Watch Wearing Wednesday: George Retro 70s Watch

Today's watch is from George.  Yes, the Walmart brand George.  It's just an inexpensive watch that only cost $10.98, but I think it captures the 1970s vintage look of the watch everyone's dad owned back in the day.

A George Watch from Walmart

I did a little sleuthing on the internet about this watch and uncovered a few interesting details. First, I thought George brand was originated by George Foreman.  I was wrong.  George brand originates from British fashion designer George Davies.  He had a deal with the British retailer Asda and sold the brand to Walmart when Walmart bought Asda in the UK.

Using the factory service instructions from the box and discovered that the watch was made by E. Gluck Corporation (EGC).  E. Gluck is no stranger to making watches. The company owns Armitron and Torgoen. More importantly, EGC makes many, many, private label watches for retailers around the world. The company definitely knows about making watches.

A George Watch from Walmart with Green Dial

There's no doubt that $10.98 is an incredibly low price.  Some corners definitely have to be cut to bring this watch to consumers at this price point.  Compared to more expensive watches, the bracelet feels lightweight and hollow and the crystal seems to be made of some kind of plastic.  Still, I think this is a really good looking watch, a great way to fight inflation, and it is fun to wear.  It's another example of retro style in low cost timepieces.

Sharp Watch Shout Out: Timex Men's Standard 41mm Chronograph

When you're in job search mode, every cool watch you ever wanted to buy is on sale and, temporarily, off limits.  In that regard, Timex is on a roll!  When I was researching retro watches, I must have triggered something in the Amazon algorithm and it revealed this gem of a watch: 

The Timex Men's Standard 41mm Chronograph.  

Timex Men's Standard 41mm Chronograph

I suspect this watch is doing "vintage" better than any actual vintage watch. I like the way that the dial has a faded blue color and the dial has a rather flat white color for the subdials and tachymeter track.  The fancy crown further suggests a glorious past. The strap also complements the watch color scheme and looks like it would be easy to replace sometime down the road. This watch definitely deserves a sharp watch shout out!

TGIF: Do "Retro" Watches Already Live Among Us?

Every few days, you'll see an article in the watch press or on a company website trumpeting the return of watches from the past.  Companies will be said to dig deep into their catalog of prior timepieces to develop new retro watch offerings.  An example of a wonderful retro watch would be this Citizen Quartz Stainless Steel Classic.

Citizen Stainless Steel Classic Quartz Watch (Amazon Photo)

Since these retro offerings provide us with some of the coolest watches, I don't want to disparage or discourage them in any way.  But, I think a parallel movement in the market might be just as important. The classic retro styles have been worked into hundreds of commonplace quartz watches with little fanfare.  

You can get Retro for Cheap At Walmart

As an example, let's check out the George quartz watch that I recently purchased from Walmart.

A George brand quartz wristwatch from Walmart.

This watch (above) was created and manufactured by FMD for the George brand of clothing and accessories sold at Walmart stores.  It is a very simple watch with painted numerals on the dial for hour markings and simple dots for minute markings.  It has a silver-on-silver motif with black numerals.  It retails for somewhere between $10 and $13.  It reminds me of my old Timex (below).

Timex Mercury Wristwatch

While this Timex was quite a bit more expensive back in its day at $25.95 and comes with the date-day complication, it also features painted on numerals, a silver-on-silver design, and an expansion bracelet.  Just like the George watch, this old Timex was focused on telling the time.

Another recent retro watch find was this Caribbean Joe Green Sunburst watch.  It has a slightly domed crystal and classic batons to mark the hours.  It's the kind of watch that used to be commonplace once upon a time.  But, now, it's a cheap, quartz, fashion watch.

A Caribbean Joe Retro Watch

I've been writing about retro watches or neo-classic watches for a long time.  It's a trend that has legs.  This post is just a reminder that, if you want retro, you can get plenty of retro for a very low price and you don't even have to clean the funky stuff off of an estate sale watch find.  The Retro watches are here among us already!

Wristwatch Review: The Fossil Ansel Retro-Style Quartz Watch with Stainless Steel Band

From the classic-style of Mad Men to the latest iteration of James Bond, retro-style remains popular today.  There was nothing wrong with the watches of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.  They were functional and well-designed.  That's why the Fossil Ansel (Model FS4671) never goes out of style.

[In 2024, I'm reworking this post to include my review of the Fossil Ansel that first appeared on Yahoo Voices in 2015.]

Mid-Century Modern Style in a Twenty-first Century Package

If you want a vintage mid-century modern look on the outside and a twenty-first century quartz movement on the inside, check out this review of the Fossil Ansel.  It's got a vintage look in a convenient modern watch.

