. Whether it’s one of my tooly vintage Timex divers making way in the city streets, or my dressier vintage marlins and roman numeral dials attending my wrist at the Bar mitzvahs, I will always be equipped with a vintage Timex on the appropriate occasion.

When I think of the ultimate “value prop” in watch hunting, I immediately think vintage Timex. Others might say vintage Seiko’s, some vintage omega models, a lot of chronographs around $500 perhaps, but the ultimate bargain, regardless of vintage tastes and preferences is Timex. Vintage Timex packs way more value, dollar to dollar, on the aftermarket. There is a style, size, movement, and design for every vintage watch lover out there and I would recommend taking a closer look at these little gems.