Has Timex Lost Its Mind? The Timex Atelier Marine M1

Timex is one of the most well-known gateways into watch making. While some of their more upmarket models sell for a few hundred, you can easily walk into a big box store and pick one up for far less than that, even under $50. So with this, you can imagine my surprise when I saw that there's a new initiative for Timex known as the Timex Ailier. An even further upmarket approach that shifts watch production to Switzerland, improves the materials in the process, and consequently raises the price to nearly $1,000 for the piece that we're going to look at here today. Now, you might be thinking, what on earth is Timex doing? Well, I've been wearing one of these watches for some time, and I certainly have some thoughts. And before we look at the review of this Timex, we have 15 days of offers starting in November on teddyar.com. This is leading up to all of the holiday rush. Basically, what we're going to be doing, every single day, there will be a new offer on our website that will just accumulate as we get to the peak holiday season. Things will be included will be gifts with purchases. We have watch pouches, straps, tote bags, water bottles. will also have additional swag from our brand, gift card offers, and a lot more. So, if you're in the market for a watch, you want to see what's coming out for the holiday season, check out the page down below. This will be updated every single day for 15 consecutive days. Also, throughout the holiday season, this will be a great resource to see what's going on with different offers on our website. So, Timex has roots dating back to the 19th century, established as the Waterbury Clock Company in the Connecticut city that shares its name and later becoming known as the Waterbury Watch Company. At the start of the 20th century, the brand had connections to another important name at the time, Ingresol, where the Waterbury Watch Company produced a famous piece that costs $1 known as the Yankee Watch. This was a massive hit leading to millions of units being produced and setting the tone for the decades to come. By the midentth century, the Waterbury Watch Company had rebranded itself again as the United States Time Corporation. And so began one of the most successful advertising campaigns in watchmaking history. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking was the new slogan for the Timex brand, featuring television ads that showcase the watches in a series of torture tests. Timex watches were inexpensive yet delivered a stellar product on a massive scale. By 1962, it was reported that one in three watches sold in the US was a Timex. The company had its ups and downs in the years since with high points including the Iron Man series of digital watches, the ever popular Quartz Weekender, and the 2017 rebirth of the mechanical Marlin that spoke directly to enthusiasts. But it wasn't until 2019 that the brand began to dabble in the higher price segments with pieces like their American document series and the launch of the $450 Giorgio Gali S1 automatic. With Gali's direction, there were other models that followed, including titanium and forged carbon cases, as well as the first Swiss-made watch by the brand in 40 years. But to understand this new Ailier project, you have to get a sense of the man responsible for its design direction. A native of Italy, Georgio Ogali was surrounded by brilliant design, but he began his career in graphics and brand identity in the US. Co-founding a computer graphics software company, he returned to Italy based in Milan in the early 1990s to become a consultant art director for the Swatch Lab, personally designing hundreds of watches for the brand. He founded his own studio in 1994 working in wash design, corporate identity, industrial and product design, working with clients like Gucci, the Mabato Group, Seikko, Citizen, and Timex. And eventually sold his firm to the Timex Group in 2007. And with that move spawned the Timex Group World Design Center and known today as the Giorgio Gali Design Lab. He describes the Timex It Ailier style as neither nostalgic nor futuristic, but modern with hallmarks of the brand, including those skeletonized lugs and the distinctive rings that surround the dials and indices. Now, that brings us though to this point, the official establishment of the Timex Ailier. Their new division that keeps the focus on elevated design in Swiss construction. The two new models that you have a diver and a GMT are branded as Timex Itilier for the first time with Galli's name appearing on the case back and the intention is to establish the Itilier as a brand onto itself. Now, for the sake of this review, I'm going to spend most of my time talking about the dive watch, the Marine M1A. This is what I had on my wrist for the majority of the last week and really is where I'm able to speak to more authority. That said, we are going to sprinkle in some shots of the GMT 24 M1A automatic just to give you a sense of this new design direction. So, the Marine M1A Diver is a fully capable utilitarian watch that retains all of Gali's