TIMEX Acqua mechanical "Camper" style watch, October 1994
I don't know too much about this watch, or about ACQUA. The watch was made in the Philippines, October 1994. It is a mechanical watch, running fine. ACQUA is a sub-brand of TIMEX, seems to be a sort of "discount" brand, still being sold at this writing in 2018, in places like Sears and JC Penny. The font for ACQUA has a very 1980s feel, to me.
These Campers were water resistant, as is also stated on the ACQUA. I don't know if ACQUA was just a cool name, or if it was specifically about a line of watches meant to be more than usual in water resistance?
Below are the remains of what was originally a round "gasket" or other type of seal, that was fitted between the edge of the crystal and the edge of the case. When I got the watch, about 45 degrees of this gasket was missing, and the edges where it was missing were turning up. So I had no choice but to use a forceps and peel away the remainder. I'm not sure I've seen this gasket on any of the Campers from the 80s/90s I've seen. Maybe it's just there, but since it's not peeled up, I didn't notice it.
Dial is pretty standard "military style" in keeping with a Camper aesthetic. 1-12, and 13-24 hour chapters in white, across a black dial, and with a red seconds hand. There is no luminous material on the hands or dial, while the proper Campers did have luminous, and maybe this is in keeping with the "discount" nature of ACQUA.
Check this out, below. I noticed many scratches on the the back of the case, which was unusual, as it's hard to scratch the back of a watch against your wrist, while wearing it normally. Then it became clear: someone tried repeatedly in vain to pry off a non-existent case-back cap/lid. There is no lid, nothing to pry, as this is a single piece of plastic, with everything going in / come out the front. There is a circular "edge" at the back of the case, and this appears to be what this person tried to engage with a tool, but it kept slipping, creating deep gouges in the plastic. I'm unsure what they were trying to do. The watch runs perfectly now, but maybe there was a time when it wasn't working so well and the owner, or even an unaware watchmaker tried to pry it open. Here are some pics. Adds to the vintage charm, as they say?
Markings on the back of the case. WATER RESISTANT PHILIPPINES. From October 1994. Plus, all the acquired gouges. If only this poor watch could talk.
It's a nice Camper variant. There were made from at least 1989 to 1994, from some information obtained in this watch forum posting where the first known example was from 1989 (and mine is from 1994). That's five years of production. Not sure why this does not show up more often, then.
Also, I can't find any vintage emphemera on ACQUA. No ads, catalogs, or anything at all. Maybe this was purely a "department store brand" of TIMEX, and you were meant to just see the watch in the lighted display of the jewelry department, and buy it like that. No big hype. If anyone knows more about ACQUA or this watch, please let me know. Thanks.
Alan
/end
The watch case is identical in size (36 mm) and proportion to the well-known mechanical Camper that TIMEX was selling in the 1980s and 1990s. Here is a link to the mechanical Camper, and one Camper is pictured immediately below.
TIMEX Camper mechanical from 1991.
(This is so sad...)
