Is This the BEST Watch Under $300?
For the last few months, I’ve been looking for a watch that was both affordable and nice enough to wear around the office and house without worry of normal wear and tear. After going back and forth with a few different models, I finally decided to give the Timex HODINKEE Waterbury Limited Edition a try. Since purchasing the Timex HODINKEE Waterbury, it’s easily become my favorite watch to wear around the house on the weekend and during a long work session at the office. Let’s go over my thoughts on what could be one of the best watch collaborations under $300 - the HODINKEE Timex Waterbury.
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HODINKEE Timex Waterbury: https://shop.hodinkee.com/products/wa...
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:17 What I Love
4:10 What Could Be Better
8:53 Outro
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About this video:
Finding the perfect balance of affordability and durability is essential when looking for a daily driver watch. Sure, it would be nice to wear an AP Royal Oak every day, but realistically, it doesn’t make sense. Even my OMEGA Seamaster Diver 300M gets a bit tedious to wear all day every day. I wanted something that would stand the test of time (and a toddler) while also being cheap enough to throw around without worry of breaking it.
Of course, looking for any watch under $300, it’s hard to beat the dependability and durability of a TIMEX. Add to that, collaboration watches have long been my favorite. From The MoonSwatch to the Seamaster James Bond Edition and even a CASIO Pac-man and Swatch 2Q, collaboration watches fill my entire collection. With that, it was important to me to find a watch like the TIMEX x HODINKEE Waterbury Limited Edition that was both a collaboration watch and limited edition for a daily watch. It needed to blend in with the rest of my collection in both design and production purpose.
For me personally, water resistance of a watch is nowhere near as important as its ability to withstand a few hours with my kid. It’s nice to believe that I could dive with a watch, but ultimately, for this purpose, I needed it to last while I’m with the family or on a roadtrip. I love the durability of the HODINKEE x TIMEX Waterbury, and for the purpose of a daily worn watch, I couldn’t really ask for anything more from it.
The watch is light enough to wear throughout the day without being uncomfortable. On the other side of that, it isn’t so light that it feels cheaply made or composed of low quality materials. I’m able to wear the watch the entire day and am able to enjoy the watch for what it is - an affordable, automatic daily worn watch.
I also love that the HODINKEE x TIMEX Waterbury has the appearance of a vintage-inspired watch. I’m not usually one for the modern vintage aesthetic, but it truly works well for this piece. It remains stylish yet subtle without drawing too much attention to it. Add to that, the watch comes with a quick release strap from the factory, which is something I can’t praise enough.
On the other side, though, there are some areas where I think the watch could be improved for future collaborations. For starters, it’s clear to me that the bezel of the Hodinkee Timex Waterbury will be the first area it fails the test of time.
Add to that, for just $15 more, you could pick up a TIMEX M79 Automatic with the “coke” dial. The Timex M79, compared to the Timex Waterbury from HODINKEE, offers a date day function and a slightly better automatic movement. However, for the price, it’s truly hard to knock the movement in the watch.
The biggest area of improvement that I think HODINKEE should consider for their next collaboration would be the boxing and packaging. If take the time to create a collaborative watch with another company, the box truly matters. Take pride in the collaborative packaging. HODINKEE has a fantastic box that came with my Seamaster, so I know there’s more they could do for watch they put their own name on. I would happily pay $15 more for a more unique box to the HODINKEE x TIMEX Waterbury.
With all that said, though, I don’t think you could find a better collaboration watch for the price with an automatic movement. Sure, they exist, but collab watches all come down to what someone is interested in. As someone in the watch industry, it’s nice to see a piece like this. The Timex Hodinkee Waterbury might not be the choice for everyone, but if you have a few hundred bucks to spend on a new piece, this one deserves a chance.