artistic vision and signature design touches. The stainless steel outer case keeps its skeletonized lug profile, adding delicate chamfers at their interior. In a similar fashion, the crown guards also get that skeletonized treatment, offering more visual interest while doing the job and protecting the sign screw down crown with water resistance landing at 200 m. The multi-art case is another distinctive goal detail. And here the midcase is black IPcoated providing some nice contrast to the brush stainless outer. Dimensions are proportional for a 41 millimeter dive watch with a case height of 13 millimeters and a lug to lug of just under 48 millimeters, making for a piece that wears similar to longstanding representatives of the genre. Say this one wears like a 40 on wrist. The domed 120 click bezel gets a ceramic insert with loom markings and a raised pip. And the slotted edge maintains sufficient enough grip, although not the easiest to get a hold of if it was wet, which you know, this is the diver after all. So, something to mention, the sapphire crystal has a three layer anti-reflective coating, and the view of the dial is clear and virtually distortion-free, a common unseen enemy of attainable crystals. So, nicely done by Timex here as they have jumped up in price. They're also improving the material complexity and what is being presented. The lug width is a swap friendly 20 mm and the Marine M1A is available on a black MBR rubber strap with a textured outer surface secured with a signed stainless steel deployment clasp. It's supple and flexible, offering plenty of leeway for adjustment. It also features quick release spring bars. The bracelet option adds $100 to the cost and is more derivative in its anterior sides inspiration with a three-link design in a brush finish. But there's a few other unique touches, including the recessed link sides, which visually echo the case cutouts, and one of the slickest bracelet sizing systems you'll probably ever see. by pulling out the outer side link marked by the arrow icons on the reverse side. You can then slide and turn the link, which will reveal the exposed bar. From here, an owner can simply slide off the link and make adjustments to either side of the bracelet as needed. With adding new links being as easy as reversing the steps to secure the bracelet back into place, another thing I'll throw out there is if you're out and about, you don't need to worry about bringing a tool with you. You can just adjust this bracelet pretty seamlessly. It's not as easy as on the-fly adjustment, but say your wrist is swelling up, you can mess around with it on the spot if needed. So, this is a really ingenious idea and something that I think really needs to be applauded from a design standpoint. So, when it comes to the dial, the word that I'd bring forth here is clean. Yet, it still showcases a pretty high level of dimension and detail. The dial backdrop features a fired black enamel finish with a refined gloss texture. Surrounding the dial is a brushed ring, another itilier signature into which the hour indices are neatly set. Indices are applied in loom filled with super luminova as are the modified dothine hour and minute hands, the lollipop second hand, and the marked indications on the bezel which shine quite exceptionally. Overall, the loom is good. There's a discreetly printed minute track chapter ringing and the dial tech is likewise low-key with the Timex atilier below 12 and automatic over the depth rating above six. Shifting to the movement, the Marine M1A is powered by an automatic Cina SA 100. So unlike other third-party movements that I have experienced thousands of times, this is a caliber producer that I am not as familiar with. So, I can't speak definitively to the long-term reliability, and I want to mention that right up front. To give some sense to Cina, it's a Swiss brand that had a history of producing watches back to the 1940s, but based on some online digging, that business seems to have slowed with third-party calibers being the main focus nowadays. The company's site lists production facilities in Geneva. However, the digital presence of the organization is murky at best. These movements have been featured in other brands such as Ferragamo watches, a brand in which Gali has also worked with on the design side, which makes sense why he would likely tap these calibers to be inside these new Timex Ailier range. The SA100's aim is to serve as another equivalent to the Eta 2824, the SW200. Despite being larger in diameter, running at 4 herz or 28,800 vibrations per hour, the caliber hacks and hand winds and still has a second position for the date despite the lack of its inclusion. So, yes, it does have a ghost date. Further, these have a higher jewel count than other Swiss counterparts with 29, has a Novo Diac shock system, and delivers a 36-hour power reserve. decoration is rather industrial, but it features striping on the Timex It Ailier branded rotor and machine plage throughout on nearly every other visible surface of the movement. In terms of the stated tolerances for accuracy, I saw a couple quotes