Timex watches were first introduced in the 1950's, as the company brand evolved from the Waterbury Clock company, which produced the first affordable timepieces for Americans back in the 1850's.
This company developed into the Waterbury Watch Company, which specialized in affordable mechanical watches. Waterbury became famous in the 1930's with their Mickey Mouse watches and clocks that today are worth far more than the £1.50 they cost. When the Great Depression hit America in the 1940's, this company was bought out by the U.S. Time Company.
Production during World War II turned from timepieces to artillery with mechanical timing, and anti-aircraft fuses. The first Timex wristwatches had impeccable timing and reliability, and were introduced in 1950. Record breaking sales were generated by the excellence of the watches and by excellent advertising for Timex in print and on television. Memorable ads include those featuring John Cameron Swayze with various live on television torture tests, such as watches taped to outboard motor propellers, or watches taking giant leaps the Grand Coulee Dam. The most famous ad line for Timex is "takes a licking and keep on ticking®" which was a line still recognized today. By the end of the decade, Timex comprised one of every three purchased in the United States.
Timex remained a household word, and watch and clock leader for the next three decades, selling over 500 million mechanical watches. They adjusted to new Oriental competition in the 1980's when the renamed Timex Corporation introduced new digital watches with their "Ironman Triathlon®" line for serious athletes. It soon became the country's best selling watch. Over the next two decades, Timex continued their long history of excellence through innovation. They introduced electroluminescent watch faces. Three quarters of today's Timex feature their Indiglo night light®. Other digital Timex watches were brought to market in the mid-1990's, including Data Link®, which is a mini data bank for scheduling information and phone numbers. The company teamed up with Microsoft and Motorola in joint ventures to produce other complex watches and pagers.
Timex entered the 2000's strong and confident, remaining one of the top brands known for excellence and reliability, and for being fashionable accessories. The company has over 7500 employees on four continents.
Timex watches are featured in their company museum, Timexpo where their history and technological developments are showcased in Waterbury, CT. Timex watches are still popular for use as presentation gifts, incentive awards, promotions, and gifts. There are promotional imprint Timex watches that can also be ordered, which are nice for recognition awards, and business gifts. Timex watches remain the leading watch in America.
New Timex models include smart watches with multi-functions, great for sports and workouts, fun watches in clip and necklace styles, watches to help monitor health factors, and sports statistics timepieces that include speed and distance calculations, and e-Instruments watches that measure things like the temperature of surf, and predict tide times. It is no secret that Timex watches keep up with the times.
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