Timex Gets Groovy: Q Timex Falcon Eye 1978 Reissue

It’s taken us a while to show Timex some love; but one supposes that’s okay since Timex itself waited more than 40 years to resurrect this beauty last week – the Q Timex Falcon Eye which was first released in 1978. Indeed, Timex has been raiding its archives of late, and these trips into its 165-year history have proven very fruitful, yielding such re-made classics as the self-winding Marlin and the quartz-driven Q Timex 1979 Reissue. According to Timex, the latter has been particularly successful, selling out in hours every time it’s restocked. Doubtless, Timex hopes that the Falcon Eye will be at least as successful as its Q Timex sibling, and we’ll likely see more reissues in the line should this come to pass.

‘Q Timex’ originally referred to the collection of quartz watches made by Timex in the 1970s when the company embraced the then-new quartz technology that was cutting a swathe through the watchmaking industry. Well, is the sell-out performance of the 1979 Reissue and the launch of the Falcon Eye 1978 Reissue any indication that quartz is great again?

We don’t think so. Quartz is pretty darn good, short of ‘great’, while mechanical is awesome, assuredly great – is how we see it. We like that quartz is fuss-free, needlessly precise and thin. But we’d put the resurgence of quartz remakes more as a result of the funky 1970s styling. Case in point: quartz-powered fashion watches, as opposed to quartz-powered 1970s remakes. The former we won’t remember; the latter remind us of a different time when the world was less uptight, when gold cost about a tenth what it does now, and Charlie’s Angels were pin-up worthy.

Besides, what a handsome devil the Falcon Eye is. The case width of 38mm hits the sweet spot on a medium-sized wrist, and there’s just something very pool-side relaxing about the gold bezel framing a dreamy striated blue dial. The rest of the case cuts a fine figure with alternating finishes and the woven steel bracelet is simply suave. We also like the battery hatch for battery replacements without having to pry the case. These days, practicality has taken a backseat it seems, with batteries built-in and sealed for no better reason than to make that kindle, iphone or laptop slimmer than it needs to be. Please make things practical again.

We look forward to more reissues. Quartz is not the issue; give us more of that disco styling.