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[TAG10]

Note: At post time, they’re sold out.

This has to be one of the classiest releases from Timex since the Q 1978 dress watch…

only this one has a Japanese automatic movement…

but like the Q 1978, the Marlin Jet seems destined to be often (if not perpetually) sold out.

• model: TW2V72300
• size: 38mm case diameter, 19mm lug width, 11.5 mm
• movement: Made in Japan 21-jewel Miyota Automatic
• water resistance: 50m
• crystal: Acrylic
• etc: 24-hour sub dial. Domed crystal covering grooved & branded bezel.
• source: Timex.com

Is it a smart-casual watch? Yes.
Is it a dress watch? Yeah probably that too.

The Timex Marlin Jet straddles the awkward line between dress and smart-casual. Which is an environment a lot of us exist in at least some of the time. The design is undoubtedly clean, with an icy light silver dial, simple hands and indices, and crisp font for the branding. And about that branding… specifically the MARLIN at six and twelve on the bezel and under the acrylic domed crystal… it’s much more subtle than the pictures on the Timex site make it look:

MARLIN branding (Marlon who?) is set on a polished background.
It’s small, and as you move through the world it isn’t nearly as noticeable as many may fear.

When the studio images came out there was some early WHARRGARBL in the comments sections on a couple watch-enthusiast websites, with some saying that the MARLIN branding was a deal-breker.

Yes you can see it.

No it’s not obtrusive.

It’s not printed in bold on a stark white background.

It’s fine.

Domed acrylic crystal glides over the smooth-step interior bezel.
Somewhere under there, Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin are desperately trying to escape.

The defining design feature is the domed acrylic crystal that covers a smooth step of a bezel. Gives it a sort of flat-roofed snow-globe/Truman Show/Springfield under glass look. With none of the horrifying you have no true free will implications. The crystal hits the edge of the case flush, delivering real depth under that glass. It’s a neat design feature. And the entire retro-future thing they’re going for certainly gets delivered, without going too far.

24-hour-time sub-dial is a nice detail. Breaks up the dial. It’s interesting.

The 24-hour sub-dial at 9 o’clock is a cool touch, but know it’s not a GMT or 2nd time zone function. There’s no way they’d stick that in a mechanical watch under three hundred. When you set the time, that hour hand goes with it. So when it’s, say, 6pm, that subdial’s hand points towards the “18.”

Twenty-one jewel automatic movement from Miyota. 

The case-back is an exhibition style so you can see the movement at work. The crown has a couple of grooves which visually play nicely with the bezel’s grooves. The lugs are an odd but not totally unusual 19mm wide. And the strap it comes with is a dark blue perlon-woven NATO. The strap is just okay. A little papery feeling. And while nothing beats a NATO for easy strap swap-outs to change a watch’s look, what if we (or Timex) decided to throw a leather strap on it?

On a basic after-market leather strap. Pretty smart looking when you dress it up. 

Ah. Nice.

Can someone in our billing department send Timex an invoice for Dappered’s design consulting?

No? They’re not accepting outsid…

Whatever.

Although you can see what Timex is going for with that stock woven-perlon NATO.

While adding an additional leather strap equipped with quick change pins would be nice… don’t expect Timex to pony up for that. The Jet sold out almost immediately when it hit the Timex site. So putting it on a leather strap will be up to the customer. But it does appear that going that extra bit of distance is well worth the effort (and minor cost.)

Case diameter is 38mm. Shown next to the new Orient Bambino 38mm.

Bottom line: It’s another terrific addition to the Timex lineup. Frankly, The Jet gets a lot of things right that its clunkier, goofier brother the Marlin Mod seemed to stumble over (at least to some of us).

This new Timex is clean, more modestly sized, and comes with an automatic movement. All of that should mean it’s ready to compete with the likes of the new Orient Bambino 38mm.

That is, if the Marlin Jet ever comes back in stock.