Timex’s New High-End Watch Has Us Thirsty for a Sprite

2 min readThere was a time when spending more than a grand on a Timex would have sounded like a fairly bonkers thing to do. The brand is trying to change that. The latest evidence is the Timex Atelier GMT Première M1a, a new 38mm automatic GMT that’s part of the heritage brand’s increasingly ambitious move upmarket.Atelier is Timex’s relatively recent higher-end line, created to explore what the company can do with better materials, more ambitious movements, and a considerably bigger price tag.“We’ve made a huge step forward—Timex has actually become a cool brand,” global creative director Giorgio Galli recently told Esquire. “Not long ago it was seen as mass market: cheap, reliable watches.”Galli had already tested how far the Timex name could travel upmarket with his own Giorgio Galli collection, including a $1,500 automatic that continues to sell well.“That’s why we thought it was the right moment to introduce this new niche inside Timex,” he said. “It’s not detached from Timex, but it’s definitely something else.”Timex.The new GMT shows what he means. Inside is a Swiss-made Landeron automatic movement capable of displaying two time zones, with a 40-hour power reserve. The black enamel dial is surrounded by a black-and-green 24-hour scale, while the steel case gets an IP-gold center section, double-curved sapphire crystal, and exhibition case back.At 38mm, it’s also relatively restrained for a modern travel watch. It comes on either an integrated rubber strap for $1,350 or a steel bracelet for $1,450. Both are on sale now.There was a time, Galli says, when Timex’s own salespeople believed customers simply wouldn’t spend this sort of money on the brand. “We were told, ‘No, we cannot sell anything for more than 100 dollars—that’s impossible.’ Now we’re selling watches in many price brackets above that.”A four-figure Timex still takes some getting used to. This is Timex betting that enough people have acclimated to the idea already.