Credits: Article and images by @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/04/20/why-i-bought-it-timex-marlin-re-edition-2/
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How the Timex Marlin Re-edition fits in my collection
In my friend Terry’s taxonomy of watch collecting, this is pretty clearly a “fun” piece for me; at its $199 retail price I think that the same would hold for the vast majority of watch enthusiasts who are eager for a bit of a vintage look but who don’t want to break the bank to attain it.
The great thing about “fun” watches is that you own them, not the other way around.
No concerns about getting hurt financially on your purchase or obsessional guilt about every hairline scratch. And as we’ll see in a bit, with the Marlin I was actually bold enough to remove the case back carefully with a case knife to see what was inside and compare it with a Timex from another era.
Why I asked for it
I’m not the only enthusiast who wanted the Marlin as soon as I saw it; the first set of watches sold out before I could dash off an email to my wife, and it was with some relief that I learned that Timex was going to produce a second tranche.
As the success of this watch and the somewhat similar Sixties pieces from Glashütte Original make clear, there’s great visual appeal to what I’ll call the “clean retro” vibe that includes the use of elongated, stylized numerals.
In addition, Timex was faithful to not only the spirit of the original watch but to its original dimensions: the 34 mm diameter of the case and the domed Plexiglas crystal, among other features, provide a feeling of authenticity that I think would have been missing in a re-sized or extensively refreshed design.
And, of course, it has a mechanical movement! The Marlin is the first Timex since 1996 to feature a manually wound mechanical movement.
All those elements factored into my choice, but more important was the shock of recognition that went through me the moment I saw the watch: it is a very close facsimile of the very first wristwatch that I ever owned, given to me by my parents for (if memory serves) my ninth birthday.
Despite several searches I’ve conducted for it, it seems that my Marlin may have been lost to history, but it looked like the one in the image above, a Model 2014 manufactured in 1964 with numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9 and with slightly straighter case sides and larger dimensions than the Model 2024 re-created in 2018 by Timex.
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Credits: Article and images by @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/04/20/why-i-bought-it-timex-marlin-re-edition-2/