TIMEX x Nigel Cabourn Football Referee Watch, June 2019
Hi, thIs is Alan. My contact information is at the bottom of the page. Thanks for reading. Here is the second watch resulting from collaboration with TIMEX and Nigel Cabourn, a "cult British designer, driven by inspirational stories of real people in history and vintage military, outdoor and work wear pieces." The first watch was released in March 2018, and is reviewed here.
This watch drew inspiration from a circa 1954 watch or timer designed for football referees. From the Nigel Cabourn website: "For his much anticipated second collaboration with Timex, Nigel looks back to his boyhood in 1950s Scunthorpe and his love of the beautiful game for inspiration. Paying homage to the footballing greats of this era he's taken reference from referee stopwatches of the time to produce an eye-catching piece."
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The watch is beautifully designed, taking inspiration from a 1950s Ingersoll referee's stopwatch (pictures of the original are further below, on this page). The 3/4 "color blocking" is to indicate the 45 minutes for each half of the football (soccer) match. While this watch has a standard wristwatch movement, the stopwatch had a sliding lever, so the referee could start and stop the timekeeping as needed. 15, 30, and 45 minutes are marked on the dial in the same color as the blocking.
The colored section is further subdivided into 5 minute arcs, by thin lines. Tapered minute and hour hands in black, and seconds hand with two small circles. Dial background is a light cream color. Broad Arrow at 12, and CABOURN TIMEX upper dial.
The watch comes presented in this cotton twill mending kit, with internal zippered compartment, similar to the mending kit described as "Italian Army." Two straps are provided. The first Cabourn TIMEX also had a similar kit, shown here.
40 mm steel case, domed acrylic crystal. Shown here with a black, vegetable-tanned leather strap, NATO-style one piece. The white plastic triangle is the crown-stopper which shipped with the watch, to save battery.
Strap from S.B. Foot Tanning Co., Red Wing, Minnesota, USA.
This pic is from Nigel Cabourn. I don't think I could take a pic nearly as clear as this. I tried! It shows the lovely crown, described as being "fluted." Sometimes crowns with this morphology are called "onion" as well, but usually they are more rounded on the top, taller. Names aside, it's an attractive steel crown.
This is one of two timers that have without any doubt partly inspired the Cabourn wristwatch. Ingersoll, 1950s football referee timer. You can see it has identical 3/4 color blocking, the thin lines dividing the blocking into 5 minute intervals, and a "notch" out from the upper edge of the blocking, where REFEREE is written (CABOURN TIMEX written in its place, on the wristwatch.) Being a stopwatch, it has just one main minute hand. The wristwatch uses very similar minute and hour hands. Here is another Ingersoll timer, GREEN, and of different design, almost certainly inspired the design of the wristwatch.
Above, the Cabourn TIMEX next to this Ingersoll. I have reviewed this timer at this site.
The Broad Arrow is embossed on the tongue of the leather strap. There are various designs for this symbol, and the one used on the dial and strap (as well as the 2018 Nigel TIMEX) is the one where the ends flare out, like this one:
Certainly beyond the scope of this article to go into much dtail about the Broad Arrow, and there is plenty online for those who wish to learn more, but I'll also show the above info about how the Broad Arrow is to be applied to prison uniforms, with different designs for the Broad Arrow.
Barcode sticker with model number and other info. Retail price £139. The 2018 Cabourn TIMEX was £129. A jump of just £10, oneyear later, with a larger stainless steel case watch isn't bad at all.
I bought the watch from both Nigel Cabourn direct, as well as from END Clothing, in Newcastle. One for myself, one for my brother. I was pleased to support both Nigel Cabourn direct, and END, as both have been very kind and helpful in the lead-up to the release of this watch. The watch originally went on sale in Japan, then UK, US, Canada and other selected markets.
Caseback. The "serial no." notation is not for any number unique to the watch. All watches have the same 54-19 etching. This relates to the years 1954-2019. 1954, the time around when "Nigel looks back to his boyhood," and 2019 the year of release. The earlier Cabourn TIMEX had 68-18, referring to 1968-2018, which correlates with Nigel's recollection of the Vietnam war, the Sixties and Flower Power.
Here side-by-side are the 2018 and 2019 Nigel Cabourn x TIMEX watches, 36 mm and 40 mm respectively. Note, the 36 mm case has fixed/solid lugs, while the 40 mm case uses springbars.
Inscription printed on the undersurface of the mending kit flap. Partially reads, "For this design we have taken inspiration from this golden age of football by looking at the referees' watches used at the time."
All the hardware on both straps is kind of a "matte" appearance, in keeping the the same finish to the watch case.
Inside of the mending kit has a small zippered compartment, with a metal zip. There is a Broad Arrow on the zipper pull,
If you search "Italian Army mending kit" or "Italian military mending kit," you'll find pics of pouches like the above and below items. It looks like Nigel's watch pouches are modeled after these. They all have the internal zip, V-shaped flap, and ties to secure the kit when closed. I believe these were meant to keep sewing supplies handy, so that the solider could repair uniform tears, lost buttons, and other problems, out in the field.
Above and below are two pics of the watch with the supplied nylon strap, in the same two colors as the mending kit. What about these colors. They are "claret and blue," and correspond to the team colors of the Scunthorpe United Football Club.
Nigel grew up in Scunthorpe, England, and he supported this football club.
This is the Scuthorpe United crest, drawn in the traditions of Soviet Realism, depicted a fist clutching a steel girder, celebrating the town's long association with the iron and steel industry.
Above pic is not mine, but is from the Nigel Cabourn and the END Clothing websites.
1953-1957 Scunthorpe United F.C. uniform.
Where is Scunthorpe, you ask? Here it is:
Scunthorpe is an industrial town in North Lincolnshire, with a population of about 82,000.
Couple more larger pics of this really beautiful watch.
Here is the TIMEX x Nigel Cabourn Football Referee Watch, June 2019, for the Nigel Cabourn SS19 collection.
Thank you for reading.
I hope you will like it.
Alan
Contact:
Website: Alan's Vintage Watches
