TIMELESS TRIUMPH

To celebrate the 170th anniversary of American watchmaker Timex, we sit down with Chief Executive Creative Director GIORGIO GALLI to trace centuries of horological innovation...

-  REILLY SULLIVAN

Seconds may tick by quickly, but few watchmakers can boast keeping time for as long as American watchmaker Timex. The iconic watch brand is ringing in 170 years during a period of pronounced creative and commercial success, largely powered by the ongoing success of its Q Timex re-releases.

Timex was founded in 1854 as Waterbury Clock Company (the current name came much later in 1969) and originally sold pocket watches and clocks to America’s newly industrialised cities. Business really started to pick up when their first wristwatch hit the market in 1914 and by the 1950s one in three timepieces sold in the United States was a Timex.

For Chief Executive Creative Director Giorgio Galli, 170 years represents “a great achievement” for a company he has not only dusted off but transformed into a 21st century horological player in its own right.

Galli arrived at the watchmaker in 2007 during its wilderness period and quickly set about giving this distinctly American brand a European edge. Almost 17 years later it is sometimes hard to know where Galli stops and Timex begins. “I’m very attached to the brand,” he tells MAXIM in a recent video call from his office in Milan. “You need to love it to make it successful.”