Where to find the code on your watch
Most often during this period, you can find a stamp within the inner case back that will give you either the last two digits of the year, the full year, or a month and year of manufacturing. In some cases, especially if the watch has previously been serviced or parts replaced, this ink stamp may have rubbed off. Once you find the year, go to the Model Reference section of this site for more information on models within that year.
From 1963, Timex printed a code on the dial face — catalog number (4 digits), movement number (2), and year (2). Example: 23562570 — catalog 2356, movement Model 25, 1970. If you cannot see it, it is hidden under the crystal and bezel and the case must be opened — see Case Construction.
The catalog number expanded to five digits (including the strap/band variant). Example: 235602573 — catalog 23560, movement 25, 1973.
Movement numbers expanded to three digits as the lineup grew. Example: 2355002574 — catalog 23550, movement Model 25, 1974.
A one or two character code stamped on the outside of the case back, such as K4, AB or V3. It gives the year and month the watch was made, nothing more. Type it in the box above, or find it in the table below.
1985–1992 use two digits (01–96, one per month across the year). From 1993 a letter prefix marks the year (A=1993, B=1994 … N=2005) followed by the month digit. From 2014 the code resets to single digits.
Model numbers
Each digit in a pre-1985 model number describes a physical property: the first two identify the series, then bezel, hand/dial and band. Type a model number in the box above to decode one.
UK watches
UK-market Timex watches (the dial often reads “Great Britain” or “United Kingdom”) used two parallel identification systems up to 1967: a numeric model number and a mnemonic letter code. Both describe the series, bezel plating, dial and sweep second hand. From 1967 an eight-digit code on the dial replaced both: catalogue number (digits 1–4), movement (5–6) and year (7–8). British watches made before 1967 have no code on the dial. The same model number can mean a different watch in the UK and the US: UK 2125 is a Timex Marlin Calendar. Type a UK model number or letter code in the box above to decode it.
From the UK 1960–68 Parts Catalog, pages 2–5.
Some models carry 1, 6, 8 or 9 as the fourth digit; the catalog lists those on their own series pages.
An "X" after the first letter means gold plated; no "X" means chrome plated. The next letter gives the dial and hands. An "S" after it means a sweep second hand; calendar models carry "C" instead.
A code of one letter and one number is stamped inside the case back. The number gives the year; the catalog does not say what the letter means.
Catalog letter codes
This key is our reading of them, worked out by lining up every code with what the catalogs print beside it. A model name is only given for the years a catalog prints it. Type a code in the box above to see where it is printed.
From 1950 the order is: watch, bezel (C or G), then S and R as fitted, then the band (L or M). The 1949 codes are shorter: the watch letter, S and R, then -21.