Misc. Timex Watches and PR Events

From a 1960 issue of Jewelers' Circular Keystone:

From Timex PR department: 

Back in 1895, 35 cents got you about five pounds of candy, and just a dollar could claim you our coveted Yankee pocket watch. Farmers checked it during harvests, train conductors relied on it for punctuality, and factory workers synchronized their breaks by its hands. It was “the watch that made the dollar famous”—a humble timekeeper that transcended its price tag.

By the turn of the century, over six million of these ‘dollar watches’ had found their way into the hands of everyday Americans, democratizing quality timekeeping for all. Even literary legend Mark Twain couldn’t resist owning one, having sent us a dollar in exchange for a watch of his very own.

Now in 2024, we’re celebrating our legacy of accessible timekeeping with the Timex 170th Anniversary Edition $1 Waterbury Watch—a limited-edition of 1,000 available globally on November 16th and priced at just $1. It joins our beloved Waterbury collection, honoring our origins as the Waterbury Clock Company with finely finished surfaces and careful applications of watchmaking ingenuity.

It's powered by a reliable quartz movement, and displays a glossy ice white dial with our official 170th Anniversary Edition logo, elevated by 3D lacquered Roman numeral markers, beautifully detailed retro-style hands with luminescent in-fill, and a glanceable day and date window at 3 o’clock. The dial is protected by an anti-glare mineral glass crystal, and we’ve paired the 40mm brushed and polished stainless-steel case with the timeless shine of a natural leather strap in a rich shade of English Cordovan brown, featuring quick-release spring bars for effortless strap changes.

Flip the watch over, and it reveals a caseback enhanced with vertical brushing and engraved with a commemoration of this special moment in our watchmaking history. It’s a celebration of our legacy, a reminder of where we started, and a testament to the timeless quality and craftsmanship that has defined Timex for generations. 

Time is of the Essence 

With only a limited number up for grabs, this watches is expected to sell quickly; once it's gone, it's gone. Those looking to claim a $1 watch of their very own can do so at all participating retailers at 10am locally. It will also be available on Timex.com US and Timex.ca (10am EST / 7am PST), Timex.co.uk (10am GMT), Timex.eu (10am CET), and shop.timexindia.com (10am IST). Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate time, resilience, and the enduring spirit of the dollar.

 

Watches From the 1956 Wards Catalog

 

Wittnauer

By Bruce Shawkey

Albert Wittnauer (left) was a Swiss immigrant who arrived in New York City in 1872 at the age of 16, and was employed by his brother-in-law, Eugene Robert, an importer of Swiss watches. He began working for his brother-in-law, Eugene Robert. Albert Wittnauer felt there was a market in America for a lower priced Swiss made watch.[1]

Importing Swiss watches got expensive due to the heavy taxes placed on them so Wittnauer came up with an idea for reducing the expense without losing the quality. The watches could be produced by a subsidiary of their own in Switzerland or they could assemble the watches domestically.

The first Wittnauer's watch line was crafted starting from 1880, but the Wittnauer brand was formally established 1888 when Wittnauer took over Eugene Robert’s company and renamed it the "A. Wittnauer Company." Wittnauer movements were at the beginning generally made for them by Swiss firms (Revue Thommen and others), while in later years Wittnauer used a number of different sources for their movements. The company began as a small family business, catering to the ever-growing world of both scientific and private exploration, which gained them a reputation for use by those who needed reliability: navigators, explorers, and astronomers.

The A. Wittnauer Co. became further involved with the United States Navy for early tests in the budding fields of aviation and navigation. 

In the following years, Wittnauer Co. steadily grew and moved to the New York center. During the 20th century, it also bought a production plant in Puerto Rico. When the last Wittnauer brother died in 1916, their sister Martha Wittnauer, became the first woman watchmaker CEO.

During World War I Wittnauer produced instruments and watches for the early aviation units. The most famous model was probably the Wittnauer AllProof, produced for the first time in 1918, and one of the first all proof models ever used by daredevil Jimmie Mattern in his 1933 attempt to fly around the world in his Vega 5B, "Old Cromwell." On May 20–21, 1932 Amelia Earhart made the first solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic with her Lockheed Vega-5B equipped with Wittnauer instruments.

In 1950 the Swiss company Longines bought Wittnauer, and marketed some very similar lines of watches under both brand names, maintaining separate factories.

Lecoultre

 By Bruce Shawkey

Antoine LeCoultre (1803–1881), left, founded LeCoultre in Le , Sentier, Switzerland in 1833. LeCoultre started the company by converting his family's barn into a workshop to make high-quality timepieces and clocks. His early innovations, such as inventing a machine to cut watch pinions from steel, the Millionomètre (first device to measure a unit of length of a thousandth of a millimeter or a millionth of a meter) and a keyless watch winding system.

From a 1960 catalog

A 1963 ad:

From a mid-1960s catalog:

Price list for above watches

More Images:

Aristo

By Bruce Shawkey

The German watch manufacturer Aristo was founded in 1907 by watchmaker Julius Epple in Pforzheim, Germany, a city known for its watchmaking and jewelry industry. The company originally produced watches and watch cases under the name Julius Epple KG, but began using the brand name "Aristo" in the mid-1920s and registered it in 1936. By 1992, Aristo had produced millions of wristwatches, but the brand was revived in 1998 by Hansjörg Vollmer. Today, Aristo watches are known for their quality and craftsmanship, and combine German-designed cases and bracelets with Swiss-imported automatic or mechanical movements.

The Perpetual Self-Winding Watch Company

 By Bruce Shawkey

Movement signature indicates made by Frey. Emil Frey registered a self-winding watch movement on November 1 1930 (with American registration following on December 20). It used a pendulum to wind the watch as the wearer moved his wrist and was marketed using the brand name Perpetual, later associated with Rolex.

Racine

 By Bruce Shawkey

Racine is another one of those watch manufacturers with ties back to the 1700s. The Racine family was well known for centuries for their connection and advancement of horology. Formed in 1870, Jules Racine – a cousin of the Gallet brothers – formed the Racine watch company, and he and his cousins often worked together to bring watches to markets other than Switzerland. The brands were all so incestuous that in 1914, members of the Racine family, not being able to use the trademarked Racine name, formed “Enicar” which was just Racine spelled backwards.

other ads:

1960 JCK