Timex unveils new compact stainless-steel Marlin watches in three colorways

Timex has just added three Marlin Quartz references on steel bracelets, and two of them cost exactly what the Snoopy version on a fabric strap does.

The TW6A03800 has an ice blue sunray dial with a polished silver-tone case at $219. TW6A03900 does the same in pink at the same price. TW6A04000 moves to a gold-tone case and bracelet with a champagne dial at $239 — this makes the finish a $20 addition.

All three share a 34 mm polished stainless-steel case, 41 mm lug to lug and 10.5 mm tall, on an 18 mm brushed and polished bracelet closing with a deployant clasp. Weights sit between 68.9 and 69.5 grams depending on reference.

The crystal is domed acrylic rather than mineral, which Timex uses across the Marlin and Q lines for the period profile. It scratches easily and polishes out. Dials carry Arabic numerals at the even hours with metallic markers between them, and luminant on the hands only.

Water resistance is where Timex contradicts itself. The specification block rates the watches at 30 m and states they are unsuitable for swimming, while a summary line further down the same page says its okay for short swims among acceptable uses. The better reading is the safer one.

The pricing is a little awkward against Timex's own catalog. The Peanuts Marlin 1965 Reissue Inspired Snoopy Tennis, reference TW2Y12500, is also $219, also 34mm, also quartz under acrylic at 30 m, and also comes with 18 mm lugs. It arrives on a denim fabric strap rather than steel. You are effectively choosing between a bracelet and the artwork at the same outlay.

Marlin goes back to the 1950s and became a Timex mainstay through the following decade. Most of the current line is hand-wound mechanical, except these new ones (and some other models).

Buy the Timex TW2R47900 on Amazon.