Timex Doubles Down On Retro Chic With M79 ‘Coke’ Automatic Watch

Practicality and style in one affordable timepiece.

Steve Huff

Mar 21, 2021

Timex continues its streak of hitting that sweet spot between functionality and versatile EDC style with the new “Coke” colorway for its Q Timex-inspired M79 line of automatic watches.

When the venerable Waterbury, CT-based watchmaker first reissued its Q Timex a couple of years ago it had an unexpected runaway hit on its hands. The stainless-steel, quartz-powered watches sold like hotcakes.

Timex had hit a nerve and has wisely stuck with the reissues of slick 70s styles as well as Q Timex-inspired new watches ever since.

And the M79 is new, even though its automatic movement was once considered a relic of a bygone age of watchmaking. (That was before watchmakers began fine-tuning automatic movements to the point where they keep time just as well as their quartz counterparts.)

So while this stainless-steel, red and black watch is an unapologetic nod at how the Q reissues took off for Timex, there are other key differences in the M79 model line besides movement.

The Q Timex’s 38 mm case size was a nice clap-back against the age of the chunky watch, embodied in part by the runaway popularity of competitors like Casio’s stout, multi-featured G-Shocks. With the M79s Timex boosted the size to 40 mm and reduced the number of colorways–M79s come in the red and black “Coke” featured above as well as solid black and a blue and black “Batman” style. A fourth M79 carries the Batman color scheme but adds a cheeky cartoon of the Peanuts cartoon beagle Snoopy dressed as his superhero character, the Masked Marvel.

In a nod to the aesthetic appeal of automatic movements, M79 case backs are clear, so you can see the gleaming 21-jewel mechanical movement at work. Other details shared with the Q lineup include: