Here’s a lovely piece of ephemera supplied by Ian (@thetimexking on Instagram) – Please go and follow him for some great Timex stories.
This document looks like a departure from the typical product catalog and service manual, and looks more like a corporate brochure. Interestingly in 1968 they were still trading under the United States Time Corporation which i originally thought had long gone as a holding company by this time. The full text has been transcribed below the images.
JOAKIM LEHMKUHL, President and Chairman
Educated at Harvard (1918—Business Administration) and at Massachusetts Institute Of
Technology (1919—Electrical Engineering). Sent to U.S.A. by Norwegian Government-in-
Exile, after invasion of Norway during World War Il. Became member Of U.S. Time’s Board,
1941, and President, 1942. Organized defense production. Elected Chairman, 1957. Inspired by modern technology, he saw the great need for a low-priced quality watch. He has served as chief executive officer in the advance of Timex to a position of world leadership.
This We Believe…
A nation moves forward in its development as it becomes more and more time-conscious … as it understands and respects the value of time.
For time is the essence of all things. It can be converted into a house built, a field plowed … into work done, money earned. And it can be used for leisure and learning.
The United States is perhaps the prime example of a time-conscious nation. And it is this consciousness of time that has helped transform this nation from a wilderness into a great power.
Today in America, nearly everyone can measure time, because nearly everyone owns a watch.
Yet, as recently as fifteen years ago, a good watch was a luxury, beyond the reach of many people in the United States. There was a need for a well-made, dependable watch … at a price people could afford.
Out of that need, the Timex watch was born.
It required new concepts of modern watchmaking, new technological techniques, new machinery, to produce a new kind of watch … sturdy, streamlined and affordable. A watch, moreover, that offered many advantages over the old-style, conventional timepiece.
And it required new techniques in marketing, merchandising and distribution.
With the introduction of Timex, there has been a revolution in the production of watches. In
1957 five million Timex watches were produced. This year, Timex production will exceed eighteen million watches. Timex created a huge new market. Today, more people buy Timex than any other watch in the world. In fact, in the United States, more Timex
wrist watches are bought, year after year, than the next three leading brands combined.
According to an independent research audit, for the twelve-month period ending March 31, 1967, Timex wrist watches accounted for more than 48% of all wrist watches sold over-the-counter through retail stores in the United States.
In the history of American industry, it has been proved again and again that it requires big volume to produce quality products at a low cost. Now, for the first time, Timex is proving that this also applies to watches.
An average of sixty thousand watches are sent out each day from Timex plants. With this huge volume, Timex can afford to have extensive laboratories in its plants in the leading industrial countries of the West … in the United States, the United Kingdom, in France and West Germany. We can recruit the best talent from the leading universities and technical industries of these countries. And we have. These specialists represent the world’s most advanced knowledge in their fields. They are now developing watches for the future.
We believe that watch production can be enormously expanded in the countries of Europe … and, eventually, in the new, developing nations of the world. And we believe that Timex, with its unmatched resources of technological man power, its unprecedented marketing and distribution techniques, and its integrated international facilities, is in a unique position to lead the way.
Timex. .. The Inside Story
Timex has broken with old, traditional concepts of watch design and manufacturing techniques, to produce sturdier, more dependable, attractively styled, low-priced watches.
The non-electric Timex movement has only two plates, a front plate and a back plate, as compared with a conventional center seconds movement which has a front or pillar plate, a barrel bridge, train bridge, balance cock, pallet cock and a center seconds bridge.
Using- one plate instead of separate bridges, more accurate location of pivot holes for train and escapement can be maintained, because they can be processed in one operation. This design advantage, coupled with specially designed tooling for producing the escapement, makes it possible to achieve escapement assembly without the need for adjustment—that is, complete escapement interchangeability.
Timex Highlights
1942. Opening of new plant in Middlebury, Connecticut, U.S.A.
1945. Opening of new plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.
1947. New plant goes into operation at Camperdown, Dundee, Scotland.
1948. Opening of new plant in Abilene, Texas, U.S.A.
1949. First run of Timex watches introduced into U.S.A. market. New plant opens at Milton of Craigie, Dundee, Scotland.
1950. First Polaroid Land Cameras produced by Timex for Polaroid Corporation at plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.
1953. Sub-miniature rate gyroscope production begins at Timex plant in Middlebury, Connecticut, U.S.A.
1955. Opening of new plant in Feltham, England.
1956. Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A., plant is established for research and development.
1959. Timex acquires plant in Pforzheim, West Germany.
1961. Introduction of the Timex Electric watch.
1962. Opening of new plant in Besanqon, France. Timex becomes world ‘s largest prod ucer of electric watches
1963. Opening of second plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.
1965. U.S.A. annual sales top $100 million.
1966. Plant capacity doubled in Besanqon, France. Opening of new plant in Pforzheim, West Germany. Introduction of world’s first ladies’ electric wrist watch. Expansion of Camperdown plant in Dundee, Scotland, for production of Polaroid Land Cameras. The one hundred millionth Timex watch comes off the production line.
International Expansion
Timex has expanded production, stimulated consumer demand, created markets. New plants have been built, modern automated machinery installed, and many thousands of the local populations employed.
Country by country, this expansion was preceded by special market analysis and consumer
research, to determine market potential, distribution patterns, language problems, and other pertinent factors. The same basic concepts of pricing, promotion and distribution used in the United States have been followed in all other countries and adapted to local conditions.
The growth of Timex, internationally, has been phenomenal.
For example, in the past decade, sales in the United Kingdom have increased 77%, so that, today, one out of every three wrist watches sold there is a Timex. In France, in this same period, Timex sales have increased 475%. Sales in West Germany have increased consistently since the Timex line was introduced at the beginning of 1966.
