Anyone who’s been paying attention to the watch world over the past handful of years knows that Timex has been on quite the hot streak. It started back in 2017, when the budget brand relaunched the Marlin dress watch as its first new mechanical watch in decades. The hype behind that watch was surpassed two years later when Timex debuted another vintage redux, the Q Timex, this time proudly recalling the American watchmaker’s 1970s quartz-powered heyday.
The Q line has reinvigorated Timex, spawning a diverse range of handsome, retro, battery-powered timepieces that includes chronographs, dress watches and digital watches, in addition to the original diver-esque sports watch. But perhaps the most desirable configuration of the Q is the Timex Q Timex GMT, which brings improved specs and a travel-ready fourth hand capable of tracking multiple time zones to the original Q’s throwback Pepsi-bezeled form. So how does the Timex Q GMT hold up as a budget travel watch? We got our hands on one to find out.
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Timex Q Timex GMT: What We Think
The Q Timex GMT is easily the best Timex I’ve ever interacted with, and arguably ranks among the best watches the brand has ever made. It’s perfectly proportioned to suit a wide variety of wrists — particularly smaller ones — and is undeniably handsome. It nails the vintage cues it tries to execute, such as the bi-color aluminum bezel and highly domed acrylic crystal, and shows surprising refinement in its premium-feeling dial execution.
Of course, it isn’t perfect. The bracelet feels more cheaply made than the rest of the watch, and a lot of watch enthusiasts will still scoff at the quartz movement ticking away inside (even if it’s doing so silently). But still, taking everything into account, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better GMT watch out there for under $300 … or even $400.
Movement: Swiss-made quartz GMT (likely from Ronda)
Water Resistance: 50m
It’s quartz, and proud of it
In case the presence of both the large “Q” under 12 o’clock and the “GMT QUARTZ” text above the six marker didn’t clue you in, this is a quartz-powered watch. Timex isn’t trying to hide that fact. On the contrary, the brand is playing up the watch’s battery-powered pride. Flip the watch over and you’ll see a prominent battery hatch on the caseback that is, charmingly, meant to be opened with a coin so you can easily change the battery yourself. This is a carryover from vintage Timex Q watches and further plays up one of the greatest attributes of quartz movements: their low levels of maintenance.
Timex is proud of its quartz heritage, even making it easy for you to change the watch’s battery yourself.Zen Love
Like many watch enthusiasts, I have a strong preference for automatic and mechanical watches. It’s tough for an electronic device like a quartz watch to match the romance of a mechanical watch, with the latter’s intricate assemblage of springs, gears and levers keeping time by way of a mesmerizing smooth-sweeping seconds hand. But, if there is one area in my collection where I might actually prefer a quartz watch, it’s my travel watch. Quartz watches are far more accurate than mechanical watches, and there’s less risk of them stopping randomly since you don’t have to remember to wind them or keep them moving. In other words, there’s no need to double-check your phone’s clock for fear of missing your flight.
I’ve had zero issues with the quartz movement in my Timex Q GMT, and it’s only gained about five seconds in the three weeks I’ve spent with it (most mechanical watches will be off by at least that much in a day). It’s also of a different ilk than the inexpensive Chinese quartz movements you’ll find in many other Timex watches, in that it’s a more expensive Swiss-made GMT movement. Because of this, it lacks the loud — and annoying — ticking noise with which many Timex owners are familiar. One thing to note on the movement, though: The GMT hand is set independently, but it doesn’t jump in 24 increments. Instead, it glides smoothly along the dial, which means you’ll want to wait until the time hits the hour exactly (e.g., 4:00) to set it accurately.
This thing is really good-looking
The looks of the Q Timex GMT are derived from the original Q Timex Reissue, which got its design from the original Q Timex of the 1970s. But let’s be honest. The true design inspiration here is the OG of GMT watches, Rolex’s original GMT-Master. And the Q Timex GMT really nails the vibe of a vintage Rolex Pepsi without veering too far into homage territory. The shades of red and blue chosen for the aluminum bezel are spot-on, giving off classic travel watch vibes that are just gorgeous. The bezel is bidirectional, but it is friction fit — there’s no ratcheting like on many other watches with rotating bezels. I’d certainly like it if the bezel were ratcheting, as it would be much more pleasing to use and more stable. Still, I will say that the friction-fit bezel here hasn’t been too much of an issue, as it has a good level of resistance that’s easy to turn but also tends to (mostly) stay put.
From the ’70s-inspired case to the aluminum “Pepsi” bezel to the bubbly acrylic crystal, the Q GMT nails the vintage aesthetic.Zen Love
Perfectly matching the vintage vibes of the bezel is the crystal, a monstrously domed hunk of plexiglass that offers just the right amount of distortion at the edges and plenty of clarity to the black dial. All plexi crystals are prone to scratching, but I’ve noticed this one seems to pick up scratches a bit more easily than other acrylic-topped watches I’ve owned. Regardless, all but the deepest gouges are easily buffed out with a little Polywatch.