A Fossil Ansel Watch

The simplicity of a vintage watch design never goes out of style. When you get down to basics, the essential purpose of a watch is to tell time. However, truly vintage watches have their disadvantages. They require winding or maintenance. They may be too valuable to absorb damage. They may show excessive wear and tear from years of use. In addition, the size and dimensions of a classic watch may not match contemporary notions about the size of a watch. Fortunately, there are many contemporary watches with retro styling cues. One such watch is the Fossil Ansel (Model FS4671). I found mine at the Fossil Outlet Store at the North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville, Georgia.

As much as I love my classic Timex Mercury, the Fossil Ansel makes a great stand-in for a vintage watch for everyday wear. Since it has a quartz movement, I don't have to wind it or spend a few minutes figuring out how to set the date properly. It has a 22-millimeter wide stainless steel band and a perfectly-sized 41-millimeter diameter case. The dimensions just look right on my wrist today. However, other than size, the Fossil looks like a vintage watch in every significant way. For example, it features a bright silver sunray face and a domed crystal. The hours are marked by translucent blue batons and the minutes are noted by simple hashmarks at the edge of the dial. A small date window lies just inboard of the three o'clock marker.

The band was initially too large for my 7 1/2 inch wrists so two links had to be removed. Fortunately, that was done for free at the Fossil Outlet store It's proven to be a comfortable band and is secured by a sturdy foldover clasp with push button. The only drawback thus far is that the clasp was easily scratched while performing office work. After typing for just a couple of hours in a typical office cube, the clasp was was quite scuffed up. However, most Fossil Ansel watches come with a black leather band and may be able to withstand workday wear a little better.

Overall, the Fossil FS4671 Ansel watch has the has looks of a vintage watch from the 1950s or 1960s and the size and heft of a more contemporary watch. It's a no nonsense watch that combines form and function. Overall, I recommend the Fossil Ansel if you want a vintage mid-century modern look on the outside and a twenty-first century quartz movement.

Watch Review: Vintage Timex Mercury Manual-Wind Watch

As I was rummaging through my watches last week (original post 2012), I came across my 1970s vintage Timex Mercury in its original packaging.  I bought it last year off of ebay in New Old Stock (NOS) condition.  It's a fantastic, manual-wind, watch. 

 

My New-In-Box Timex Mercury Manual Wind Watch

[Update: This article original posted a link to a review I wrote.  My original review was posted on Associated Content which was bought out by Yahoo! Fortunately, they let us retain rights to the articles. Here is that review of the Timex Mercury.]

 
Sometimes ebay offers the chance to step back in time. As a casual watch collector, I was intrigued by a listing for a New, Old Stock, manual-wind, Men's Timex Mercury wristwatch. With so many auctions depending on subjective descriptions of used items, I was excited by the prospect of buying a brand new vintage watch. It was an exciting item to win for $38.95 plus a small shipping fee.

When my Timex Mercury arrived, it was still in its original packaging. Amazingly, the mechanical marvel originally sold for $25.95 sometime back in the late 1970s. As I removed it from it's box, I was struck by the simplicity of the watch. It has a shiny chrome dial, black numerals, and black hands for hours, minutes, and seconds. Since the Timex Mercury predates the huge and clunky watch trend, the face of the watch seems a little small at a sensible 35 millimeters across. The watch is also around 9 millimeters thick. It's a slim watch by today's standards.

Timex Mercury

Like many modern analog watches, the Mercury also provides the day of the week and date in addition to the time. However, setting the day and date is a little cumbersome by modern standards. You have to rotate the crown counterclockwise to nine o'clock and then back towards three repeatedly. It isn't difficult, but I was glad to have the directions. The band is a hybrid of expansion band and strap features. Basically, the band has a metal strap made of expansion band material and a clasp that clicks into the links of the expension band. The band is 20 millimeters wide at the watch and tapers down to 15 millimeters wide. While the band sounds a bit complicated, the Timex Mercury watch is actually very comfortable to wear.

Amazingly, this 1970s-vintage Timex has withstood the test of time and still keeps good time. You simply have to manually wind the watch each day. If you are a collector, playing with a watch is not a hardship. The shiny metallic look, dome-style crystal, and functional design of this Timex watch draw lots of complements. The design is simply timeless. The Timex Mercury was introduced in 1961 for only $8.95. Timex sold huge numbers of these watches during the sixties and seventies. The Mercury name even lived on into the 80s and 90s on quartz watches with Indiglo features. Needless to say, vintage Timex watches are regularly available from ebay, Etsy, and other auction sites at affordable prices.

Overall, this Timex Mercury was a great addition to my watch collection. While high end brands may have more prestige than Timex, nifty, cool, and affordable are adjectives that work well for me!