TIMEX THROUGH TIME

Friday 15 August 2014 11:42
Ever since watches moved from the pocket to the wrist, Timex has defined how the world tells time. For over 150 years, Timex has led the way providing affordable cutting-edge technology in trendsetting styles.

The Timex story begins in the 1850s as the Waterbury Clock Company, simply put, made timekeeping affordable for working class Americans. Waterbury Clock's products grew out of a long tradition of innovative clock-making developed in Connecticut's Naugatuck River Valley, known during the 19th Century as the "Switzerland of America." In 1880, Waterbury Watch, a sister company to Waterbury Clock, manufactured the first inexpensive mechanical pocket watch and quickly sold more than any other company in the world. By the turn of the 20th Century, the "Yankee" pocket watch hit stores costing just $1. Twenty years later, with nearly 40 million sold, the "Yankee" became the world's largest seller and “the watch that made the dollar famous.” Everyone carried the Yankee: from Mark Twain to miners, from farmers to factory workers, from office workers to salesmen. As the century continued, Timex found itself at the centre of key historic moments:

- During World War I, the US Army tasked Waterbury Clock to re-tool the Yankee pocket watch into a convenient new "wristwatch" for soldiers; after the war, returning veterans continued to wear them and civilians took them up in huge numbers during the 1920s

- In 1933, Waterbury Clock produced the very first Mickey Mouse clocks and watches, under an exclusive license from Walt Disney. Within just a few years, parents bought two million Mickey Mouse watches for their children.

- Over the course of World War II, the newly renamed US Time Company produced more high-quality mechanically-timed artillery and anti-aircraft fuses than any other Allied source. US Time's wartime expertise in research and development and mass production techniques led to the creation of the world's first inexpensive mechanical watch movement and the new wristwatch, called the Timex, debuted in 1950.

Thanks to a well known US news presenter, who began praising the Timex watch in live "torture test" commercials in the late 50s, sales took off. Taped to the propeller of an outboard motor, tumbling over the Grand Coulee Dam, or held fist first by a diver leaping 87 feet from the Acapulco cliffs, the watch quickly caught the people’s imagination.

Timex became a household brand during the 1960s. It introduced the "Cavatina," its first women's brand watch in 1959 and with it, a revolutionary merchandising concept: the watch as a fashion item. For the price of one expensive watch, women could buy several Timex watches to match different occasions or ensembles.

Timex was one of a handful of watchmakers to survive the brutal shakeout in the late 1970s caused by new technology and fierce price competition from the Far East. It’s answer? The "Ironman® Triathlon® watch”, jointly devised by serious athletes and industrial designers, was introduced in 1986. Within a year, the "Ironman Triathlon" became a best-selling watch and, diversifying into a full line for men and women became among the world's largest selling sports watch throughout the

1990s. The timepiece they created revolutionized sports timing with features and durability that were an instant hit with dedicated athletes that inspired it.

While the Timex Ironman brand matured alongside Ironman triathlon events, the timepiece evolved beyond swimming, biking and running. What began with the 1986 eight-lap chronograph became intuitive workout management, highly functional heart rate monitors, and GPS enabled training systems. Timex Ironman instruments provide an indispensable advantage for serious athletes across all sports.

Partnering with the New York Football Giants, The Timex Performance Center facilitates the development of training solutions for professional football players . Together with the Korey Stringer Institute, experts meet regularly to share insights, discuss trends and develop training solutions.

Timex is proud to be the official timing sponsor of some of the greatest marathons in the world: New York, London and Berlin.

Towards the end of the 20th century, Timex introduced a number of industry firsts:

- The first electroluminescent watch face in 1992, when the blue-green Indiglo® night light appeared on some of its digital and analog watches

- The Data Link® watch in 1994, a sophisticated style that carries scheduling, phone numbers, and other personal information, developed in collaboration with Microsoft to create the necessary software to communicate the data from computer to watch

- And in 1998, Timex pioneered its i-Control® alarm watch and, in a joint venture with Motorola, a new wrist pager called Beepwear®.

Timex embraced the new millennium by exerting its watchmaking prowess with collections that have captured both its technological and design expertise: designed to pay homage to its 156 year old history, Timex launched its Timex® Originals collection which are inspired by vintage designs through-out the decades together with modern updates that remain in the line today.

Most recently, demonstrating itself as a true watchmaker, Timex introduced the Timex® Intelligence Quartz™collection in 2011. Based on state-of-the art technology that is an open-ended platform with the flexibility to incorporate new technologies, new functions and new ideas as they become available, Intelligence Quartz is a design and technology platform targeted primarily to the male consumer seeking a sophisticated yet technology driven timepiece.

Throughout time, Timex has been at the forefront of watchmaking, creating a long lasting legacy that continues to live on through every timepiece it crafts.