Modern era · Since 1854
Timex History
Timex traces its roots to the Waterbury Clock Company, founded in Connecticut in 1854. It made the famous Ingersoll “dollar watch”, launched in 1896, which put a working watch in the pocket of almost any American. The Timex name came in 1950.
Key facts
| Origins | Waterbury Clock Company, 1854 |
|---|---|
| Where | Waterbury, Connecticut |
| Famous product | Ingersoll Yankee 'dollar watch' (1896) |
| Timex name | 1950 |
| Slogan | 'Takes a licking and keeps on ticking' |
A watch for a dollar
Waterbury, Connecticut, was a center of brass manufacturing, and its clock company used that expertise to make clocks cheaply. In 1896 it began making watches for the mail-order brothers Robert and Charles Ingersoll, who sold the Yankee pocket watch for one dollar. Millions were sold, and the phrase "dollar watch" entered the language.
Takes a licking
After World War II the company, reorganized as U.S. Time, launched the Timex brand in 1950. Its TV ads showed watches strapped to boat propellers and dropped from cliffs, with the line "takes a licking and keeps on ticking". By the 1960s Timex sold about one of every three watches bought in the US. Its Ironman sports watch (1986) became one of the best-selling watches ever.
Read more: Who invented the watch? 50 inventions · the full story of the watchmakers
Questions people ask
What was the dollar watch?
The Ingersoll Yankee pocket watch, made by the Waterbury Clock Company from 1896 and sold for one dollar.
Where is Timex from?
Waterbury, Connecticut, where its predecessor, the Waterbury Clock Company, was founded in 1854.
Sources
Last updated October 18, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.