Catch a Panda: New Q Timex Chronograph
Fernando AldeaThe new Q Timex Chronograph, with its iconic "panda" dial, pays homage to the golden age of motorsports and quartz watches.
https://images.timex.com/video/upload/f_auto,q_auto,w_1440/Videos/timex/2022q4/Timex_FW2022_Q-TIMEX-CHRONO_TW2V42700_1920x1080_20sec.mp4Some years carry more historical significance than others, but 1969 was in a class of its own. It was the year the first astronaut walked on the moon, the first digital messages traveled over the ARPANET (the predecessor to the modern internet), and 350,000 people gathered for the first time on a farm in upstate New York to watch Jimmy Hendrix play the U.S. national anthem at Woodstock.
In the world of watchmaking, 1969 marked a pair of firsts that would revolutionize watches as we know them: the emergence of the quartz movement and the introduction of the world's first automatic chronograph. The former was an entirely new technology, while the latter was an evolution of centuries-old watchmaking know-how, but both would have a massive impact on watches throughout the 1970s and beyond.
The new Q Timex Chrono—Q’s latest release of 2022—combines the iconic look of early automatic chronographs with the precision, reliability, and affordability of a quartz movement, making it a perfect homage to those bygone days. The latest in a series of modern interpretations of 1970s watches released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Timex’s quartz era, the Q Chrono captures the style of the era while paying homage to the fascinating origins of a historic watch design. Equipped with period details like a domed acrylic crystal and a 40mm stainless steel case, plus modern touches like luminous hands and a date window, the new Q Chrono offers the best of both worlds.
The story of the Q Timex Chrono goes back more than 50 years, to one of the most popular and influential watch designs of all time. Its high-contrast black dial, with separate white subdials for the hours, minutes, and seconds, and surrounded by a set of minimalist hour markers, was introduced in the mid-20th century and adopted by countless brands in the 1960s and 1970s, from Omega to TAG Heuer to Universal Genéve. Nicknamed the “panda” dial for its resemblance to the bamboo-loving mammal’s signature mask (the white-on-black version, appropriately, is dubbed the “reverse panda” ), its ultra-legible design made it perfect for timing motorsport races, and it was soon being used in elite events around the world, from Daytona to Le Mans. Other key design features included a bezel with a tachymeter scale, which could be used in conjunction with the chronograph to calculate a car's speed on the track, a game-changing innovation in the days when radar was not widely available.
The most famous example of this style will be familiar to anyone who followed the headlines in 2017, when a panda-dial Rolex Daytona chronograph owned by Paul Newman sold for nearly $18 million at auction, shattering records and creating countless fans of '60s-style chronographs. The Q Timex Chrono, of course, won't cost you nearly that much. Like Timex watches from the '70s (and every other era), this chronograph's sticker price is $199 ($219 with bracelet), making it the most affordable way to have a classic panda chronograph on your wrist in 2022. Driving gloves not included.
