The Quartz Crisis of the 1970s may have joggled the watch industry quite a bit but recent years have proven that certain brands take pride in the innovations they happened to come out with at the time — and for good reason. Timex is one such brand, whose Q series of quartz reissues has been one of our favorites. A large part of the fun is how absolutely deep Timex’s back catalog is, and so we often get models we’re less familiar with, just like this Enigma from 1975 with the obscure “mystery dial.”
There’s no hard-and-fast rule for what a mystery dial can be. Basically, it’s a timepiece that perplexes those who look at it. This could mean a see-through dial with no movement to be seen, or hands that move without any apparent connection to the dial center. And if they’re not connected to the dial center, then how can they be connected to the movement at all?
The idea of mystery watches stems from the late 19th century with wall clocks but during the mid-20th century, wristwatches had their turn with examples such as the Rotonde de Cartier Mysterieuse or the Zodiac Astrographic. While the former uses a complicated method of hiding its movement at the side of the dial, the latter is more of a magic trick with the movement rotating clear discs, on which the hands have been placed, creating more of an illusion.
Adjacent to the floating hand method, the 1975 Enigma Reissue from Timex admittedly feels less magical than, say, the Astrographic. Instead of using clear discs, the brand merely has the bottoms of the hands colored dark blue to blend in with the dark blue dial behind it.
While the tips of each hand are given a brighter color like white or red, it’s incredibly easy to see the ostensible magic trick. However, the second hand is a bit thinner, thus slightly increasing any chance of trickery. Lumed tips might have been useful here to at least maintain a level of mystery at night. On the other hand, this reissue is highly faithful to the 1975 original, so there’s that.
Housed in an old-school 37mm stainless steel case, the quartz movement powers the three hands plus the day-date window underneath a domed acrylic crystal. There’s also a lighter-color blue minute scale around the outer dial. Adorned with a steel bracelet as well, the watch does feel desirably vintage and would be a fun piece to wear, whether or not the mystery remains intact.
Case Size: 37mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Water Resistance: 50m
Movement: Quartz
Band: Stainless steel bracelet
Limited Edition?: No
Not limited in edition size, the Q Timex 1975 Enigma Reissue will be priced at $199 when it drops in the coming weeks, making it a solid retro option at an affordable price. Head over to Timex’s website to learn more.
Timex reissues the 1975 Enigma quartz watch with a mystery dial. Faithful to the original, this watch doesn’t get as “mysterious” as other examples from the era but it still oozes with retro charm.
