The Timex Ironman Watch
The Timex Ironman Watch (also known as the Timex Ironman Triathlon Watch) has been in production since 1986 and is Timex’s flagship watch. Timex Ironman Triathlon Watches are the world’s best selling sports watch and it is estimated that between half a million to one million Timex Triathlon Watches are sold each year.
Since the 1980’s, the famous Timex sports watch has grown to become one of the world’s most famous icons. The watch has even been submitted to the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. The Timex Ironman is also among just four certified watches that NASA astronauts are permited to wear into space and it has also accompanied Russian cosmonauts on their space missions.
Arguably the first product ever sold based on sports marketing, the Timex Iron Man Watch has grown in status and as a basic piece of technology that personifies athleticism and ruggedness, it is now seen as a statement of a sportsman’s athetic prowess and level of attrition.
The basic Timex running watches are sold a price that is affordable by virtually anyone. In fact many people simply buy a new model when the batteries of their current watch have expired. What is astonishing about the Ironman brand is that it has been routinely sighted on doctors, politicians, business leaders and lawyers. Even the former president of the United States Bill Clinton has proudly sported the legendary timepiece, which goes to show, that while Ironman Timex Sports Watches may be inexpensive, the Timex Ironman Triathlon Watch brand is not considered “cheap”, but rather a reliable, value-based brand.
It is this exceptional value that has seen the Timex Ironman Watch remain in the upper echelons of the sports watch category, year after year for over two decades!
One of the keys to the success of the Timex Ironman running watch is the company’s willingness to aggressively reinvent itself since it’s inception into the market, making it hard for its competitors to keep up.
Yet despite the fact that the continual innovations to the watch design helped to push sales over a long term period, the tie-in to the “Ironman” brand was no less important.
A Brief History of the Timex Triathlon Ironman Watch
The origins of the Ironman Timex watches date back to the early 80’s and began when Mario Sabatini, then worldwide SVP of marketing for Timex guided the focus of the company’s digital watches in the direction of endurance sports like swimming, cycling and running. The original Triathlon watch was designed by John Houlihan, it’s creation based on considerable feedback from runners like Decker Slaney and Alberto Salazar, two of runners biggest names at the time. Houlihan also garnered feedback from editors and writers of icon running magazine, Runner’s World.
With 1,500 Timex Triathlon Watches in tow, Sabatini visited Kona in 1984, to guage the response of athletes to the new sports watch. At a price of $34.95, the whole batch was sold as quickly as he could take the money, which was when he realized he had a winner on his hands. Sabatini, then decided he didn’t just want to sponsort the Ironman Triathlon even, but wanted the Ironman name as part of the watch, a radically new concept for the staff of the Ironman event at that stage. The rest, you could say is history, the partnership, one of the first in the licensing of sports brands.
The Timex Triathlon Ironman Watch was born.
The Basic (or Classic) Timex Ironman Watch
When Timex acquired the rights to use the Ironman name in conjunction with their new sports watch in 1986, the result was a product that would go onto become a major hit and historical icon. The initial watch was based on the earlier Triathlon watch that was released in 1984. The basic design of the watch has all the features that we’ve come to know and love in a Timex Triathlon Watch such as the “Lazy D” shape with two top buttons, rubber ring around a case that is secured with four bolts and surrounds a prominant liquid crystal display. Unlike the original however, the first Ironman was water resistant to 100 meters and not 50 and also featured a 19mm ribbed band, souped up look with grey/orange/black color scheme and three stylized “M” logos that adorned the Ironman name. The features of the classic watch included three alarms, occasion alarm, stopwatch chronograph timer, countdown timer and basic time. There was also a ladies/youth version in a mid-range size that was released in the same year. The original 1984 Triathlon watch and the updated 1986 Ironman Triathlon watch would remain on the market until the first design and cosmetic updated would superceed them in 1991. The first of many. This period has become known to watch enthusists and historians as the “Pre Indiglo” Ironman.
State of The Art Technology
What has gone a long way in establishing and keeping the Timex Ironman brand at the top of the sports watch market is Timex’s willingness to engage and listen to what competitive athletes are looking for in a training timepiece. Timex would become a mainstay at the major Ironman expos all over North America which gave athletes and Timex representitives the opportunity to engage with each other and determine the best and most useful features for athletes in a sports watch.
And Timex has clearly delivered. More than twenty years on, Timex’s Ironman line has grown to include a multitude of choices for sports men and women at all levels with a variety of technological innovation options.
Getting feedback from the athletes comes from talking to them at Ironman events. Timex has become a mainstay at Ironman expo areas throughout North America, and the athletes revel in the opportunity to talk to company officials about what they’d like to see in a watch.
It was not until 1992, that the Timex Ironman would receive its first major upgrade and it was a big one! After six years as a solid performer, the makers of the Ironman watch would endow it with a new, exclusive lighting system based in a radical new electroluminescence technology that consumed less power than other watch illumination systems. The new system was called the Indiglo Lighting System. The watch also recieved a few cosmetic alterations and a new strap, but otherwise remained unchanged from the original. It would be the first of many technological innovations to the Timex Ironman Watch that would follow.
