THE TIMEX ANDROS Review. Day/ Date/ Diver. Done deal!

[Luxe Time]

I recently stumbled upon a great find, and I'm excited to share the news with my fellow TRF's!

Have you been surfing the web or stopping into stores looking for a classic looking diver's watch that can take serious use and abuse? Sure, I know we all feel our Rolex can handle just about any situation, but sometimes its just not fair to handles our Rollie babies like this. Maybe you don't like dropping or banging around your new $8,000 Rolex Submariner….

This watch will stand tall in your collection, be respected, and always be there for your...

Here's the watch to buy before it's sold out:

THE TIMEX ANDROS!

I mean, how could you not love the name. Andros? Named after the largest island of the Bahamas, the island has the world's third largest barrier reef. Early divers such as Jacques Cousteau visited the famous scuba diving destinations. Plus the name sounds, well, pretty ballsy. Like something from ancient Greece… you get the point. It's just a good name.

For me it was love at first sight. A late-night web surfing session turned into late night watch buying. At least the damage was light. I'd found the perfect diver under $200, a watch designed by a company who's slogan is "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking" … the world famous Timex, from Waterbury CT! Created in partnership with one of our country's classic American style brands: J. Crew.

Style:
Aesthetically the watch is very easy on the eyes. Veeerrry easy! If you took an old Omega and mated it with a classic Rolex diver - this is what would pop out. Scratch it up a little to give it that vintage appeal, pop it on a Nato, and you're set. Clean, cool, classic. The ANDROS. Looks like it was used in an old Bond movie. Feels tough enough to handle any abuse.

The standard navy nato strap can quickly be changed and color possibilities are seemingly endless and the dark navy bezel/ dial combination works with almost anything.

Functionality:
Day Date, Mineral Crystal Dial, Water resistant to 330 feet. Easy to read dial ? Bi-directional bezel. Adjustable Nato strap. You know, everything you really need in a good diver.

Specs:
The case is robust, at about 38mm, fairly heavy, with clean lines and vintage looks. A little bit of light surface scratching and a very minor roughing up to make it look lightly used over a period of thirty years. The bezel looks like one off of an Omega Seamaster. The dial is uncluttered but packed with all of the info you need to quickly tell the day, date, hours, minutes, and seconds. I suppose if you're a farmer you'll miss the moon phase complication. Too bad for you.

Price:
$1100. Well, thats what it would be if it had a Tag Heuer stamp on the dial. Or just $500 if it was a Seiko. But no, it's just a classic Timex, the company that outfitted artillery gunman in WWI. And its price?… $175 only at J.Crew. $20- $28 for straps.

I hoped you enjoyed my quick review on the Timex Andros, my favorite diver under $200. I'll let my pics do the rest of the talking…. then go get your own Andros and let me know what you think!

[dddrees]

Good review, thanks for sharing.

[Luxe Time]

No problem, glad you enjoyed Dan.

[wokafu]

looks great...looks even better in a nato strap..

[Luxe Time]

Love the options with the NATO strap.
Anyone else care to share their opinion? Love it or hate if? Let me know.

[watch watcher]

It drives me crazy that it's in between dates. What's up with that?

[Luxe Time]

Originally Posted by watch watcher

It drives me crazy that it's in between dates. What's up with that?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they date wheel lack the precision of our swiss watches. The date wheel gradually turns starting at about 10 pm and centering at maybe 1 am or so. For a $175 watch it doesn't bother me.

I noticed my iphone photos could have been a lot better. Here's a screen shot from J Crew's site.

[dankramer@live.com]

What specific color is that orange strap? Is it "cinnabar" or "dark pumpkin"?

And how difficult is it to change out the watch straps? Have you considered a leather strap for the Andros watch?

Thanks
-Dan

[Luxe Time]

Hi Dan-
The strap is dark pumpkin I believe. I've been leaving the original navy strap on in most cases. You can change the strap in a minute without any tools!
Let me know if you pick one up.

[macxchange]

Ordered one as well and can't wait to wear it. :)

[WatchTimes]

Thanks for the review, great write up.
Myself for a tough diver I am still partial to Rolex, I will wear mine through anything.
But I would grab the Seiko Monster or a Marathon over the Timex myself.

The Timex does have a very nice clean dial though!

Also, you can get MUCH better NATO and Zulu straps online, the ones JCrew sells
are rather cheaply made and the metal will rust a bit in parts when you leave them
laying around wet

[bd79cc]

I was happy to find this Forum recently, and this is my first post here.

After checking the J. Crew website today, I found that the Timex Andros is on sale for $145.00. Using the promotional code MUSTSHOP the price falls to about $116.00, plus tax and shipping. At this price, the Andros almost competes price-wise with the Timex Originals dive-style watch, which sells on the Timex website for $85.00. The Timex Originals dive-style is also an inexpensive but very handsome timepiece!

[masterkiller]

Love the Andros, may have to get one soon...

[JCW1980]

I had one of these for a hot minute a couple years ago. I was in J Crew and saw it sitting there; of course, it's got the classic diver look and it's blue. The $175 ask is crazy though. They happened to have it on sale, and I think I had another in-store email discount offer, or something, so I ended up paying just over $100 for it.

As I recall, I couldnt get the Day function to set at all, so I just returned it for a refund. I was pretty underwhelmed, and felt it wasnt even worth it to me to exchange it for another one. I mean, if the watch can't even make it out of the store functioning properly, I figured something else was bound to go wrong within a few months, and I just wasn't interested in throwing away $100 like that.

For this price point, you can get your hands on any number of Seiko divers with AUTO movements via grey dealers online. I've got a Seiko SKX009J that is bullet proof and cost me about $130. To each their own, but I feel like there are much better deals out there for the money.

[dotcomakazee]

Looks like a Timex.