TW2R47900
Marlin Hand-Wound 34mm Leather Strap Watch
Lug width: 18 mm
Source: Maker Attachment: Spring barsCase size: 34 mm
- Status
- Listed by the maker
The story · Since 1950
The story of the Timex Marlin
In one widely broadcast American ad a Marlin was attached to a motorboat's propeller as the boat sped across the water, and it kept running.
- Mid-1950s Built to survive the water Timex introduced the Marlin in the mid-1950s, when few watches resisted water, dust and shocks.
- 1960s Takes a licking Newsman John Cameron Swayze fronted Timex television ads that put watches through torture tests, and the Marlin was among them.
- 1961 to late 1970s The automatic cousin The Viscount line, starting with a 1961 British-made model, carried Marlin design cues into automatic watches.
- 2017 Timex winds again Timex reissued its 1960s Marlin at the same 34 mm by 10 mm size, its first mechanical watch since 1982.
- 2018 to 2022 Bigger, and automatic Timex added a 40 mm automatic Marlin with date, and New York designer Todd Snyder worked from the brand's archive on the revival.
- 2024 Space-age styling The Marlin Jet Automatic brought a 38 mm case, a Hesalite crystal covering the whole bezel and a 24-hour sub-dial, drawing on mid-century space-age design.
$10 to $15
retail price of vintage Timex watches
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$10 to $15retail price of vintage Timex watches
Chapters
- Mid-1950s
Built to survive the water
Timex introduced the Marlin in the mid-1950s, when few watches resisted water, dust and shocks. Early models were made in Great Britain with few complications to limit failures, and had a military look with luminous numerals and red seconds hands.
- 1960s
Takes a licking
Newsman John Cameron Swayze fronted Timex television ads that put watches through torture tests, and the Marlin was among them. The style turned slimmer and more elegant, and the Marlin name lived only in advertising, never on the dial.
- 1961 to late 1970s
The automatic cousin
The Viscount line, starting with a 1961 British-made model, carried Marlin design cues into automatic watches. By the 1970s these were larger, at 37 mm with domed acrylic crystals.
- 2017
Timex winds again
Timex reissued its 1960s Marlin at the same 34 mm by 10 mm size, its first mechanical watch since 1982. The $199 hand-wound reissue used a Seagull movement and sold out almost immediately.
- 2018 to 2022
Bigger, and automatic
Timex added a 40 mm automatic Marlin with date, and New York designer Todd Snyder worked from the brand's archive on the revival. The 2022 automatic drew on a 1969 Viscount, with a Miyota movement, boxed numerals and new blue and green dials at $249.
- 2024
Space-age styling
The Marlin Jet Automatic brought a 38 mm case, a Hesalite crystal covering the whole bezel and a 24-hour sub-dial, drawing on mid-century space-age design. It was sold only online at $289 and sold out quickly.
Moments
2017. Worn & Wound spotted MVMT China on the reissue's caseback, a sign of where the revival's hand-wound movement came from.
1962. A Timex ad from 1962 signed off by asking viewers whether it was time for a Timex in their life.
Vintage Timex watches sold for about $10 to $15, so cheap that watchmakers often refused to service them, yet many still run within a minute a day.
Generations and strap changes
- 2025Marlin Quartz
The Marlin Quartz kept the 34mm stainless steel case of the Marlin reissue, on an embossed crocodile-patterned leather strap.
The strap has quick-release pins and a pin buckle.
- 2020Marlin California
The Marlin California added a dial variant with Roman numerals.
- 2019Todd Snyder quartz edition
A limited-edition Todd Snyder exclusive was the first 34mm quartz Marlin.
- 201734mm hand-wound reissue
Timex revived the Marlin as a 34mm hand-wound watch on a leather strap, and it sold out almost immediately.
The Hour Markers lists an 18 mm leather band as the replacement strap.
- 19601960s British Marlin
Originally made in Great Britain, the Marlin evolved in the 1960s into a sleek style, with thin hands and many dial variations.
- 19501950s Marlin
Early Marlins had a military look with luminous numerals and bright red seconds hands.