In 1996 a new reflective blue-green or “all-day Indiglo” was added to the Indiglo Ironman Watch, although this technology has now been adopted by competiting watchmakers and all but abandoned by Timex post 2005.
The features of the Ironman Watches have evolved on a continual bases. The original 1986 Ironman featured and 8-lap chronograph. This has grown to become an complete workout management system in some Timex models and general sports watch innovations such as GPS training systems and Heart Rate Monitor Chest Straps have been integrated into some Ironman models. There are now Timex’s to suit athletes and fitness enthusists of all types of sport and at all levels of performance.
A higher tech Ironman watch was released in 1994 and is named the Ironman “Data-Link”, it is a programmable, can interface with a PC and is most notable for mixing PDA functionality with sports watch technology. The Data Link watches also hold up to 200 laps in memory.
One of Timex’s most unusual inventions that was added as part of the Timex Ironman Sleek Watch line is the Optimal Viewing Angle watch. The concept of the O.V.A. watch is to place a regular sports watch on its side, so as to sit on the narrow part of your wrist. This puts the watch face in your natural line of site while you are participating in an endurance sport like cycling or running and thus minimizing wrist movement. The idea is particularly practical to cyclists who must maintain their optimal balance at all times.
Modern-Day Ironman Watch Product Lines
Today the Ironman product line includes a diverse range of Timex sport watches that can cater to virtually all sporting needs and tastes. Here is a run-down of the Timex Triathlon watch categories:
Classic/Core
These watches look just like the original with similar features. Each watch is water resistant to 100 meters, 100 hour chronograph and includes the classic Ironman “top-pusher” for easy lap and split taking. The “Core” watch line comes in entry level 10-lap watches, to the more contemporary level 30 lap watches and includes Shock-Resistant and there is a Timex Ironman Women’s Watch line in this segment.
Timex 10 Lap Watches
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 | | Timex Ironman 10-Lap Mid | | Price: $47.95 |  | * 100-hour chronograph
* 10-lap memory recall
* 99 lap counter
* 24-hour countdown timer |
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 | | | Price: | | * 100-hour chronograph
* 10-lap memory recall
* 99 lap counter
* 24-hour countdown timer |
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Timex 30 Lap Classic Watches
Timex 30 Lap Women’s Watches
Timex Ironman 50 Lap Watches
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 | | Timex men's 50-Lap Ironman | | Price: $64.95 |  | * Training log stores workouts
* 100-hour chronograph
* 50-lap memory recall
* Indiglo Night Light |
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Timex Ironman 100 Lap Watches
Timex Sleek Watches
The Timex Ironman “Sleek” range of sports watches is an aesthetic departure from the more traditional mold and features an aerodynamic looking design that enhances, both the comfort and performance of the watch. The sleek watches are highlighted by the inclusion of a date-orded chronograph training log, interval timers and on-the-fly recall of laps and splits.
Ironman Sleek 50 Lap Watches
Ironman Sleek 75 Lap Watches
 | | Timex Men's O.V.A. Ironman | | Price: $79.95 | | * Training log stores workouts
* 100 hour chronograph
* 75-lap memory recall
* Indiglo night-light |
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 | | Timex Hi-Ti+ 75-Lap Ironman | | Price: $119.95 | | * Training log stores workouts
* 100 hour chronograph
* 75-lap memory recall
* Indiglo night-light |
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 | | Timex Unisex 75-Lap Ironman | | Price: $119.95 | | * Training log stores workouts
* 100 hour chronograph
* 75-lap memory recall
* Indiglo night-light |
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 | | Timex Men's 75-Lap Ironman | | Price: $119.95 | | * Training log stores workouts
* 100 hour chronograph
* 75-lap memory recall
* Indiglo night-light |
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Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watches
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| Timex Men's 150-Lap Ironman |
| Price: $69.95 |
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* Training log stores workouts
* 100 hour chronograph
* 150-lap memory recall
* Indiglo night-light |
Ironman Sleek iControl iPod Controller Watches
Health and Fitness Sports Watches
Timex have categorized certain Timex Ironman watches into a category they call “Health and Fitness”. These watches combine features and design to deliver advanced fitness tools to elite athletes or for anyone seeking a sophisticated sports watch that caters to a certain area. Timex’s Health and Fitness watches are a variety of fitness program management, pedometers, heart rate monitors and GPS tracking systems, with several of these watches delivering in combinations of these specialities.
Timex Ironman Heart Rate Monitors
Timex Ironman Bodylink Sports Watches
See a complete overview of Timex GPS Bodylink Watches.
Ironman Fitness Tracker Watches
Conclusion
With a multitude of sports watches sporting a variety of features, the Timex Ironman Watch brand, in all its various forms continues to be a resounding success, outselling its rivals year after year. If you are seeking a sports watch, to help you improve your fitness and performance, then chances are you will find a Timex Ironman watch from the list above that is just right for you. No matter what sport you are pursuing or on what level.
