Timex American Documents 41mm Watch – $198.39 w/ SPRING20 ($495)
UPDATE: As expected, these sold out pretty quick at the sub $200 price point.
Just build it in the United States. Sure it’ll cost more, but people will love it!
– many people about many different things
Yeah well, they did.
And then nobody bought it.
That’s why the Timex American Documents collection has been on sale for the last (checks his own assembled in the USA watch) 5 years.
But now they’re not just on sale, they’re on clearance AND getting an additional 20% off with the code SPRING20. That drops the price on the flagship white dial to just under two-hundred bucks. That’s pretty nuts, considering the immediate macro-economic circumstances, but also because it’s a terrific watch.
Assembled in the USA. All materials are sourced from the USA except the Swiss made Quartz movement.
The feel of this watch is so demonstrably better than a standard, run-of-the-mill Timex (think Weekender or Expedition) that there’s a case to be made they should have spun them off into a separate “luxury” brand. (Think Genesis & Kia… or since these watches are assembled in the USA, Cadillac & Chevy). Maybe more people would have dropped close to half a grand on one, if it didn’t say TIMEX on the dial.
41mm diameter.
So a touch bigger than “classically” sized (<40mm) dress watches currently on-trend.
Slim though, at 10mm thick. Strap is 20mm wide.
The Timex American Documents series are assembled in Connecticut from almost entirely US-sourced pieces and parts. The only thing that’s not ‘murica is the Swiss Quartz movement. So yes, the beating heart is Swiss, but it’s also accurate, quality, and an acknowledgement that in our global economy, some nations (Switzerland, Japan, China) are better at manufacturing some things (like watch movements) than others. Although that may be starting to very slowly change (see VAER who assembles many (not all) of their watches in the US, and also sometimes uses the Ameri-Quartz movement made in Arizona by Fine Timepiece Solutions.)
Cherry wood presentation case is also made in the USA. Not flimsy. Not forgotten.
They really went the extra mile, accoutrements (nsfw language) and all.
The 41mm case is drop forged in US-sourced stainless steel which is brushed, save for the polished top ring, which gives it just enough of a dressy feel. It’s suit worthy, but you could easily wear this with a t-shirt and jeans too. It’s the epitome of an every-day watch. The type of watch your Dad or Granddad would wear every day, with everything, then set it on his nightstand or dresser each night.
Coin-style stamped U.S.A. made brass back-plate. Fancy.
The caseback has a coin-style stamped brass back-plate, which is a reference/nod to 19th century brass clocks their parent company, The Waterbury Clock Company, was cranking out way-back-when.
The crown is one of the best feeling (and looking) you’re gonna find in the sub-$1000 market. It feels and operates like something you’d find on a Christopher Ward. The post is more of a piston. Less of a pin. I think we’ve all pulled the crown out on a cheap Timex to set the time, only to be afraid the whole damn thing would rip right out. That’s not happening here. It is solid, sturdy, and nicely finished with a textured edge and TX stamped brass insert.
Crown is solid. Real solid. Nicely finished with a textured edge and TX stamped brass insert.
(Brass oil lamp not included. Sorry.)
Dial is clean and mean, with a recessed small seconds sub-dial at six. All of it is handsome and simple. Timex says the indices are “triple printed to create dimensional markings” but… it just looks printed. It’s sharp and clean for sure. But applied indices woulda been nice (*sheepishly looks at the ghost of a hard hat he never wore*).
Clean and mean dial, sharp hands, recessed sub seconds.
Crystal is US produced Gorilla Glass.
Crystal is Gorilla Glass, water resistance is 30m (so don’t get it wet), and even the soft but substantial leather strap is made in the USA out of leather from Red Wing Minnesota’s S.B. Foot Tanning Co.
The American Documents line launched clear back in 2019. So that means they may only have a handful of these left, laying around. The fact that the white-dial flagship is on this deep of a sale AND getting the additional 20% off with SPRING20 is a steal alert half a decade in the making.
For better, for worse, or both.
That’s all.
Carry on.
