Timex Viscount History

Up until 1956 all automatically wound watches were simply called Automatic.

From 1957 to the early 1980s the Timex automatic range was renamed as Timex Viscount. Until the 1960s these watches were easily identifiable due to the dial featuring the words “self-wind”. Later this changed to “automatic” which continues through to modern times.

A Timex Viscount is a self powered watch using a rotor that winds the watch based on your natural movement. Timex Viscount wristwatches usually have a deeper case than their manual wind siblings to accommodate this rotor.

Up until the 1970s the Timex Viscount was exclusively used to describe men’s casual watches. In the early 1970s this was extended to include several designs of sports and dive watches.

In the 1980s the name Viscount was dropped in favor of just the name “Automatic”.

Timex Viscount Value

Value is in the eye of the beholder. At the bottom end of the price range will be heavily worn Timex viscount watches that make great project watches. These can be bought for tens of dollars. More pristine and operational models can fetch around 100 dollars depending on condition and rarity. Note most sellers claim their watches to be rare but as one of the worlds largest watch manufacturers this is only the case for a relatively small number of models – don’t believe the hype.