The case is the same one you’ll find on the standard, non-GMT Timex Q. It’s unabashedly late ’70s in its design, playing to that era’s obsession with integrated bracelet sports watches via its sharp angles, broad shape and lack of traditional lugs. While the finishing on the case won’t blow anyone away, I appreciate the mix of high polish and horizontal brushing — there’s even a subtle line at the mid-case splitting two halves of mirror polish to add more dimension to the silhouette.
The bracelet both looks and feels cheap
The bracelet is stylistically a good match, but its sub-par finishing leaves a lot to be desired.Zen Love
While the Q Timex GMT looks like it has an integrated bracelet, it actually doesn’t. The case simply has hooded lugs that disguise where the bracelet attaches to the case, and the lug width is a standard 18mm. The included stainless steel bracelet even includes quick-release spring bars to make strap changes easier. And I’m thankful for that, as I’m not a fan of the included bracelet. While I think its tapered, multi-link design matches the design of the watch, the finishing isn’t there to back it up. I understand this is a ~$200 watch, but the bracelet feels and looks a lot cheaper than the case and dial, which in my opinion drags the watch down a bit.
And while it is technically easy to swap out the bracelet, you’ll have a hard time finding one that matches the watch. Because of those hooded lugs, standard straps or third-party bracelets with straight end links to fit an 18mm lug span end up looking too narrow because of the wide hooded lugs of the case. Hopefully, Timex or some third party will start selling alternative, higher-quality tapering bracelets for the Q GMT. I would buy one.
The dial is surprisingly refined
The dial of the Q Timex GMT is a considerable step up from the standard Q Timex, both in design and execution. Design-wise, the dial is cleaner thanks to the compact date window replacing the larger day-date display at 3 o’clock. The indices and hands are of the same general design but with some key differences. On the GMT, the seconds hand is in the same silvery metal as the other hands rather than the plasticky red seconds hand on the standard Q.
Applied indices, filled with shockingly strong lume, add a premium feel to the dial.Zen Love
The metal GMT hand, with its red triangle tip, further elevates the look of the dial and matches the red of the bezel almost perfectly. The indices are also applied here with metal surrounds, and they look a lot more premium than the painted-on hour markers of the non-GMT Q. Finally, the lume here is surprisingly good. All indices and all hands are lumed, save for the seconds hand, and they glow pretty bright and last through most of the night.
The sizing is pretty perfect
As a man with wrists on the smaller side (6.25 inches ’round), I’m constantly seeking out smaller watches. Nearly every watch I’ve ever owned has come in below 40mm, as I find them to be a lot more comfortable. And I’m not alone in thinking that either, as small watches have been gaining in popularity in recent years. Vintage men’s watches are notoriously small, and thankfully, Timex kept the size true to the old-school Timex Q with the GMT. The case measures just 38mm across, around 44mm from lug tip to lug tip and is 12.5mm thick — a measurement that includes that tall, box crystal. This all adds up to a supremely comfortable watch that I sometimes forget I’m even wearing.
The vintage themes don’t stop with the watch’s looks — this sits compact and comfortably like an actual vintage watch.Photo by Zen Love
Timex Q Timex GMT Alternatives
Honestly, there aren’t a whole lot of options in this price category when it comes to GMT watches — at least not from reputable brands. Timex itself makes the closest competitor: the Waterbury GMT. A few bucks cheaper at $199, it comes in slightly larger at 39mm, slightly thinner at 11mm (mostly due to the flat mineral crystal in place of the domed plexi) and a bit more robust with twice the water resistance of the Q GMT. It features a Pepsi bezel in some variants and is sold on a leather strap. I think it’s quite a bit uglier than the Q GMT, due in part to the pusher at 2 o’clock, but your mileage may vary.
Then there’s the Citizen Promaster GMT, reference BJ7128-59E, which is powered by Citizen’s Eco-Drive solar quartz movement. It’s a rugged dive watch with 200m water resistance, a rotating dive bezel and an inner Pepsi GMT bezel. It’s also quite massive at 44mm, and while usually priced between $300 and $400, these can be tough to track down. Finally, if you’re willing to spend a little more and are interested in making the jump to an automatic movement, then it’s tough to beat Seiko’s “5KX” GMT. Officially dubbed the Seiko 5 Sports SKX Sports Style GMT, this handsome and compact-wearing 42.5mm diver runs on the Japanese brand’s own 4R36 self-winding movement and comes on a nice stainless steel jubilee bracelet. At $475 though, it’s more than twice the cost of the Timex.
Timex
