Since it celebrated its 170th anniversary in November with a worldwide release of a remake of one of, if not its most, iconic watches, Timex has been getting a lot more attention. That its one-dollar Waterbury watch is worth a space in any collector’s watch box is one thing, and that it has been making more inexpensive mechanical timepieces—apart from its growing line of affordable quartz watches—is another.
But do you know that an important part of its 170-year-long history has been taking place here in the Philippines?
Since 1979, the Timex group has been making watches in a factory located in Cebu. And it’s not just any factory. “The Cebu factory is the main watch manufacturing arm of Timex Group. Over 80 percent of Timex watches sold worldwide are either made (fully or in final assembly) and/or shipped from the Cebu plant,” according to Timex’s website.
Timex’s Cebu plant, in fact, is considered to be the “first locator” of the Mactan Export Processing Zone.
That one of the world’s most popular watch brands has been making its watches in the Philippines is no small recognition of the quality of craftsmanship of Filipinos, particularly of the Cebuanos who have been employed by the US-based watchmaker over the years. Sure, the process involves mass producing watch parts—which may seem nothing compared to other watchmakers who pride themselves with handcrafted mechanical timepieces—but this is precisely one of the reasons that has made Timex an enduring brand in the world of horology.
Since it first made its affordable watches, the Waterbury Watch Co. (the original name of Timex), has made a distinct place for itself in the watch world. It wanted to make its watches the everyday man’s timepiece. As a result, the company developed a way to automate making gears for its watches from steel sheets, mass producing the most difficult to produce parts of a watch—even before Ford developed its assembly line for cars in 1913.
Although mass produced, these pieces remained accurate and precise. Waterbury was able to, indeed, make the everyman’s watch. At the dawn of wristwatches, the company took things a step further by making their inexpensive timepieces available at the unlikeliest of places. Where others pride themselves in specialized dealers with fancy boutiques, Waterbury (which rebranded as Timex after World War II) sold its watches in department stores, drug stores, warehouse chains, and even in cigar stands.
Timex continues its heritage of mass producing quality but inexpensive watches—from gears to dials to cases—in its Cebu factory, which has received an upgrade in 2022. “The factory is one of the most vertically integrated watch manufacturing locations in the industry worldwide with a wide range of capabilities including dials and hands manufacturing, parts manufacturing and assembly, movement and watch assembly,” Timex describes on its official site.
Apart from continuing a legacy of expert and excellent watchmaking, Timex also provides jobs to Filipinos and generates income for the local economy. According to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the Timex factory in Cebu employs “over 1,300 workers and [generates] more than US$ 62 million in exports.”
So the next time you consider buying a watch, it might be a good idea to keep in mind that there is time-tested (no pun intended) brand out there whose timepieces are made and assembled here in the country. Although of American origin, Timex is proud of the role of Filipinos in its history, so much so that wearing one of their watches is like wearing a “proudly Pinoy” badge. They are, after all, made in the Philippines.