Timex brought back its first digital watch and its glorious 1975 design with a wonderfully strange navy acrylic surround frame has barely aged
The Q Timex 1975 SSQ Digital Reissue brings back one of the brand's earliest digital designs with an always-on LCD display and bags of retro charm
Casio might be the first brand that springs to mind when you think of wonderfully retro digital watches, but Timex has an alternative that deserves considerably more attention.
The Q Timex 1975 SSQ Digital Reissue takes its inspiration directly from the brand's first adventures in digital watchmaking during the mid-1970s, when the original SSQ collection introduced LCD and LED displays that must have looked positively futuristic at the time.
The modern version certainly doesn't try to hide those roots with its chunky stainless-steel case, measuring 38mm across and 13mm thick, sunburst-brushed upper surface, polished sides, and an integrated-looking brushed stainless-steel bracelet.
The wonderfully strange navy acrylic surround framing the rectangular LCD screen is what really sells the watch for me, though, which looks exactly like the sort of gadget someone in 1975 might have imagined we'd all be wearing in the future.
Digital minimalism
There's very little smartwatch-style feature creep here, and the simplicity is arguably a huge part of the appeal of this wonderful Timex timekeeper.
The always-on LCD shows the time, while the watch also provides a date function and a simple 0-60 second counter.
There are just two buttons on the case, while a battery-powered quartz digital movement handles timekeeping.
As you can tell, the SSQ doesn't pretend to be anything more than a stylish way to tell the time.
The watch weighs 92g and uses an acrylic crystal rather than mineral glass or sapphire, another detail that helps preserve its vintage look.
Water resistance is rated at 50 metres, and Timex says it's suitable for short swims, although you shouldn't press the buttons underwater.
It's not exactly a direct replacement for the affordable Casio Vintage A168 series – which often sell for as little as they used to in the 80s – that have dominated this particular corner of watchmaking for decades, but it offers something slightly different.
The stainless-steel construction, unusual case shape and deep blue display surround make it feel more like a piece of 1970s industrial design than a basic digital watch.
The Q Timex 1975 SSQ Digital Reissue is available now from Timex UK and Timex US for £155 / $169 (~€146 / AU$239).
