Timex team up with MM6 Maison Margiela on a stylish, minimal T80 (and a cute little ring watch!)
Jamie Weiss- Timex collaborates with French fashion house Maison Margiela on two minimalist yet idiosyncratic takes on Timex’s iconic T80 digital watch.
- The standard T80 watch comes in a gift set with a bracelet that can be worn alongside the watch.
- Timex has also shrunk down the T80 into a ring watch for those looking for a real fashion statement.
You’d think that when a watch brand teams up with a fashion label or designer on a collaborative model you’d end up with an exercise in maximalism – however, some of the most popular collaborations have proven to be the extremely minimal ones. Just last week, we saw Hamilton and Engineered Garments pen a stripped-back, branding-less Khaki Field Mechanical in titanium as well as Porter and Zenith release some distinctive yet restrained ceramic Pilot watches. Other similarly minimalist collabs that spring to mind include the Audemars Piguet x 1017 ALYX 9SM Royal Oak Chronograph, the Girard-Perregaux x Saint Laurent Casquette 2.0 and the Casio G-Shock x Comme des Garçons DW-5900. Now we can add Timex and MM6 Maison Margiela to that list.
Founded in 1988 by Belgian designers Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens, Maison Margiela has proven to be one of the most influential and disruptive modern fashion houses. Famed for its deconstructive, minimalist, almost ‘anti-fashion’ approach, Margiela has a cultural cut-through that few labels enjoy. Launched in 1997, MM6 is Margiela’s gender-neutral, experimental and accessible diffusion line, which nevertheless has remained more premium (as well as more innovative, frankly) than most designer label’s diffusion lines. That’s why this Timex collaboration is so interesting: it represents one of the most affordable entry points into MM6 while remaining totally on brand for both MM6 and Timex.
So, enough preamble. This Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela takes the form of two timepieces: a T80 digital watch and a T80 ring watch that resembles a shrunk-down version of the real thing. The latter features a characteristically minimal design, with a stainless steel case, display surround and bracelet, with the distinctive Maison Margiela ‘number logo’ taking the place of the normal ‘Indiglo’ and ‘Water-Resistant’ text below the LCD display. MM6 has done away with the T80’s usual function descriptors and model designation – thankfully anyone passingly familiar with digital watches won’t have an issue using this T80’s functions.
The watch comes mounted on a thin seven-link bracelet, which has a clasp that also features an engraving of the Maison Margiela number logo. This T80 comes as a gift set including both the timepiece as well as a bracelet, which takes the form of the watch’s bracelet sans the watch head. MM6 explains that the bracelet and watch are intended to be worn on the same wrist stacked together. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Maison Margiela produce accessories riffing on watch bracelets, actually: the label previously released a wristlet shaped like a Rolex Oyster bracelet as well as a super-long Rolex Oyster Perpetual-inspired chain intended to be worn as either a belt or a bangle wrapped multiple times around one’s wrist.
The second half of this collaboration, the T80 Ring Watch, is a bit more off-beat but still minimalist in its execution. It’s the first-ever T80 ring watch and does exactly what it says on the tin: it resembles a shrunk-down T80 on an expansion bracelet, and comes in two different sizes (a US ring size 6 and 10 for reference). Unlike its bigger sibling, it can only tell the time, but features a mirrored mask on its LCD display rather than the green display of the full-sized T80. It’s also insanely cute, if slightly impractical.
Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela pricing and availability
The Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela T80 and T80 Ring Watch will be available from October 24th 2024 on both the MM6 Maison Margiela and Timex e-commerce sites, selected MM6 Stores, as well as in selected multibrand stores. Price: US$200 (T80 gift set), US$180 (Ring Watch)
| Brand | Timex | Timex |
| Model | Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela T80 | Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela T80 Ring Watch |
| Reference Number | TWG065600 | TW2W81300 (S/M) TW2W81400 (M/L) |
| Case Dimensions | 34mm (D) x 10mm (T) | 16.5mm (D) (S/M) 19.8mm (D) (M/L) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 30m | 30m |
| Crystal(s) | Acrylic | Acrylic |
| Dial | LCD display with silver surround and Maison Margiela ‘number logo’ | LCD display with silver surround and Maison Margiela ‘number logo’ |
| Bracelet | Stainless steel 7-link bracelet | Stainless steel expansion band |
| Movement | Timex quartz | Timex quartz |
| Battery Life | 2 years | Not stated |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, annual calendar, chronograph, alarm, Indiglo backlight | Hours and minutes |
| Availability | From October 24th 2024, comes with an additional bracelet | From October 24th 2024 |
| Price | US$200 | US$180 |