I’m not an horological expert or serious watch collector. As both a TIMEX and a Peanuts/ Snoopy fan, I just wanted to share this new watch with you all.
00:00 Intro
00:19 unboxing
01:22 complaints about my other novelty watch, Swatch Sistem51
02:42 back to Timex
03:01 quick overview of the 2020 and 2017 reissue
03:16 the OG 1950s Marlin
04:14 how the 40mm case looks on my small wrist
04:36 the transparent case back and the Miyota movement (w/o day & date)
05:01 lume on hands
05:14 sunburst reflection, also compared with my recent novelty watch, Swatch X Omega Moonswatch Mission to the Sun’s sunburst
05:40 logo on the movement rotor
05:44 other Timex Peanuts variants
05:59 Snoopy Flying Ace
06:04 Snoopy on typewriter
06:08 black leather wrist strap, also more footage of the case back
06:13 quick release mechanism on the spring bars of the strap
07:07 buckle details
07:30 comic strip in the packaging
07:46 some of my Snoopy comics
08:02 outro
Sources:
- https://theslenderwrist.com/timex-marlin-automatic-40mm-review/
- https://theslenderwrist.com/timex-marlin-review/
- https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/watch-wednesday-timex-marlin-automatic-snoopy-edition/
- https://www.retrotogo.com/2020/09/timex-70th-anniversary-peanuts-watches.html
- Times Ticking YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK81qmHWC5M (Charlie Brown Limited Edition Timex Marlin)
- https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/timex-marlin-hands-on (2017 Marlin)
transcript of the video:
Timex is an iconic watch brand that needs no introduction. I recently picked up one of their Marlin models and I’d like to share more about it with you guys.
This is one of the various Timex Marlin models released in conjunction with the 70th anniversary of the Peanuts cartoons – another icon of the mid 20th century- featuring the beloved comic book characters of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, etc.
As a long time Peanuts fan, AND also as a casual watch enthusiast, picking up the Timex Marlin X Snoopy watch was a dream come true. Well, okay, dream sounds a bit hyperbolic. Considering the price is around $250 only, and you can even get it at a discount, as it occasionally goes on sale.
For a decent entry level automatic watch, I’d say that’s pretty good value for money. I’d even say it’s better value for money than some similarly priced fashion watches or even the hyped Swatch X Omega Moonswatch pandemic phenomenon, which retails at $300 and uses a quartz movement.
Full disclosure, I do own a Mission to Sun Moonswatch, more on that later. But when the Moonswatch mania dies down, I suspect the Timex Marlin Snoopy/ Peanuts character watches will hold its value longer, if we’re comparing them both on the “novelty watches” metric.
Or even not talking about them as novelty watches, but build quality.
Sidebar: I have a Swatch Sistem 51, the very first generation released in 2017. This was the very first automatic watch released by Swatch, prior to this, all their watches, from their famed plastic fantastic to their pricier stainless steel Irony line, were all quartz-movement watches.
What made the Sistem 51 a collectible and historical marvel was that it was built with only 51 distinct parts, which is very few for an automatic watch. It was also built completely by robots. Usually some part of automatic watches involve a bit of human assembly, even the cheap Chinese Seagull movements.
This first generation Sistem 51 was not exactly expensive at $200 or so retail back in 2017, but neither was it an ultra cheap $25 dollar Casio. The movement died after 3 and a half years, which is a very short lifespan for that price. It’s not repairable too, since the automatic movement was hermetically sealed- cue back to its marketing pitch of being totally assembled by robots, untouched by human hands.
So I don’t know how long this Moonswatch will last, although hopefully its quartz movement will last longer.
That’s why I feel the Timex Marlin will be of better value in the long run, not only as a collectible novelty watch, but the fact that it will still keep ticking after five years.
As an automatic watch, it doesn’t need battery replacements. You “power” it by simply wearing it on your wrist after setting the time. According to online reviews, it has a 30 hour power reserve.
