For most people, "Timex" means a $50 Weekender, an Ironman digital, or the Indiglo glow they remember from childhood. It does not, historically, mean Swiss-made, sapphire crystal, titanium cases, and three-figure price tags that climb toward three thousand dollars.
The Timex Atelier collection is the company's attempt to change that — and the new Atelier Chronograph is the most ambitious thing the line has produced. It launches in two versions that share a face but almost nothing else: a Swiss automatic in titanium, and a Swiss quartz in stainless steel. One costs C$2,950. The other costs C$1,050. Both wear the same architectural design language, and the gap between them is exactly the conversation Timex wants you to have.
Two Watches, One Design Language
Both chronographs are built around the same idea: a skeletonized case architecture with a black IP-coated stainless-steel middle case sandwiched between brushed-and-polished outer surfaces. The result reads as layered and structural rather than flat — you see into the case construction, not just at it. A fixed bezel carries a black IP-coated insert with a tachymeter top ring, and both share a double-domed (the quartz is double-curved) sapphire crystal with triple-layer anti-reflective coating.
Timex describes the design philosophy as "clarity, restraint, and structural thinking," and for once the marketing language matches what's on the wrist. The matte black dial on the automatic absorbs light rather than reflecting it; the quartz answers with a guilloché precision-engraved pattern that adds texture and depth. Both run a clean two-register chronograph layout — a 60-second counter and a 30-minute counter — with full markers and no clutter.
It's a genuinely contemporary look, and it's the same on both watches. What changes is everything underneath.
The Automatic: Titanium, Landeron, and a Real Statement
The Atelier Chronograph Automatic (ref. TW6A02700) is the flagship. The case is 42mm titanium, 15.75mm thick, with a 49.30mm lug-to-lug — substantial numbers, and the thickness is the one to watch, because an automatic chronograph movement plus a domed sapphire adds up quickly. This is not a slim watch, and titanium is doing real work here keeping it light despite the height.
The headline is the movement: a Landeron L72, a Swiss-made automatic chronograph caliber running at 28,800vph with 28 jewels and roughly 43 hours of power reserve. Accuracy is rated at +10/-18 seconds per day. The Landeron name carries chronograph heritage — the historic Landeron 48 was one of the most-produced chronograph movements of the 20th century — and seeing a modern L72 in a Timex is, frankly, not a sentence anyone expected to write a few years ago. An exhibition caseback lets you watch it run.
The titanium bracelet uses a butterfly deployant clasp with self-adjustable links and quick-release spring bars, so resizing is tool-free. Water resistance is 50 meters — fine for light swimming, but Timex is explicit that you should not press the chronograph pushers underwater. There's also a version on an NBR synthetic rubber strap (TW6A02800) for those who want to lose the weight.
At C$2,950, this is the most expensive standard-production Timex most buyers will ever encounter.
The Quartz: Same Look, Half the Thickness, a Third of the Price
The Atelier Chronograph Quartz (ref. TW6A06900) is the more wearable of the two on paper. The case shrinks to 40mm stainless steel and slims down to 12.7mm thick, with a 48.11mm lug-to-lug — noticeably more compact than the automatic, and the kind of proportions that suit a wider range of wrists.
Inside is a Ronda 5021.D, a reliable Swiss-made quartz chronograph movement with 10 gold-plated jewels and a 54-month battery (SR927SW). It adds two things the automatic doesn't have: a date window, and a meaningful jump in water resistance to 100 meters — good for swimming, snorkeling, and surfing. The crown is a stainless-steel screw-down, which is part of why that 100m rating holds.
The guilloché dial is the quartz's signature flourish — a precision-engraved texture that catches light across the black surface and gives the cheaper watch a detail the matte-black automatic deliberately forgoes. The steel bracelet uses the same butterfly deployant clasp and tool-free self-adjustable links as the titanium version, and there's an NBR rubber strap option here too (TW6A07000).
At C$1,050, it's roughly a third of the automatic's price.
Which One Makes Sense?
The honest framing: these two watches are aimed at different buyers who happen to like the same design.
The quartz is the easier recommendation for most people. It's thinner, more water-resistant, has a date, and the guilloché dial arguably gives it more visual interest than the flagship. At C$1,050 it's competing with Swiss quartz chronographs from the likes of Tissot and Hamilton, and it holds its own on specs and looks. For a daily-wear Swiss chrono you don't have to baby, it's the sensible pick.
The automatic is the enthusiast object. You're paying for the mechanical Landeron movement, the titanium case, and the exhibition caseback — the things that make a watch a hobby rather than a tool. At C$2,950, it's also entering a brutally competitive bracket: that's Tag Heuer Formula 1, Hamilton Intra-Matic, and grey-market territory for some serious mechanical chronographs. Timex doesn't have the heritage equity those names trade on. What it has instead is a genuinely distinctive design and a Swiss automatic chrono with a real movement at a price below most of its mechanical competition.
The bet behind both watches is the same one Formex and a handful of other challenger brands are making: that buyers will value the spec sheet and the design over the weight of an established name. For Timex — a brand that spent decades defining the opposite end of the market — it's a genuinely bold place to plant a flag.
Specifications
Timex Atelier Chronograph Automatic (TW6A02700)
Case diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 15.75mm
Lug-to-lug: 49.30mm
Case material: Titanium with black IP-coated stainless-steel middle case
Bezel: Fixed titanium, black IP insert with tachymeter ring
Dial: Matte black, full markers
Crystal: Double-domed sapphire, triple AR coating
Movement: Landeron L72, Swiss-made automatic chronograph
Frequency: 28,800vph
Power reserve: ~43 hours
Jewels: 28
Accuracy: +10/-18 sec/day
Chronograph: 60-second and 30-minute counters
Caseback: Exhibition (sapphire)
Bracelet: Titanium, butterfly deployant clasp, quick-release spring bars (20mm)
Water resistance: 50m
Strap option: NBR synthetic rubber (TW6A02800)
Price: C$2,950
Available at: timex.ca
Timex Atelier Chronograph Quartz (TW6A06900)
Case diameter: 40mm
Thickness: 12.7mm
Lug-to-lug: 48.11mm
Case material: Stainless steel with black IP-coated middle case
Bezel: Fixed, black IP insert with tachymeter ring
Dial: Black with guilloché engraved pattern, full markers, date window
Crystal: Double-curved sapphire, triple AR coating
Movement: Ronda 5021.D, Swiss-made quartz chronograph
Jewels: 10 (gold-plated)
Battery: SR927SW (~54-month life)
Chronograph: 60-second and 30-minute counters
Crown: Stainless-steel screw-down
Bracelet: Stainless steel, butterfly deployant clasp, quick-release spring bars
Water resistance: 100m
Strap option: NBR synthetic rubber (TW6A07000)
Price: C$1,050
Available at: timex.ca