Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Timex is Bringing Watch-Making Back to the U.S. with Its American Documents Collection

Riley Young/The Manual

Making things in America isn’t just about producing high-quality goods in fair working conditions and minimizing the environmental impact of global shipping — it’s also about pride. Owning a car, a pair of jeans, or a piece of tech that was made right in here in the USA holds a certain cultural caché, a sense of place and spirit that automatically comes with being built in one of the greatest countries in the history of civilization.

Timex knows and understands this, along with the other nostalgic nuances of owning an American-made product and, as a result, has decided to build and assemble watches in its Middlebury, Connecticut headquarters. With the American Documents collection, Timex combines a Swiss precision movement and Minnesota cowhides, New England-forged brass inserts, and Massachusetts-made, impact-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 to create four watches. Each watch features an aged Waterbury brass caseback coin-and-crown insert within a 41mm case and comes in a cherry wood case with an inlaid magnetic closure and brass hinges.

Riley Young/The Manual

The American Documents collection is about so much more than great-looking timepieces — it’s about capturing the spirit of what it means to be American-made,” said Tobias Reiss-Schmidt, CEO of Timex Group. “Being American-made means the ability to endure, grow, reinvent, evolve. In this collection, we selected partners who are experts in their individual fields and evolved their expertise to fit within the confines of a timepiece to honor brands like ours that embody and celebrate American craftsmanship.”

One of those selected partners is landscape photographer Bryan Schutmaat, who helped Timex chronicle and capture the people and cultures that inhabit the diverse American landscape. Hoping to capture and project what unites all Americans, this collection of photography, from the deserts of Texas to the forests of the Northeast, showcases the breadth and depth of the American experience.

Riley Young/The Manual

“There’s a sense of possibility that comes from the vastness of this country,” Schutmaat said in a statement. “I wanted to capture the timelessness of our landscape to convey the spaces that bring us and our culture together, because American Documents, and every component of it, honors the beauty of our nation.”

Get your American-made Timex now before the first small-batch run is gone. Check it out directly at Timex’s official website.

For an altogether different, but no less American-feeling Timex watch, check out the brand’s recent collab with Todd Snyder on the Mid-Century Watch.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Chase McPeak
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chase McPeak is the former Lifestyle Editor. Chase regularly appeared on Beards, Booze, and Bacon: The Manual Podcast where…
A new study reveals how filthy Apple Watch bands really are
You spent a lot of money on your smartwatch, so be sure it won't make you sick
apple watch hermes leather band

Your Apple Watch’s band may look clean, but a recent study has shown that your favorite band is probably covered in the sort of disgusting filth you would expect to find crusting up the seat in a public lavatory. According to Florida Atlantic University, 95% of the straps tested were coated in something unpleasant. This includes the infamous E. Coli -- a bacterium that is usually found in the intestines of mammals and has been linked to numerous severe food poisoning outbreaks over the years.

Other unpleasant microbes discovered by researchers include staphylococcus spp, which can cause staph infections when it is introduced to an open wound, and pseudomonas -- another organism that can cause incredibly dangerous infections under the right circumstances.

Read more
Men’s grooming: What the modern day man needs to know (from head to toe)
Grooming for men: Looking good in today's world, under the clothes
A man reading a book

Men have some catching up to do. For decades, women have focused on grooming, skin care, hair care, and everything from head to toe. Men, on the other hand, have traditionally focused more on clothes (if that) with little to no regard for our skin and hair. Luckily for us, an explosion of companies have begun to surface that focus on our physical appearance below the wardrobe, and it has arrived just in time for us to catch up to ladies; now is the time for the rise of men's grooming. 

Below, we're going to help you kickstart your bodily focus by giving you some tips, tricks, and maybe a few brands or products that will help you look your very best even before you start looking at your style.

Read more
Men’s apparel: The secrets to maintaining clothes for a long-lasting wardrobe
Men's clothes can last for decades if you invest in the right products and take care of them
Trendy handsome man posing in autumn park alone

The world today is based on a "throwaway culture." That means we have become obsessed with one-time-use items like plastic water bottles, grocery bags, and paper towels. While this can make things feel cheaper and easier up front, it can be more expensive and cumbersome in the long run, not to mention hazardous to the environment. This is also true with your wardrobe. There are plenty of places you can get cheap clothing if you just need to wear it one time. In the long run, though, this is detrimental to you, your bank account, and the environment.

Learning how to care for your wardrobe to make it last longer is better for you, your wallet, and your sanity. Invest in quality items that are made to stand the test of time so that you won't have to shop for clothing every time a new event comes up like other men do. Once you have those quality items, here are the tips that will ensure they last for years, and maybe even a lifetime.

Read more