Lots of ink has been spilled in the short span of time since the launch of the Formex Aria on the topic of small brands (microbrands, if you must) going upmarket and playing at significantly higher price points than consumers are accustomed to. When a brand releases a watch that is multiple times the cost of the watches they are already associated with, it can cause a near panic in the watch enthusiast community. Lots of “HOW COULD THEY?” type comments appear on websites like ours, Instagram, and over beers at local meetups as collectors grapple with the idea that watch brands, which are also businesses that support the lives of real human beings, might attempt to make the most of the increased popularity our hobby has received in these past few years.
And that’s really what it is, right? The mainstreaming of watches has led brands like Formex, Christopher Ward, Atelier Wen, and others to feel confident in their expansion upmarket. Gone are the days when microbrands appeal solely to value conscious consumers – they have the eye of at least some traditional luxury buyers as well, and the ambitious watches they’ve developed and the prices being asked are a reflection of that. Timex, of course, is not a microbrand, but their Atelier line is a significant move into a higher pricing tier, and some of those same dynamics are in play, I think with the release of two new chronographs in the brand’s highest end line of watches.
You might remember the Atelier collection launched last year with the Marine M1a and the GMT24 M1a. Designed by Giorgio Galli, these watches were positioned as the ultimate expression of what Timex can do in a modern design language with more refined materials. The new chronographs that debuted last week, the Chronograph Automatic M1a Ti and the Chronograph Quartz M1q, share much of the design language of their diver and GMT predecessors and bolter the Atelier collection as more than just a one off experiment.
These new chronographs are pretty similar in their execution and are primarily differentiated by their movements. As the names of these watches suggest, the M1a Ti runs on an automatic movement made by Landeron, and the M1q a quartz movement made by Ronda. Both feature skeletonized cases with black IP coated elements. The automatic’s case is 42mm in titanium, while the quartz powered chrono is 40mm in stainless steel. Dials are matte black with silver subdials at 3 and 9 on each watch.
Pricing is also a point of differentiation. The quartz chronograph comes in at $800 on a bracelet or $700 on a strap. The automatic will run you $2,250 on a bracelet or $2,100 on a strap.
I have yet to see the new Timex Atelier chronographs, but I have spent some time with the diver and GMT, and I’ve also handled each of the Giorgio Galli designed “S” series watches that were a precursor to this line. I was impressed with the quality of those pieces and while of course I’d love for everything to be just a little more accessible and priced a little lower, it would be hard for me to say that either the Galli or Atelier watches were priced unfairly given the competition. In other words, in terms of their fit and finish and cohesion in design, they are in the same playing field with the best watches they might be comps for at similar price points. What this really comes down to is a psychological barrier that many collectors, myself included, at times, have with paying a certain amount of money for a brand that exists in the mind (and in our lived reality) at a completely different price point. How that barrier is navigated is, of course, an individual decision and depends largely on how you feel about the brand in question and where you perceive value in a watch purchase.
More information on the new Timex Atelier watches can be found on the brand’s website here.
