When the Timex Ironman Triathlon Watch was released to the world in 1986 it was an overnight success. Ever since, the timepiece has continued to grow and prosper among the world’s endurance community.

This article looks at the main features that have been the building blocks of the watch’s resounding success.

Timex has never been one to rest on it’s laurels and over it’s lifetime, the watch has been subject to several technology innovations and upgrades.

Many of the standard Timex IRONMAN Triathlon Watch features that we take for granted today, were actually on the cutting edge of technology when they first came out.

At first these might strike you as quite basic, compared to what some other watch manufacturers have come out with recently. But these features have proven to work amazingly well. They have stood the test of time for over 20 years!

It just goes to show, sometimes simple is best!

1. 100 hour Chronograph: The Chrono is perhaps the cornerstone of the Ironman watch and features 100 hours of time recording with resolution of 1/100th of a second. In most models you can customize the layout of the chronograph to suit your particular needs or tastes.

2. Multiple Lap Storage: The original Timex IRONMAN Triathlon Watch featured an impressive (for the time) 8 laps of lap storage. Today standard options are 30, 50 and 100 laps. Some models even have the capacity to store 200 laps!

3. Chronograph recall. The recall function allows you to review your last workout. Scroll through and see an overall lap average as well as your best lap time.

4. Programmable alarms. A programmable alarm allows you to specify the date as well as the time at which an alarm will sound. Daily alarms, on the other hand, sound at the specific time every day. Tip: If you have inadvertently set your alarm and now can’t figure out how to turn the thing off, my article on turning the Timex IRONMAN Watch alarm off might be what you need.

5. Multiple time zones. Your IRONMAN watch will keep track of the time and date in two or more time zones, a handy feature for holidays, or those who frequently travel for business. It uses a very simple approach to multi-time zone support: rather than being pre-programmed with cities, time zones, daylight savings rules, etc, it simple provides you with three date and time “slots” which you can set any way you want. Sometimes the simplest approach is all you need.

6. Day and date Display. This may seem trivial, but many digital watches do not permit you to view both the day and the date at the same time. Your Timex IRONMAN Watch permits you to view the date in MM.DD or DD.MM date format.

7. 12 hour or 24 hour Display. An hourly chime is also available and can be toggled on or off.

8. INDIGLO illumination. The INDIGLO feature was pioneered and introduced to the IRONMAN Watch in 1992. INDIGLO illuminates the dial of the watch at a fraction of the battery power. I talk more about INDILGO in my Timex IRONMAN Watch INDIGLO technology post.

9. INDIGLO Night-Mode. NIGHT-MODE mode was engineered due to the amazing reception that INDIGLO received when it first came onto the market in 1992. It essentially lets your Timex IRONMAN Triathlon watch know that it is operating in low light conditions and illuminates the watch face at the press of any button. I have explained how to activate the INDIGLO Night-Mode feature in a previous post.

10. Water resistance. The original Times IRONMAN Watch had the advantage of being water resistant to 100m over the 50m of the original Triathlon. While some IRONMAN watches today are tested to 50m water resistance, swimmers and triathletes will be happy to know, your IRONMAN watch likes water!

In my last article, I talked about the innovative FLIX feature from Timex that activates the INDIGLO night-light feature upon a flick of your wrist and without the need of a button press.

But this is not the only feature related to the Indiglo technology. NIGHT-MODE mode was engineered due to the amazing reception that INDIGLO received when it was delivered to the market in 1992. It essentially lets your Timex IRONMAN watch know that it is operating in low light conditions, so that it illuminates your watch face at the press of any button.

Here we explore how to use the INDIGLO night light and how to activate NIGHT-MODE.

You may be aware of this, but for completion I’ll add, that to activate the INDIGLO night-light on your Timex IRONMAN watch temporarily, press the INDIGLO button.

Check our diagram for the standard Timex IRONMAN watch layout if you are sure about which button to press.

Upon pressing INDIGLO, the electroluminescent technology used in INDIGLO night-light illuminates the entire watch face at night or in low light conditions. This can be performed at any time, regardless of whether NIGHT-MODE is switched on or switched off.

NIGHT-MODE on the other hand, while switched on, will activate the INDIGLO night-light for a full three seconds when any button is pressed. To switch on NIGHT-MODE, press and hold the INDIGLO button for 4 seconds.

When NIGHT-MODE is active, the Moon icon will appear. The NIGHT-MODE feature will stay active for 8 hours or until deactivated by pressing and holding the INDIGLO button again for 4 seconds.

In 1992, the Timex IRONMAN watch got its first major technology update since its introduction six years earlier. A new and innovative electro-luminescence back-light technology which would replace the current corner back-light. Indiglo was integrated into some of the IRONMAN watch models and was an immediate and resounding success.

The basic technology behind Indiglo is called electro-luminescence. Electro-luminescence is the conversion of electricity directly into light and is distinct from an incandescent bulb which uses electricity to generate heat, which then produces light. Because electro-luminescence converts electricity directly into light and not heat, it is far more efficient.

The Indiglo lamp uniformly lights the surface of the Timex’s watch dials. In some newer watches, only the numbers are lit up, rather than the entire LCD display. This is achieved by means of a specialized film that inverts the LCD transmissivity

When Indiglo came out, the same 1986 design of the original Timex IRONMAN watch was used, but with an altered color scheme and a Silver/Stainless steel full-size version added to the mix. The ladies/mid-size IRONMAN would not receive Indiglo until 1994.

Today Indigo is a standard feature in almost every Timex IRONMAN Watch and has been licensed and used in many other devices, including cell phones, clock radios, electronic personal organizers, and night lights.

Head to the following link for a more technical description on how Timex Indiglo works.