I have written about HMT, Maxima, Kenneth Cole, Casio, et al. This time I thought of penning something about Timex and hence this short writeup.
Timex is not an Indian company as perceived by many of us. It is a U.S based watch mamoth. In India it is considered as a low end brand. Timex has made a strategical error of pushing its low end and mid end instruments. The second error was collobaration with Titan which ended some years back. This made Timex synonymous with Titan. Many of us still believe that Timex and Titan are one and the same brand which is not the case.
Timex as an international brand has the widest portfolio of watches. Their USP is Range right from low end to upper middle strata.Their website https://timexindia.com is the best I come accross all the manufacturers."The Time Factory" outlets have a good presence throughout the country bested only by "World of Titan" stores.The thing I liked about Timex people is that their Indian portfolio is same as their international portfolio.The problem is that they are not promoting their upper range products as aggressively they should considering the rising pocket power of the Indian consumers.They have a great challange ahead to make Timex as a upper middle class name rather than a mass brand.
Timex has Chronograph, Digital, Analog-Digital, Tachymeter, Thermometer, Compass, Formal, Fashion watches and they are quite good in all of them.I have a Expedition watch from Timex with Indiglo which is a patented technology of Timex. And it is really great for night. I mostly drive bike. At night time, Indiglo is a bliss.As it is difficult to get cell phone out of pocket to see time and normal watches are difficult to read while on bike. A gentle one hand push on the button on your wrist and a bright green light glows on the dial giving a crisp display of time.I also have a Casio but the backlight of Casio is so dull and doesn’t spread evenly on the dial which makes difficult to read time.Timex is a clear winner at night.
Coming to the looks all Timex watches are trendy highly apt for the urban market. The plus point is they are not unreasonably priced. One doesn’t feel the pinch that he has to pay for brand name only.The cost more than justifies the product. I bought my watch for INR 2500. I haven’t encountered a single person who guessed the price lower than the actual cost after seeing the watch. Coming to my watch model it is a round white dialled steel watch with an extremely high quality leather strap. The leather feels like part of your own skin when your wrap it around your wrist. The regular 3 hand movement is there. The second hand is beautifully crafted in red colour which adds to the charm. It is 100 m water resistant and hence water is no problem. You can swim with it.The only grouse with this watch I had was the battery. The battery withered after 5 months. But thankfully it was under warranty. So I got it replaced free of cost.
Overall, Timex is a good buy not only in mass segment but also in middle end and upper middle segment. Titan is good too but Timex beats it in range. Timex has a good future in India provided it improves upon its brand image.