Wristwatch Review: The Timex Waterbury 39mm Traditional GMT Men's Watch

If you are looking for affordable watches to collect, it may be time to give Timex a second look. They've been making some interesting watch lines that don't always make it to the shelves of common retailers like Walmart and Kohl's. Last year (July 2024) I bought an interesting watch from the Timex Waterbury collection.  It's the Timex Waterbury 39mm Traditional GMT Men's watch (Model TW2V28700VQ).

Timex Waterbury 39mm Traditional GMT Mens Watch

Timex GMT Features

This Timex is a GMT watch that incorporates a third hand (the red one with the arrow) that points at the Greenwich Mean Time (now called Universal Coordinated Time) on the 24-hour markings on the bezel. The watch has a unidirectional rotating bezel that can help you calculate the time in other time zones based on GMT Time. The watch has a button at 2 o'clock that you press in order to set the GMT time. A small date window at 3 o'clock shows the date. 

Timex Waterbury GMT Design

The nice thing about the Timex Waterbury Collection is that it comes with high-end design details. For example, this watch incorporates the historic Waterbury Watch Company logo into the dial, crown, and a stylish W on the tail end of the second hand. 

Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT Dial Details

The watch also has lumed hour markings that are reminiscent of a diver style watch. The date window has a dark background that matches the dial and isn't disruptive of the design. The hour, minute, and GMT hand on this watch are very readable, but the date and second hand are less so. As a Waterbury watch, the design features place this watch in a more premium space that an ordinary Timex timepiece.

Timex Waterbury GMT Watch

There are a couple of minor drawbacks to the design that I have noticed. For example, the second hand is quite dark in color and very difficult to see at a glance. The date window is also too small to be useful to me as a wearer in my late 50s. While it isn't as small as the date window on some watches, as an aging Gen X watch enthusiast, I have a little trouble reading it without my reading glasses. 

Timex Waterbury GMT Construction

This watch has an all stainless steel case and mineral glass crystal. It also has a genuine leather strap. It's built to be water resistant to depths of 100 meters. I find that this watch feels solid and well built.

My Timex GMT travels to an exotic location for a double cheeseburger

Timex Waterbury GMT Dimensions

The trend now is to build watches with smaller dimensions. The Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT watch in on trend with a sensibly-sized 39mm diameter case that is 11.5mm thick. The strap is 20mm wide and fits up to 8-inch wrists. I find that the diameter of this watch seems just a bit small. For casual wear, I often choose slightly larger watches.

Timex Waterbury GMT Overall Impression

This Timex strikes me as being very professional and almost a little too understated. It is solidly constructed and sensibly sized. The GMT functionality works impressively, but it is a throwback to an analog era that isn't as obviously useful today. However, I suspect that, once I have mastered the arcana surrounding this feature, it will be useful for helping me figure out what time it is in a variety of places around the globe. Overall, this watch is tasteful, refined, and demonstrates how competent Timex watches can be. It's a perfect watch choice for "back to the office" wear.

Buying the Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT

While the model with my bezel colors is out of stock, You can get a similar Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT here at --

Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT watches on Amazon!

The Best Timex Offerings on Amazon

I've collected some of the best Timex watches being offered on Amazon in one convenient page - Best Timex Watches on Amazon.

Sharp Watch Shout Out: Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT watch

Over the years, we've all gotten used to Timex as a purveyor of relatively inexpensive watches that are reliable, practical, and a good value for the money.  But, beneath the surface, there runs a stream of higher quality fine watches that provide good value and a little something more.  A good example of a premium Timex watch is this Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT watch.  It's a nice looking watch that offers a little more style and panache.  Timex was originally founded as the Waterbury Clock Company in 1854.

The Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT Watch

This particular Timex Waterbury Traditional GMT watch has a 39mm diameter case that is 11 mm thick. While the advertising title on Amazon includes the word automatic, it does actually have a quartz movement.  However, this is a great looking watch to consider.  It's certainly a step above the ordinary Timex watch.

Today, Timex is one of the largest watch companies at the world. Some people might scoff at them as a mass production watchmaker.  But, if you check out the company's wikipedia entry, you'll find that Timex also encompasses many respected fashion and luxury watch brands.

If you're looking for other interesting Timex watches, look for Timex Waterbury on Amazon or Timex Q on Amazon.

Watch Sighting: Wenger Off Road Watch with GMT Dial

Still looking for a great gift idea for a man?  You might check out this Wenger Off-Road GMT watch.  It offers rugged good looks, a Swiss-made quartz movement, a unidirectional rotating bezel, and water resistance down to 100 meters (for swimming or snorkeling).  The 42 millimeter diameter case and 22 millimeter wide strap are perfectly proportioned for most men.

The small red hand on the dial should be set to point at the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).  The Greenwich Mean Time is the time at the Prime Meridian (0-degrees longitude).  When you read the GMT, you can mentally make the adjustment to any familiar timezone.  For example, Atlanta, Georgia, is GMT -5:00 hours.  When it's 7:30 a.m. at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich England, it's 2:30 a.m. here in Atlanta.  You can check your time difference here at GreenwichMeanTime.com.  There are a wide variety of ways that aviators and other professionals can use a GMT watch..

The Greenwich Royal Observatory - Photograph by Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent. (www.clemrutter.net). (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons