Hi, this is Alan (contact: email). This is a pretty cool little TIMEX, and from what I can tell, it is probably pretty rare. I obtained it in May 2018 from the UK, in running condition, overall pretty good shape. It is a small watch, maybe meant for a child, only 24 mm across without the crown. Lug width 10 mm. Strap is probably original, nylon type, striped with three shades of brown/beige.
[NOTE: Since writing this, I believe this is from a series called FUN TIMERS. Earlier there was a series of larger watches, same type of case derived from military contract work called FUN TIMER, 1968 ]
The dial is really lovely, with a central olive color surrounded by a white circle accentuated by sixty white hash-marks. TIMEX at top, and at the bottom is WATER RESISTANT, and the TIMEX wave symbol, (which I think was pretty new at the time.) Outer dial is black, with hours 1-12 in white. White stick hands, with and orange seconds hand. Neither the hands nor the dial are luminous. Watch runs fine. Mechanical mvt. Watch made in 1983. For pic of date code showing this, scroll far to bottom or click here.
The case is a single piece of injection-molded plastic in a dark green color, with fixed lugs. On the back is molded ASSEMBLED IN PHILIPPINES, and WATER RESISTANT. Crown is probably stainless steel, or if it is plated, it shows no sign of brassing.
The watch case is, as close as I can tell, proportioned identically to a watch TIMEX was making in an adult size, in the early 1980s. It wasn't called "Camper" then, and may actually have been called THE MARINES WATCH, as in the 1983 ad below, in the Italian magazine TOPOLINO. This retail TIMEX, was probably manufactured in tandem as a civilian product, alongside the production of a TIMEX that was meant to fulfill a military contract (a contract that appears was never fully realized.) I have written about the "Original Camper" watch that resulted from this commercial/civilian initiative, and will I continue to update that page as I learn more. Check back... [Lots more to this page, below the big advertisement...]
Notice the two watches in the above ad; there's a smaller watch, either meant for kids or as a "ladies watch" (it was not uncommon for watches marketed to women to be this size.) Notice that the strap on the small watch is identical to the strap on my mini-Camper, though the dial is different, being a smaller scale version of the adult. But the hands on the little one pictured are identical to my watch.
Standard pencil, for scale. It's really a small watch! Prior to this, in March of 2018, I came across two other small TIMEX watches in identical single-piece "Camper"-looking cases (one white, one red) both with different dials. I kind of joked that they were "mini"-Campers, but seeing now this little "military" styled one, with a strap identical to the magazine ad watch makes me wonder if maybe there were a few of these "military" themed small watches. BTW, here are those other two mini ones: White one and Red one.
Standard type of buckle, allows adjustment of the length. Undersurface of buckle is stamped HONG KONG.
This watch is from 1983. Scroll to bottom to see pics of date code, after crystal was removed. Or click here.
It really is a beautiful watch, and it would be pretty cool if TIMEX decided to make a re-issue, but in a full size (36 mm) plastic/resin Camper case. Is anyone out there listening? We'd buy one!! But yeah, lovely watch... The olive center works nicely with the case color. I'm a big fan of contrasts when it comes to dial and hands, and this one certainly has that. I wish I knew more about this watch, as it seems a bit of a mystery to me. I've never seen one before. Also, in that 1983 Italian magazine ad -- that small "Camper before they were called Camper" ... where are those, why haven't we seen them?
I emailed the seller to ask if they knew anything, about the provenance of my watch, and received a nice reply, below. Helpful and nice of course, but probably not contributory to finding out much more about this. Also, this is from 1983 (see below date code picture, or click here,) not 1970s.
Thanks for reading and looking. I hope you will like it. This is a pretty nice little watch that I just came upon, but that I know almost nothing about. I do love the dial, hands and case, and would love to see this in a full-size watch. Keeping with the same stick hands and orange seconds. Maybe with good luminous paint on the hands and dial. I'd even say replicate that stripey strap, why not.
If anyone knows about this 1983 "mini-Camper" please let me know! Thanks.
Alan
Contact:
The white hash marks at 12, 3, 6 and 9 extend a little bit beyond the perimeter of the white circle. Also, every five minutes / seconds, the hash mark is slightly thicker than the others.. These details would be quite hard to discern by the naked eye, in routine use. I love, though, that someone thought to include them.
*** More information added, below. Added December, 2018. ***
Here is the green case mini-Camper, seen in the ad. It's not mine, but is owned by Instagram user timex_collector, sho provided this nice picture of the watch next to a British pound coin, which is 22.5 mm diameter. You can see the watch clearly has a green case, esp along the upper aspect near the Queen's nose, where the image is lighter. Pretty cool!
Now, back to my watch featured on this page. I've since taken off the crystal, which allowed visualization of a hidden code beneath a spacer ring. This shows the watch is from 1983, and the dial was made in the UK, almost certainly in Dundee, Scotland. Movement 114, model number 19952. This is pretty interesting. I've also discovered the existence of a full-size Timex Camper Watch from 1983, UK dial. Here is a link to that watch.
Once you remove the crystal, the watch looks like this. The code is still not visible until you remove the silvery colored metal ring. That ring appears to serve as a movement stabilizer, as the movement will rattle around if you don't have it.
Once the ring is removed, you can see the code.
end/
Don't forget to read about Timex FUN TIMER, 1968, and learn about the origin of this 1-piece case, for Timex.
