If we’ve learned anything from the hottest watch sales of 2022, it’s that nothing worries collectors more. rainbow colored gems, ultra-thin movementand classic animation from the heyday of watch design. As you might expect, a gem-encrusted bezel or a wafer-thin mechanical movement could easily run you six figures, but these days, there are plenty of coveted historical renditions. want at a much lower price. Among the best of them all is the Timex Marlin, a luxury watch right from the Crazy man an era where you don’t have to have a flashy corner office.
As the first name in American watchmaking, Timex has been producing designer watches for the masses since the mid-1800s. By the 1960s, the brand was known for its affordable prices as well as durability, thanks to “”It needs a lick and keeps ticking.”—an advertising campaign worthy of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce at the height of its power.
The Marlin, a line of watches whose names evoke sport fishing, guayabera shirts, and banana daiquiris, were one of Timex’s most popular creations of the era. Sophisticated enough to wear to the office but also sporty enough for the weekend, it embodies ’60s style like the TAG Heuer Monaco and Rolex Daytona—but at a fraction of the price.
Year 2017 (year Paul Newman’s Daytona sold for $18 million), Timex brought Marlin back just in time to fuel a growing wave of vintage watch craze. However, unlike many other reissues that change the original design with modern additions such as a larger case, date window, and automatic movement, the new Marlin is gloriously faithful to the original. Featuring an elegant 34mm steel case (a size perfectly suited for men’s watches then and now), a set of funky Arabic numerals on a silver sunray dial, a faux lizard leather strap and hand-wound movement, the modern Marlin retains all of the design elements that made it a success in the first place. Better yet, at under $200, it’s still within the reach of most people. Whether you wear the full Don Draper in a cool repp tie and shrink suit or wear it with ripped jeans and flannel soft blanketit’s as compelling today as it was in ’64.