This Timex Marlin is actually a second generation reissue. The very first Marlin came out in the 1950s as an affordable dress watch alternative to pricier brands like Omega, but which aren’t able to keep out moisture from the watch. The OG Timex Marlin was proud to call itself waterproof (we’d call it “water resistance” in today’s parlance) at a fraction of the price of much pricier watches. It wasn’t made to be a tool watch or dive watch, but as a more formal dress watch, so it being somewhat water resistant was a marvel for that time.
In 2017, a more modern Timex Marlin was reissued to great fanfare. It was nearly identical to the original mid century one, with the same 34 mm diameter. I’ll link to the primary sources I used to research this down below. I won’t talk at length about that 2017 one as I don’t own one. This 2nd generation reissue, at 40mm, the one I have now, is slightly bigger than the 34mm diameter of both the original 1950s one and the 2017 reissue.
40mm is the no longer considered large nowadays though. Men’s watches are usually larger than 40mm now, and many watches marketed as “unisex” are at 40mm.
To be honest it’s a bit bulky on my small wrist, but since it’s pretty lightweight, it doesn’t feel too bad.
The crystal is domed acrylic, nearly identical to the original 1950s model, very retro. The dome makes it look even bulkier, especially when viewed in profile.
The caseback is transparent, so you can see the movement. The 2017 reissue uses a Chinese Seagull movement, and this 2020 onwards 40mm one, including all the Peanuts collabs, uses one of two Japanese Miyota movements (one with the day & date, one without).
Mine is the one without the “day and date” complication, it only tells the time. If you get the one with the “day and date”, it costs a little bit more, I think $60 more or so.
Another nice feature of this watch is the hour and minute hands have some lume to them. Not super strong lume, it fades fast. But it’s helpful if you find yourself suddenly in a dark room after leaving a brighter environment.
When the light hits the watch face just right, you can see it give off a very nice sunburst reflection. This isn’t really a utilitarian feature but an aesthetic one, but it’s very eye catching and pleasing. It’s still subtle enough to not be obnoxious.
My Moonswatch Mission to Sun also has a faint sunburst reflection on it, but I think the silver Timex Marlin executed it in a nicer way.
There is a Timex logo engraved into the movement’s rotor, giving it a personalized touch.
The Peanuts collab models have different variations, they didn’t all drop at the same time during the 2020 anniversary launch. They came out over the span of months, and some coincided with the holidays, like the Charlie Brown variant.
The one I got was the Snoopy Flying Ace variant, where he’s in his World War I pilot costume. I wanted the one with him by his typewriter, but it was out of stock.
This variant came with a plain black leather strap by the same company that makes Red Wing shoes. The spring bars have a nice quick release mechanism to them, you can easily change straps without having to use a spring bar tool unlike old style straps. You just have to buy straps that also have quick release spring bars, which are very common nowadays in 2023.
Here, I put on one of the popular silicone material “sports style” bands on it.
Here, I put on an elastic type fabric one that fits a bit tighter. Just changing the straps changes the entire look of the watch from serious looking to either sporty or more “fun” looking. And I didn’t have to use tools too, since these two modern straps both have quick release spring bar mechanisms.
It’s very easy to buy additional straps for the Timex Marlin as 20 mm lug width straps are super common.
If you want to put on a slip through NATO strap on it, you can easily buy garden variety 20mm wide spring bars.
The buckle also has a nice logo engraved into it. When the original leather strap eventually cracks and breaks after use, you can even transfer the buckle onto a new leather strap, like I did with my over a decade old Timex Expedition field watch here. This brown strap is no longer the stock brown strap, that one already cracked and got worn out with time. But it was a cinch to transfer the original buckle onto the new strap.
The Peanuts “collab” also extends to the packaging. The inlaid fabric inside the box has a four panel comic strip of Snoopy role playing a WWI Flying Ace pilot. I imagine the other watches feature other comic strips- like the Snoopy on his typewriter watch model will feature a comic strip of him doing one of his angsty writer gags.
As you can see, I’m a big Peanuts fan, these three comic books aren’t my only Peanuts comic books, I just don’t have the time to dig through them all and it’s gonna make the video very long if I show them all.
