Timex is celebrating its 170th anniversary by releasing a new watch priced at only $1. The watch company announced Monday, Oct. 21, that it will release 1,000 of the limited-edition watches to celebrate “170 years of democratizing timekeeping.”
The watch is a take on the Yankee pocket watch introduced in the 1890s back when the watchmaker was known as the Waterbury Clock Company. The Yankee was the first timepiece sold for $1 and became known as “the watch that made the dollar famous.”
In July 2020, Times Ticking, a Utah-based watch repair center, delved deep into the story behind the dollar watch, which involved a mail order company Ingersoll seeking a cheaper way to produce watches than those already on the market.
“Pocket watches in the late 1870s were an elite status symbol and were expensive because there wasn’t an efficient way to manufacture them,” Jake Evans of Times Ticking explained in the video. “Waterbury Clock Company had a jumbo pocket watch in stores in New York. It was a less expensive alternative to the high-end European clocks that were on the market. Ingersoll contacted the Waterbury Clock Company to buy their watches.”
Ingersoll created a deal with Waterbury, Evans explained, where Waterbury would make the watches and Ingersoll would sell them.
“In 1896, the Ingersoll company then introduced the Yankee. It was ‘the watch that made the dollar famous,’” Evans said. “The price was set at a dollar to allow the average working man to buy the watch for a day’s wages—which was $31.10 in today’s money.”
Timex said, by the turn of the century over 6 million of these dollar watches were sold to everyday Americans, including at least one famous one. Author Mark Twain purchased two of the $1 watches, sending a letter for both with a dollar enclosed, of course.
“By 1910, Waterbury was producing 3.5 million dollar watches per year for Ingersoll,” Evans said. “However, during the recession that followed World War I, Ingersoll went bankrupt. It was purchased by the Waterbury Clock Company, now the Timex Group USA, shortly after for $1.5 million.”
In a statement, Timex Chief Marketing Officer Shari Fabiani said, “The $1 anniversary watch pays homage to the original Waterbury campaign, which promised ‘correct time for little money.’ In crafting this watch, we wanted to honor the loyal consumers who have trusted and cherished our brand over the years.”
Each of the 1,000 limited-edition watches comes with a special caseback that reads, “This watch celebrates simply great watchmaking since 1854.”
The watches will be available online at Timex.com and at participating retailers worldwide beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Nov. 16.
A Nordstrom in San Diego, a Macy’s in New Jersey and the Todd Snyder Liquor Store menswear shop in New York City are the only three locations in the U.S. that will be selling these dollar watches. So if you’re in the market for one, set your watches now because time is of the essence.
