Timex is a watch brand known for its affordable yet great-looking timepieces. But do these Timex watches actually last long?
A Timex watch battery will last between two and five years, depending on how often you use the Indiglo feature, while the watch itself can easily last five to ten years, if not more. Taking proper care of your timepiece prolongs its lifetime massively.
When we talk about how long a watch lasts, we typically look at two aspects; the battery life and the quality of the watch itself.
Many factors ultimately play a role in how long a timepiece will last. In this article, we’ll detail how long a Timex watch will last and what factors play a role!
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How Long Will A Timex Watch Last?
Timex is a watch brand that makes relatively affordable watches. Despite the lower prices, the watches are actually of very good quality. People often share how their Timex watch is still up and running, even after many years.
And those stories are no exceptions. Timex watches, although very affordable, will last you a very long time. With proper care, a minimum of 5 years is no rare sight, but they can even last twice as long.
Just as with any watch, the lifetime of your watch will depend on how you treat the watch. If you drop it often or are generally more careless with it, you can expect your watch to give in a little quicker.
The pressure and shock that follows when you drop your watch can damage not only the outside but also the inside. Scratched on the casing, a crack in the glass, or worse, a few broken or misaligned gears.
On the other hand, if you take proper care of your watch, it can last you multiple years. And proper care doesn’t mean you service it every year; it just means you’re careful with it.
Dropping your watch is the number one cause of broken watches, and it’s something that can happen. But when you’re careful with your watch, it shouldn’t happen all that often.
The lifetime of a Timex watch might surprise some, seeing that the price point of a Timex watch is extremely low. But a low price doesn’t always mean a low-quality product.
Timex found its roots in making some of the first sports watches, and those timepieces need to be durable. And that’s a quality you’ll always find back in Timex watches!
How Long Does The Battery Of A Timex Watch Last?
Inside every watch is a little mechanism that ensures the time displays correctly. And often, this is powered by a battery. Of course, these batteries have a lifetime, and that’s no different with a Timex watch.
A Timex watch battery will last around two to five years, depending on how much you use your Indiglo.
Indiglo is a watch feature made by the company Indiglo Corporation. Indiglo Corporation is, in turn, owned by Timex, making the Indiglo feature a Timex exclusive.
But what is Indiglo? Indiglo is a feature on a Timex watch that displays a green/blue light on the face of your watch. It backlights the dial, which makes it easier to read but also makes it look more aesthetic.
The Indiglo feature was first introduced in 1992 in the Timex Ironman watch. After the introduction, the Indiglo feature quickly made its way into 70% of the Timex watches.
As you can imagine, a feature like this will use up much more of the battery. Luckily, Indiglo is a feature you can turn on and off. Leaving it off all the time will have little to no impact on the battery’s lifetime.
Vice versa, leaving it on all the time will significantly impact the battery. Even using it more than once a day can drastically decrease the battery’s lifetime.
While it is tough to pinpoint an exact timeframe for this, we can assume the following is true:
| How Often You Use Indiglo | Estimated Battery Life |
|---|---|
| Multiple times a day | 2 years |
| Once a day | 3-4 years |
| Practically never | 5 years |
Can Timex Watch Batteries Be Replaced
Most Timex watches will have a quartz movement. In other words, they function on a battery.
If your battery dies out one day, you’ll need to take some steps. The very first thing you want to do is to take it to your nearest or preferred watchmaker or jeweler and ask for them to have it replaced.
This will cost you anywhere between $10 and $20, and your watch will work as good as new again.
You could also give this a try yourself. Purchase a Timex watch battery online, open the case back and replace the battery. However, if you do not have experience with this, I would not recommend doing this.
A watch is a delicate accessory; if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can easily break things.
If you don’t want to replace the died-out battery, though, you still want to remove the battery itself. Dead batteries can leak after a while, and this could cause massive damage to the inside.
Is It Worth It To Have Your Timex Watch Fixed?
Timex watches are so affordable that fixing an old one can almost be as expensive as buying a new one.
A battery replacement is all that expensive, but a full-on service or overhaul/fix-up of the movement could be more costly than a brand-new one.
This really is a choice you have to make yourself.
You could always inquire about the price at a couple of different stores and see who has the cheapest option, but in the end, you’ll need to decide whether it makes more sense to repair the watch or to buy a new one.
It could be that your particular Timex piece has emotional meaning to you. I know I have a watch I got from my grandparents that I would never replace. That one is irreplaceable. I will always have it repaired.
However, if you have no emotional attachment to the watch and the repairs are more expensive than a new watch, then the obvious choice would be just to purchase a new one.
Are Old Timex Watches Worth More?
Whether old watches increase in value is a commonly asked question. Maybe you’ve just found an old-looking Timex watch. There are many stories of how an old watch has doubled or even tripled in value. But is this always the case?
Old Timex watches depreciate heavily. You can expect an old Timex watch to sell for between $10 and $100, which is either equal to or far beneath retail price.
Firstly, it’s important to know when a watch is ‘vintage’ or ‘antique’. An antique watch has to be older than 100 years, while a vintage watch has to be between 25 and 99 years old.
In 1901, Timex released its first pocket watch, and a few years after, the first wristwatches followed. This means that there are some antique Timex watches out there, but most will be vintage.
Timex watches aren’t really the best watches if you’re looking to invest. If you, by any chance, own or found an old Timex watch, you might as well keep it as a decorative piece or just wear it yourself!
The main reason for old Timex watches depreciating is that Timex made watches with cost-conscious consumers in mind. These were low-entry timepieces (read: affordable), available for the masses.
In comparison, a vintage Rolex is a luxury piece, a collector’s item. These weren’t readily available like Timex watches. The supply was low, driving the price up.
Currently, you can find many of the vintage Timex watches on sites like eBay for a relatively low price, usually under $100! These more affordable vintage watches could make an excellent addition to your watch collection!
