Hodinkee have become infamous for their famed limited edition releases, from the early days of collaborations with the likes of MB&F and Ressence, collectors and enthusiasts were suitably angered at the barrier to entry, given these watches went for £45,000 and £19,500 respectively. Despite them selling out like hotcakes, these are not watches that the ‘typical’ collector can snap up, in order to have a little piece of the Hodinkee pie in their collection.
Two STUNNING Hodinkee Collaborations... MB&F and Ressence...
However, in recent years, Hodinkee has clearly heard the feedback, and we have since seen a myriad of collaborations with one of my favourite brands of all time, Swatch. I have been lucky enough to own three of their Swatch Sistem 51s, and every single one of them is brilliant. Outside of being able to look down and realise that you have a Hodinkee watch on your wrist, they are always thoughtfully and beautifully executed, whilst still maintaining the fun of a Swatch.
Even more recently than that, Hodinkee has continued with affordable collaborations by partnering with Timex. Their first Timex release a few years ago was a quartz offering, harkening back to the first Timex Q from 1979. We actually had one for sale a year or so ago, and from personal experience, it is very good indeed. And they are again back with another vintage throwback to the watches of the 50’s and 60’s.
The first iteration of the Hodinkee X Timex Q...
The watch comes in at 38mm, and crucially only 11mm thick. Couple this with the integrated style bracelet and this will be one comfy everyday watch. What is also slightly unusual in modern watchmaking, is the choice of the dial on this particular watch. If we go back to the same era that inspired this piece, Omega was famous for their pie pan, or concave, dialled Omega Seamasters. This watch utilises this charming design feature, with a silver stepped pie pan dial. The press release claims that the dial is actually ‘Hodinkee Grey’, I can’t say I was aware that Hodinkee had a trademark ‘colour’, but there you go.
Beautiful sunburst grey dial...
The dial is beautiful from the press photos, with lovely upward-facing indices around the dial, and lovely steel, lumed hands in the centre. Whilst the watch is very attractive, my only query would be the legibility. In bright sunlight, the steel hands on the silver dial may prove slightly difficult, a minor bugbear at most.
Just beautiful... if you care about it being quartz then shut up...
This watch, unlike most Hodinkee Limited Editions, is oddly still available at the time of writing this article (some 24 hours after it was released). Whilst this watch is based on a slightly nerdy watch from a lesser spoken-about brand, that does not detract away from what a great-looking watch this is. Beautifully executed, the reliability of Quartz, and a slender profile that would certainly slide under a shirt cuff. To top it off, at only £163, this is a real bargain, so snap one up whilst you still have the chance.
Felix Arnold
Editor