Timex is Selling Their 170th Anniversary Watch for $1

The Waterbury Clock Company was established in 1854 in Waterbury Connecticut. At the time, pocket watches were complex, valuable instruments only afforded by the wealthy. In turn the seemingly trivial “luxury” of knowing the time at a moment’s notice was out of reach for the general population.

We may take for granted the luxury of accurate time today, but our predecessors were not as fortunate. The Waterbury Clock Company took a firm stance in making timekeeping a luxury everyone could afford, and in 1896 they delivered the Yankee Pocket Watch to the masses for just $1. Needless to say, this was a revolutionary moment in horological history.

In just five years, six million of these $1 watches had been sold, and the Yankee Pocket Watch was later hailed as “The watch that made the dollar famous.”

Simple construction and modest materials allowed Waterbury to ship these watches for such a low price, and they left the factory in small cardboard boxes to save money.

A lot has changed since then. Waterbury became Timex in 1969, and fought hard to reestablish themselves in a world of quartz watches and digital clocks. Today, they’re a leading global watch manufacturer with a wide line of affordable and attractive wristwatches.

To celebrate their history, Timex recently announced a 170th Anniversary Edition of the Waterbury wristwatches. There’s a lot of retro goodness here, especially when it comes to the price.

Let’s start with what type of watch this is. In terms of features and aesthetic, it’s the perfect everyday watch.

This Timex 170th Anniversary Waterbury watches are very similar in design to the standard Waterburys Timex has been selling for decades. They display day and date at 3 o’clock, a feature that could easily add thousands of dollars to the cost of your favorite Swiss-made timepiece.

It flaunts 3D lacquered Roman numeral markers for some extra pop and definition, set upon a glossy white dial with a well detailed set of retro-style hands all encased in stainless steel. The face is classic, distinguished, and reserved.

The strap is made from simple leather in English Cordovan brown, while the caseback features a vertical brushed finish with commemorative engraving marking the 170th anniversary, and a message reading “This watch celebrates simply great watchmaking since 1854… A True American Icon.”

Speaking of price, Timex has confirmed that their 170th Anniversary Waterbury watches will cost just $1, the same as the original Yankee Pocket Watch from 1896. How’s that for a throwback?

Timex has confirmed their 170th Anniversary $1 Watches will drop on November 16. They will be available on Timex’s website and at select brick-and-mortar locations in the US, UK, Canada, and Europe on launch day.

But there’s a pretty significant catch. Timex is only selling 1,000 of their 170th Anniversary $1 Watches, globally. Both their online store and traditional retailers will be drawing from this same stock. You can check here for a list of participating retailers, and Timex has confirmed that the $1 Watch will be sold in San Diego, NYC, and New Jersey.

Good question We can look at Timex’s standard Waterbury Classic Watch as a comparison. These are a readily available model sold for $120 USD in a variety of colorways, and often available for less than retail from Timex and on the secondary market.

The $1 anniversary edition is more or less a limited edition version of the Waterbury Classic with a few aesthetic upgrades. The notable differences being the hands, the 3D time markers, and the 170 Anniversary logo with caseback engraving. You can see the side by side below.

This is not to say that there isn’t demand for this watch, but the price points and similarities certainly imply a ceiling on the value of the 170th Anniversary Edition.

Obviously, the extreme rarity of the the new Timex $1 Watch is its selling point. With just 1,000 of these distributed online and globally, the odds of any particular collector getting one directly from Timex are slim.

If you want a hard number, we’re expecting the Timex 170th Anniversary $1 Watch will resell for around $200 to $400, conservatively. These will be rare, and hard to find, but we won’t know how much watch collectors are willing to pay until release day.

We’ve seen some rare sales of limited edition Timex watches for upwards of $500 on eBay, but some of those sported automatic movements, and didn’t have practically identical standard versions readily available on the Timex website.

In short, don’t expect the kind of profit you might get by flipping a 4 to 5-figure Swiss made watch. Timex has always stayed true to its mission of making affordable timepieces for everyone; they don’t dabble in luxury timepieces. It’s possible that Timex 170th Anniversary Watches will resell for $1,000+, but unlikely.

That being said, your ROI will never be stronger than when your cost is $1.

If you go after this drop, you’ll need to get to a participating retailer early on the 16th. There will likely be long lines out front, and only the first few through the door will walk out with a watch.

The list of retailers is growing daily. Assuming that stock is allocated equally between online and physical retailers, and the list closes out at about 40 stores, you can estimate that every store will receive an average of 10 pieces, give or take a precious few.

Looking back to some recent watch drops we’ve covered like the “Snoopy” Omega x Swatch, watch collectors and resellers alike lined up well in advance at retail locations, and many walked away empty handed.

In the end, these ended up reselling for upwards of $700. Keep in mind this was for a timepiece they expected to restock, and Timex has made it clear this piece will not.

We’ll update you with any additional details closer to the November 16th drop, but in the meantime you would be wise to find your local retailer from the list above,

And if you have any connections at a participating retailer, dropping by to see what the employees are expecting for this very limited release is a good idea. We wouldn’t be surprised to see people camping on November 15th. In the meantime, make sure you sign up for our newsletter to not miss any updates.