TIMEX Waterbury HODINKEE Limited Edition

Cool watch under $300, from Hodinkee and Timex, from Hodinkee:

For our second collaboration with Timex, we knew we wanted to create an automatic watch. Quartz is cool, but there's nothing quite like a self-winding tool watch to keep you company all hours of the day. It's a 40mm diver-style tool watch in stainless steel, with an automatic Japanese movement, and a textured "3-6-9" black dial with printed hour markers, a fresh new set of hands, no date, and a bright red seconds hand. We even signed our name in black above six o'clock – to give it that final HODINKEE touch.

A tool watch should be a tool that tells the time – but it should also look good while doing it. And most importantly, it should be fun and hassle-free. The self-winding Miyota 8215 inside offers 42 hours of running autonomy and is a reliable workhorse for daily wear or occasional use. And the black leather strap the watch is delivered on comes from S.B. Foot Tanning Co., in Red Wing, Minnesota. The strap is straightforward, with a grained texture and zero visible stitching. The textured black dial and convenient 20mm lug width also mean this watch will look great with any number of strap options. Try a simple shell cordovan strap or rock a bund strap if you want to kick the look up a notch over the upcoming holiday season. It would also naturally go great with any sort of NATO-style strap, for swimming or other outdoor activities during warm-weather months.

WHY WE LOVE IT

The Waterbury HODINKEE Limited Edition is available for purchase today but orders will begin shipping on November 24th.
It all starts with the 40mm × 13mm brand-new Waterbury dive case profile, with simple, downward-facing lugs; a three o'clock push-pull crown stamped with the stylized vintage Waterbury Clock Company logo; and a closed screw-down caseback we left blank in the hopes that you’ll engrave it with a special message for a special someone. The fully graduated aluminum bezel insert features easy-to-grip knurling on its side and a luminous pip at the zero marker. One of our favorite details is the clean bevel on the bezel insert that inclines downward and out.
Inside the mineral glass crystal, the black dial offers a hint of rakish, devil-may-care charm with its textured finish; it features a printed Timex logo underneath 12 o'clock and printed hour markers filled with Super-LumiNova, and there's no date window. Another office-favorite attribute are the rounded Arabic numerals at three, six, and nine o'clock, recalling some of our favorite vintage tool watch designs. The entire look is symmetrical and easy on the eyes.
The newly designed hour and minute hands are executed in the shape of lume-filled batons, while the central seconds hand is drenched in a bold red hue – a callback to the seconds hand on last year's Q Timex HODINKEE Limited Edition. Another carryover from last year is the HODINKEE signature above six o'clock. This time around, it's colored a matching shade of black to match the rest of the dial. Think of it as our own secret signature.
For all the purists out there, we’ll make this clear upfront: despite what the unidirectional elapsed timekeeping bezel might want to tell you, the Timex Waterbury HODINKEE Limited Edition is not an ISO-certified dive watch. It’s only tested to 100 meters of water resistance and the crown opens up with a push and a pull rather than screwing down for security. But for everything else? It’s a proud desk diver that is more than up for the challenge. Jump off a diving board with it on your wrist. Sit back and relax with a cold one in your hand.

THE BACKSTORY

We worked closely with Timex to introduce a fresh dimension to its new-for-2021 Waterbury collection. The Timex Waterbury HODINKEE Limited Edition is both the first dive watch and the first limited-edition release to be added to the Waterbury series, and our goal was to offer a refined vision of what a diver-style tool watch could be, resting comfortably in between the worlds of vintage and modern watchmaking, with easy-to-wear proportions and a less-is-more approach to design.
No one ever said watches had to be serious all the time. So why should they be? These wonderful little mechanical objects are an anachronistic tool we can't seem to shake. Electronic screens are everywhere, and our mechanical watches are an escape from all that. So with the Timex Waterbury HODINKEE Limited Edition, we wanted to bring the fun back to the classic tool-watch aesthetic. And for $279 a pop, we think we nailed it.
Timex is for everyone. Anyone can – and should – wear one. We all have stories of seeing our parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, wearing a Timex on the wrist. Maybe it was a Marlin, or maybe it was a tool watch just like this. We created the Timex Waterbury HODINKEE Limited Edition to be a warm tribute to all those lost Timex watches from years ago.
Reference: TW2V32900ZV, Function: Hours, minutes, seconds, Material: Stainless steel
Bezel: Aluminum, Crystal: Mineral Glass, 40mm diameter; 13mm thickness; 47.5mm lug to lug
Caseback: Stainless steel, Dial: Black textured dial, Lume: Yes, Super-Luminova
Caliber: Miyota 8215, Power Reserve: 42 hours, Water Resistance: 100 meters
Bracelet/Strap: Black leather, Lug Width: 20mm, Manufactured: China

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Oh neat Gary, I don't think I even knew these were being worked on by Timex,
and Hodinkee to tell the truth sir. . They really did nail the classic, as well
as fun feel with the watch. I mean not only does it take you back to a traditional
style, but it looks as if things have been subtly, and really nicely updated. It takes
everything the watches did years back, and seems to refine it right?! I love
just the texturing on the dial, along with bezel, and how that looks. It reminds me
of that nice Tissot you wore recently.

The whole watch looks great though. From that texturing, to the attention to detail
with the finish, movement, and even strap, it's worth being called a limited edition G.
..Honestly, cannot thank you enough for the news about it !!!