A Short History of the Timex Marlin, a Watch Straight Out of the Swinging '60s
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It's rare to see a watch reissue from the 1960s achieve the same success it did in the past in the year 2023. Of course, watch collectors in the Philippines and elsewhere tend to scavenge the market for vintage timepieces from the era they came from. You'd find pieces like the TAG Heuer Monaco and Rolex Daytona selling for astronomical amounts in both the primary and secondary watch markets. Pieces like a 1978 Tissot PRX or a 1985 Le Jour Le Mans Chronograph will have collectors salivating over them. Whether they're up for auction or for trade, these watches are coveted because of their historical appeal and pedigree. Reeditions just don't have the same gravitas, one could argue.
But there's always that one rebel that just begs to be worn. This is what makes the Timex Marlin such an anomaly in a way. In 2017, Timex brought back the fabled Mad Men-era watch to coincide with the vintage watch revival. It gives off such a 1960s energy to it. This was around the same time that Paul Newman’s Daytona (which sold for $17.75 with Phillips Auction House) made all the headlines, sparking a conversation about classic cool, how it's defined, and where to find it.
But the Marlin didn't care about any of that. It was creating a separate conversation about reeditions, and how they can be elevated by modern sensibilities. Interestingly, the Timex Marlin reissue came without any changes to the original '60s designs. It's a quietly magnanimous watch that just wants to be dressed up. This was a new watch that stayed true to its lineage.
It also helped that the mechanical watch was guided by the largest movement manufacturer worldwide, Seagull. They kept the same case, date windows, and overall feel, without jacking up the price. We got the same 24mm steel case with the now-peculiar Araic numerals on a silver sunray dial. Not to mention, a hand-wound movement and a dressy gloss alligator strap straight out of Don Draper's watch collection notes (the Sterling boys would be proud).
Perhaps its best qualities are just how accessible and durable it is. It's earnestly priced at roughly $200, more or less, which means that everyone has a chance to get their hands (or in this case, wrists) on this thing. The Timex Marlin, we'd come to find out, has stood the test of time. It gave the public a timepiece that was a hallmark of American watchmaking, a snapshot of the golden age of watch designs.
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The Timex Marlin is a cult classic in 2023. It feels appropriate to say that. The watch had its moment in pop culture and continues to be one of the most reliable watches out there. While everyone else was going for the bulky sports watches, smart ones that read our emails, and, of course, the old pieces straight out of grandpa's closet, Timex zagged and gave us a modern classic. Just exceptional for a brand that's been making watches since the 1800s.
Timex, after all, has always been known for its durability and modest prices. Its “It Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking” campaign back in the '60s was just unparalleled. We could get the Monaco or Daytona '60s cool guy look without having to spend a month's worth of salary, and it was the Marlin. When collectors think of the Marlin, we think of Aloha shirts, watersports, mojitos, and regattas. It was refined enough to be something you'd wear to a meeting but casual enough for parties at the Yacht club.
The new Timex Marlin is a faithful rendition—as faithful as it gets, really. It's the kind of watch that doesn't exactly draw attention, but for the arriviste watch guy type, they'd tell you all about its oral history. What's also cool about the Timex Marlin's resurgence is the fact that it now comes in various editions (Disney, Peanuts, the Todd Snyder, etc.), strap combinations, bigger cases, automatic movements, and the like. For the regular Marlin truthers, their vintage Marlins have slowly but surely become quite the collectible.
Who knows? We might just see a '64 Marlin go for $17.75 million, too, someday. But with the brilliance of these reeditions, they're telling us that, chances are, we'll probably never know.
