Up until recently, the renaissance of 1970s watches has been dominated by chunky geometric cases and integrated bracelets (the ones, in watch lingo, that are an extension of the case design rather than an afterthought). Popularized by Gerald Genta, the GOAT designer behind the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the luxurious lines of the integrated bracelet style have made these pieces—and the countless others they inspired—an easy gateway drug to the zany decadence of disco-era watch design.
But there’s much more to ’70s watches than those canonical hits. The Q 1978 Two-Tone, Todd Snyder’s newest limited-edition collab with Timex, pays homage to a whole different, but no less funky, ‘70s aesthetic.
Much like Ralph Lauren, his former employer, Snyder has a knack for unearthing archival pieces and touching them up just enough to make them fresh again. The new Q 1978 Two-Tone, the latest addition to Timex’s 1970s-inspired Q lineup, is just that sort of piece. Where pieces like the Royal Oak are all about bold architectural lines, the tonneau (or barrel-shaped) case of the Q 1978 is a smoother and more refined proposition. Its five-link “Jubilee” style bracelet, meanwhile, flaunts gold-tone center links to match the gold-tone crown, another hallmark of peak ‘70s watch design.
Two-tone watches first came into vogue during the 1930s, but it wasn’t until the late ‘70s that they really hit. Back then, the two-tone look struck the perfect middle ground between luxurious gold watches and sporty steel ones, straddling the formal-meets-casual divide with a flair that remains as appealing today as it was 50 years ago.
Other vintage details like the day-date window and the domed acrylic crystal—to say nothing of the quartz movement, which was the height of cool in, say, 1978—bring this vintage homage up to par with Snyder’s knit polos, denim shirts, and heavyweight sweats. All of which, of course, will look just right with the Q 1978.
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