A Week on the Wrist with the Timex Weekender – meet the perfect first watch

Collecting analogue watches in the era of always-accurate smartphones is a bit of an odd pursuit, but as someone who’s caught the watch collector bug, once you get in, it’s hard to get out. But if you’ve not worn a watch in ages or fancy a change from one of the best smartwatches, how do you know if an analog watch is for you? Enter the Timex Weekender.

At £60 (or less if you shop around), the Timex Weekender is a great entry-level step into the world of watches, in both terms of wearing and collecting. But while Timex isn’t known as a premium brand, there’s a lot more to the Weekender than its price tag belies. I should know as I have one sitting proudly alongside my OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra and OMEGA Speedmaster. 

That’s because the Timex has 170 years of watchmaking behind it, so is a dab hand at making affordable yet attractive watches. And I think the Weekender is a fabulous example of that.

Timex Weekender: the specs

Given the price, the Weekender has a simple quartz movement powering a trio of hands that circumnavigate a dial with both a 12- and 24-hour Arabic numerals, flanked by chapter ring minute track that curves up the sides of the dial. 

This simple dial is enclosed in a 38mm brass case that’s been polished to a high shine. Curving lugs with a 20mm width hold a single-piece fabric strap with a brass buckle. And while the Weekender has a field watch design, you’ll not want to subject it to much of a dunk, as there’s only 30 metres of water resistance - this is fine for wearing in the rain, but don’t swim with the Weekender. 

So far, so simple, but the Weekender has a party tick up its sleeve that took me far too long to discover: the unassuming crown can be pushed into light up the entire dial in a tone of green that one would associate with standard watch lume. Dubbed INDIGLO, it’s a surprisingly handy feature, especially as the number and hands aren't lumed.

All in all, for £60 I think the Weekender serves up a neat and unfussy watch for most every-wear scenarios. Plus it comes in a few dial colours - black, green, ivory, and white - and has a selection of fabric straps.

Timex Weekender: what’s it like to wear?

While I’m fortunate enough to have a couple of rather lovely luxury watches, as well as the slick but affordable Baltic HMS 003, I still find time for the Timex Weekender. And each time I pop it on my wrist, I remember how much I like it and why it deserves a spot in my watch box alongside timepieces that cost magnitudes more.  

My Weekender sports a green fabric strap that gives off army surplus gear vibes, and has the ivory dial. I love the rugged simplicity of the strap, which is surprisingly comfortable despite its rough finish, but that dial is what gets my attention. 

The creamy ivory color helps the black hands and numerals stand out without the harshness pure white dials can have. I like the simplicity of the 12-hour Arabic numerals, all of which look neat without trying to be fancy with their fonts, while the smaller 24-hour numerals add a little bit of extra detail to the dial without making it overly complex. 

Continuing this theme of simplicity, the black baton hands give off a classic no-nonsense practicality one expects with a field watch. The same could be said for the seconds hand but on my Weekender model it's in a fetching red, injecting an accent of colour in the near-monochromatic dial. That bold red hand hops second to second with a concussive tick; some people might find this annoying but I think it adds charm and character to the watch. 

As one might expect, on closer inspection of the case you can tell the Weekender is a budget watch as there’s not exactly a lot of finesse in the finishing. And the brass lacks the weight and solidarity of stainless steel. But at this price it’s easy to overlook, and from afar I think the Weekender looks great.

Is the Timex Weekender worth the money?

One of the easiest questions to answer: yes. 

Around £60 for a nifty quartz watch is simply great, especially given its design and light-up dial; I'd say the Weekender is a perfect impulse-buy watch.

But beyond that, the Timex Weekender works as the gateway to watch collecting, given it’ll work in all but the most formal of settings and its 20mm lug width means it's ripe for strap swapping. Though having said that, if you do get into watch collecting after time with the Weekender, you could fall into a habit that can get very expensive, very quickly; good luck.