online about what these will typically run at. I saw minus5 to 30 seconds a day and then I also saw that some of these can be regulated plus or - 15 seconds a day. And given the lack of certainty around these movements, I did want to cross-check them. So, I took this watch, tested it across seven different positions on a time grapher, and when doing so, the watch ran between plus 4 to + 12 seconds a day. Those are the extremes. I think generally speaking, pretty good, but this is just anecdotal evidence here. To close this video out, I want to discuss two points. You have the watch itself, but then you have to talk about the initiative as well. Timex Ailier. First talking about the watch, I think overall I am fairly impressed with what Timex is bringing forth here. My biggest question obviously is what is going to come with these movements? How reliable will they be over time? These are not as tested as something like the Celita movements that are comparable, the ETA calibers out there and even some other calibers like Lju Pere and other brands that are made available around this price range. So, that is more of a long-term determination. But if you ask the question simply, is this watch a $1,000 watch? Regardless of what the name says on the dial, yes. You have a unique case architecture that looks absolutely of its price. The finishing on the dial, I think when you see this up close, it's going to look pretty stellar. There's a lot of dimensionality here. High gloss finish with the dial, the inset for the indices on that outer track. It looks quite nice. Then you have the bracelet adjustment. The side profile of the bracelet with these recessed areas. There's details here that are interesting. The movement, as I mentioned, is a question mark. But if it delivers everything that it says on paper, there's nothing to really be too upset about. Maybe somebody will mention the power reserve. And if you're a stickler for accuracy, maybe you'd like something that's a little bit tighter. But if that's the case, you probably have pretty high standards for a $1,000 watch. The reality is this is a $1,000 watch. If you just look at what is being presented from a product standpoint, but then the question for many will be, do I want to spend $1,000 on a Timex, most people are not only thinking about the watch when they purchase something? They're thinking about the brand. You see this often, you know, somebody will see a watch from a brand that maybe gets a little bit higher in its price compared to some of the norm and which we commonly affiliate with that brand. and people freak out, not even keeping in mind that the watch might bring forth ideas, new concepts, better finishing across the board that allows it to be positioned at that tier. So, the question for this piece ultimately comes down to a branding one. I think for most people, even if they won't have the guts to say it out loud, this is what's going to happen. They will likely look at this watch, see $1,000, and think Timex. Does that align with my preconceived ideas about the brand? But I don't think that's the way that you should look at watch collecting. And you have to look at the product for what it is. I think it matches where it's priced and positioned, but this is going to be an uphill battle for those that maybe are familiar with Timex and just see this at face value and nothing more. In the short term, there will be some questions. But long term, I'm interested to see how this plays out for Timex. But all right, guys, that is my take here looking at this new Timex Itilier collection. And I'll ask you guys the question here because I think this is an interesting one. And be honest with me because I don't think we're always fully honest about this. Do you buy a watch based off of the brand or do you buy it based off of the watch itself? From my vantage point and what I see on a day-to-day basis, people probably trend more towards brand and don't think about the nuance because there is a spectrum within each brand on complexity and ability. But what do you think? Is this a watch that would get your attention? Would you spend $1,000 for a Timex with this new rebranding and what they're doing here? uh leave a comment down below. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell icon, really do appreciate that. Around 70% of the people that watch this channel are not subscribed. So, if you can do me a favor and subscribe to the channel, really would appreciate that. I don't care as much about the subscriber numbers these days, but the YouTube overlords do. So, if you could help us out, be greatly appreciated. Also, check out teddy.com. Full authorized dealer of over 35 brands. Every purchase from our website comes with quick and fast fulfillment, dedicated customer support, and a full factor warranty for all the products that we offer. And how we're able to continue to do what we do here, releasing content every single week on this channel, is through selling watches. So, if you are in the market for a watch, we'd absolutely love to have your business. 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