While the 1970s may be best known for iconic movies, music, and fashion, the watch designs of that decade were just as influential as Taxi Driver, Ziggy Stardust, and Studio 54 in their own right. Characterized by chunky steel cases, geometric shapes, and new technologies like quartz movements, the best watches of the 1970s represented a bold departure from the styles that had been typical for decades before. The 1972 Timex Model 41, the watch that inspired the World Time 1972 Reissue, was just that sort of timepiece.
With its barrel-shaped case, high-contrast black-and-white dial, and oversized rotating bezel that marks Greenwich Mean Time and follows with the names of 23 cities around the world, the new Timex World Time 1972 Reissue doesn’t look like anything else in the current Timex lineup. Its vintage-inspired design, however, including a function that allows the wearer to instantly read the time in any time zone, is as appealing today as it was in the early seventies.
As a faithful tribute to the Model 41, the new World Time 1972 Reissue keeps all of the 1970s style of the original, including the 39mm barrel-shaped stainless steel case and integrated, downward-facing lugs. This unique case shape, along with other details like a minimalistic dial and red triangular seconds hand, immediately establishes the World Time 1972 Reissue as a prime example of 1970s modernist design.
The 1970s were also a golden era of air travel when the first jumbo jets – some equipped with shag-carpeted lounges and piano bars – made international flights more luxurious than ever before. Responding to the demands of the stylish modern traveler, the Timex Model 41 made it easy to decipher time zones at a glance. Similar to the bezel on a diver’s watch, the World Time 1972 Reissue features a rotating bezel that marks Greenwich Mean Time and follows with the printed names of 23 cities around the world, each of which corresponds to a different time zone. Simply align your current location with the hour hand, and the bezel will indicate the correct time in any other time zone around the globe. While this ingenious complication was a major benefit to frequent flyers in the age before smartphones, the simplicity of the world time bezel – which doesn’t need a sim card or a charging cable to function – makes it just as practical in 2023 as it was in the jet set era.
The new World Time 1972 Reissue swaps the model 41’s original electric movement for a more reliable quartz one, but the rest of the case is as it was back in 1972, down to its domed acrylic crystal and the historically correct 1970s time zones. Inspired by one of the most distinctive designs in the Timex archive, the World Time 1972 Reissue is an homage to the freewheeling style of the 1970s, and the perfect way to add a bit of high-flying glamour to your wrist.
Check out our Reissue page for more information!
