I’m bound to raise a few eyebrows among the Fifth Wrist Writers Guild with a review of the Timex Q x Hodinkee. Fifth Wrist’s number one raison d’être is to remove brand marketing intervention from watch journalism and it’s no secret that Hodinkee is leaning hard into the brand marketing side of watch journalism lately. So as a newly appointed Fifth Wrist Editor-at-large, how about I feature a limited edition collab from a company that represents the very antithesis of what Fifth Wrist stands for? (This may result in the shortest ever tenure for an Editor-at-large at Fifth Wrist.)

First off, some warnings:

• May elicit strong reaction in certain corners given Hodinkee’s recent pivot from watch journalism to product promotion. Can we all just get along?
• May elicit some disappointment given the unrealistic hype that accompanied the initial Timex Q reissue
• May elicit watch snobbery. Because, you know, Quartz.

On to the review. Back in the halcyon pre-pandemic days of 2019AD (in the before times… in the long-long ago), Timex reissued an iconic watch from their 1970s back catalog, the “Q”. Fanboys rushed in to fill their carts on the Timex website and for a while, the “Q” was the toast of the town (or the ‘Gram’ as it were). Their popularity was so high and the hype so powerful that supplies quickly depleted and Qs were being scalped on eBay like TP at the height of the lockdown. Following on the back of that wildly successful reissue, here comes Hodinkee with their Timex Q limited edition collab. Now, Hodinkee has certainly been at the center of controversy in the watch world recently — often being criticized for their profit-driven change in business model. (And then there was Travel-clock-gate). Say what you will about Hodinkee’s newfound capitalist motives, one thing I’ve always appreciated about them was their sense of style. Put that together with the Timex marketing & design juggernaut, and you should come out with a commercial success.

But is it a good watch? I, for one, thoroughly enjoy what they’ve done with this release. First, let’s not forget this watch retailed at just $189 USD — so I’m not expecting haute horology here. What I did get for that money though, was an aesthetically pleasing grab’n go that, at 38mm, actually fits perfectly on my 6.75”chicken wrist. I love that they removed the day/date complication to declutter the dial. And in what is perhaps a risky design move, Hodinkee chose to remove almost all shred of color from the watch — including the pepsi bezel that made the original Q so beloved. They even went with slightly off-white lume markers on a white dial to achieve an even cleaner aesthetic; Who cares if you can’t tell the time?

After going Marie Kondo on the design, what little color remains is a red lacquered seconds hand ticking against that stark white dial — and yes, it sparks joy. So, what are the drawbacks? Much has already been written about the prodigious hair pulling abilities of the Timex Q bracelet but since my arms failed to go through puberty, I don’t suffer that particular issue (your experience may vary). The case finishes and transitions might be a little crude though I find it more than acceptable for a $189 watch. Perhaps the biggest drawback is that it was a fairly hyped limited edition Hodinkee release that sold out within 24 hours (cue the eBay scalpers). The verdict? I like this watch; quite a lot. Hodinkee made some bold design choices on an already popular watch and it paid off IMHO. My apologies to anyone who was waiting for me to pour Hatorade all over it. I’ll save it for when I get around to reviewing the travel clock.