Q Timex: A Modern Quartz Worthy Of The Watch Geek?

Over the past couple of decades, the American brand Timex has become synonymous with good quality and inexpensively priced (by US Dollar standards) quartz watches. But if you consider that the brand has been around for 165 years, there must have been a time where they only made mechanical timepieces. Today, we are stepping back in time and taking a look at the re-creation of a timepiece that signified the transition from mechanical to quartz – the Q Timex.

The Q Timex was inspired by a watch that was created back in 1979 and the Q Timex collection was the brand’s first step into the world of quartz. Instead of deeming it a Quartz crisis like most Swiss brands did, Timex embraced the new technology, even proudly displaying the Q on the dials to signify that they were transitioning from mechanical to quartz movements. Thus the new Q Timex, launched just a couple of months ago, is a tribute to this moment in their history.

I absolutely love the fact that when Timex does a reissue, they keep it as faithful to the original as possible, as demonstrated by the 34mm Timex Marlin they launched in 2017. And this Q Timex is almost a 1:1 replica of the historic piece that inspired it. Thus, the stainless steel case of the watch is a mere 38mm which is perfect for those with smaller wrists. And it comes with a bi-directional bezel with 12-hour indication. This is a nifty little way to track a second timezone without having to pay extra for a GMT complication. Granted, the ‘Pepsi’ styling on the bezel doesn’t make much sense seeing as it is a 12-hour indication, but the colours work well, and some people may like the fact that the styling makes it a baby Pepsi GMT.

The watch is powered by a modern quartz movement from Seiko (according to Worn & Wound). Another cool little detail on the watch is the little hatch on the caseback that will allow you to access the battery without the need to remove the whole case. Again, this is perfect for watch nerds who often want to work on their watches themselves; this is something else you can do with the watch, apart from changing the straps.

Coming to the strap, even this was reverse engineered from the original piece offering a woven-steel bracelet that Timex claims is true-to-the-era. And this bracelet fastens with a clasp, thus giving you the perfect fit without having to go through the hassle of adding or removing links.

The new Q Timex is available in small quantities from Clout 9 in Malaysia at a price of MYR999.

Case: Stainless steel
Case size: 38mm
Crystal: Acrylic, domed
Thickness: 11.5mm
Lug width: 18mm
Movement: Seiko quartz PC33
Water Resistance: 50m
Price: MYR999