The figures point to one .central fact: the unrivaled leadership of Timex as the largest manufacturer of watches in the world.
Growth in the United States
When Timex was first introduced in 1949, there was considerable resistance from retail jewelers and department stores. They were not convinced that a quality watch could be produced and sold for under $20.
To overcome this resistance, Timex expanded its market to such unconventional outlets as
drug, hardware, and auto-accessory stores. Out standing, eye-catching point-of-sale merchandising units were developed for display on their counters. Timex salesmen were instructed to throw watches against the wall or on the floor, to prove that they were durable and that Timex was a quality product. Similar dramatic demonstrations were seen, on television, by millions of viewers, from coast-to-coast across the United States.
Gradually, public interest was stimulated, public demand created. Retailers, including jewelers and department stores, gained and maintained confidence in the product.
To meet the ever-increasing consumer and dealer demand, Timex introduced many new
models: self-wind watches, waterproofs, a complete line of small watches for ladies; the beautifully fashioned, technically advanced, 21-jewel watches; the new Timex Electric watches for men, •and the world’s first ladies’ Electric wrist watches.
Today, Timex watches are sold in over 150,000 outlets, in every section of the country. Timex sales have continued to increase steadily, year after year, and now account for more than 48% of all wrist watches sold through retail stores in the United States.
Timex has eliminated costly, non-functional finishes found on traditional movements, such as diamond-cut bevels on bridges and balance wheel, polished top surfaces of bridges and screws, and machine-engraved markings. These finishes look flashy, cost more, yet add nothing toward improving performance or dependability.
The use of synthetic lubricants, especially processed for watch mechanisms, combined with Timex-developed oil-retention techniques, is another production safeguard to assure good performance and longevity.
Durability, performance, longevity … these were, and continue to be, accomplished by designing movements which can be manufactured and assembled using Timex-developed mass-production techniques, requiring a minimum of costly hand operations; movements which have fewer parts than conventional movements; movements which employ polishes only where required for function.
The mass production of Timex requires an extremely well-planned combination of engineering, manufacturing and quality-control techniques. The production of 60,000 watches each day takes 4,997,600 parts. Every one of them is produced and quality-screened to such exacting limits, that complete interchangeability is attained.
Precision tooling is carried through to an extent unknown only a few years ago. Extended, specialized, automated equipment is continuously under development. Great effort and substantial investments are being made in developments which may save only a fraction of a cent in the cost of each watch.
Diversification, Research and Development
Utilizing the latest technologies, Timex research and development have created improved products for both the military and the civilian markets. These include such precision items as gyroscopes, fuzes, timers and cameras.
Timex research laboratories are located in Middlebury, Connecticut (U.S.A.); Irvington-on-Hudson, New York (U.S.A.) ; Milton of Craigie and Camperdown, Dundee (Scotland); Besan-
con (France); and Feltham (England).
All laboratories are equipped and staffed on a self-sufficient basis, including the capacity to construct tooling and to manufacture component parts. They are strategically located to attract and to draw upon the top scientists in each country who provide up-to-date expertise in technology and in horological development.
Today, Timex supplies the major share of the United States market in miniature rate gyros.
Timex gyros and accelerometers are used in the guidance and instrumentation of aircraft, missiles, torpedoes and space vehicles. Research and development programs stress versatility, reliability, accuracy and miniaturization; thus Timex gyros have become a standard of the industry and were selected for the stabilization system for astronauts maneuvering outside their space capsule.
Along with volume production of rate and two-axis gyros to meet the needs of today, Timex is currently engaged in advanced research and development programs to meet the needs of the future. New concepts include solid-state accelerometers, unconventional gyroscopes, miniature rate integrating gyroscopes, and the application of integrated circuits to the electronic systems associated with these inertial instruments.
Advertising and Promotion
No other watch manufacturer, anywhere in the world, has achieved the reach, the exposure, the continuity, or the market penetration of Timex.
Timex, today, is the largest watch advertiser in the United States. More than 111 million viewers, in the past year, have seen the famous Timex “torture tests” on American television. Several of these television commercials have won coveted awards for
outstanding merit.
In other parts of the world, where Timex watches are distributed, Timex has become
the dominant advertiser in the industry, utilizing its unique methods of salesmanship,
merchandising and promotion. Alert to the power and the reach of modern mass media,
Timex has made substantial investments in the advertising of its products directly to
the consumer. As sales continue to rise, budgets are increased commensurately, so
that advertising reaches an ever-wider audience and creates an ever-wider demand.
Additional manufacturing facilities are now under construction to accommodate the projected requirements for a specialized, gas-activated, two-axis displacement gyro developed in the Timex laboratories.
During World War Il, Timex was a principal producer for the United States Government of
mechanically timed artillery and anti-aircraft fuzes, as well as such aircraft instruments as
screw jack actuators, hook retractors, shutter controls, depth control gears, and oil pressure gauges. At the time of the Korean conflict, Timex was the largest producer in the United States of mechanically timed fuzes, producing 25,000 fuzes per day, in addition to rear-end safety devices for proximity fuzes. Today, artillery fuzes are produced by Timex, under government contract, and an extensive research and development program on various types of timing mechanisms is in operation for, among others, Sandia Corporation, and the Picatinny Arsenal of the United States Department of Defense.
For almost two decades, many of the world-famous Polaroid cameras have been manufactured in the Timex plant at Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A. This span of time covers many new models, from the original 95 series with its manually operated “flip-up” viewfinder to the present highly sophisticated pack version with its automatic rangefinder-viewfinder operated by transistor and photocell.
With the advent of each model, new production techniques and training programs had to be introduced, and new precision tooling constructed. As an index of the expanded volume of production, from 1950 the production rate has increased almost two hundred times.