Timex has spent the better part of a decade turning the Marlin into its most reliable reissue platform, pulling from a 1960s original to build one of the most-loved affordable watch lines around.
Along the way, it’s picked up California dials, automatic movements, a titanium Jet variant, a gold-tone rotary-phone throwback, and, since last year, a GMT.
That GMT is now getting two new dial options: an ice-blue sunray dial with blue markers on a steel bracelet, or a chocolate-brown sunray dial with gold-tone markers on a Leather Working Group-sourced strap. Both include a two-tone 24-hour ring and a triangular GMT hand.
The watch keeps the same 40mm steel case Timex has used across the Marlin GMT since its debut, with a domed acrylic crystal and faceted hour markers.
It’s a quartz GMT, specifically a “caller,” meaning the 24-hour hand can be set independently while the local hour hand stays fixed, unlike a “flyer” GMT that lets the local hour hand jump on its own.
The Marlin keeps expanding one small piece at a time
Timex revived the Marlin as a Todd Snyder exclusive in 2016, marking the brand’s first step back into mechanical watchmaking after years of quartz-only releases.
Since then, the line has sprawled in almost every direction, adding new dial styles, materials, and functions without ever reworking the watch wholesale.
New colorways on an existing reference aren’t a big swing, but they fit the pattern. Timex has built the Marlin’s whole expansion strategy around small, steady additions rather than full redesigns, and giving an already-solid GMT two more dial options is a low-risk way to keep the line feeling current without touching what already works.
It’s a smart moment to be doing that, too. Seiko and Citizen kicked off something of an affordable GMT renaissance back in 2022, each rolling out automatic movements around $500. Timex’s quartz Marlin lives below both, so if you’re willing to go quartz, it’s one of the cheapest legit options in the category.
Where to buy it
The Timex Marlin Quartz GMT is available now at Timex.com, with the ice-blue steel bracelet version priced at $249 and the chocolate-brown leather version at $219.
