Timex 20th Anniversary Ironman Triathlon 5H941
Today I'm wearing my Timex 20th Anniversary Ironman Triathlon watch. This watch commemorates the 20the anniversary of the Ironman Triathlon watches. I have one of the earlier models as well, and this one is almost a dead ringer for it, with the exception of the LCD display. As you can see in the photos (especially the side-by-side one) the new Ironman has a very different display than the old one. Not only is everything about the numbers different, but the color is unlike any LCD I've ever seen. While the old LCD was a standard grey color, this new one looks green if you view it from straight ahead, but various shades of brown, grey and purple from an angle. You can definitely see this in the photos below. I still like the watch but it's a bit disappointing that Timex couldn't be bothered to make a display that was more faithful to the original. I don't know if the new display was different by design, or if it was just a cheaper alternative to use this display than produce a duplicate of the old one, but I have a feeling it was the latter. Perhaps if the rest of the watch wasn't such a good replica then the new display wouldn't be so jarring. I guess the upside is these things are dirt cheap, seem to work well and will probably hold up almost as well as my original Ironman. Both the old and new versions are also lighter and lower profile than any of my G-Shocks, so they would probably be good watches to wear for sports or any other time you want your watch to be as unobtrusive as possible, which I guess was the point of these in the first place.
Today I'm wearing my Timex 20th Anniversary Ironman Triathlon watch. This watch commemorates the 20the anniversary of the Ironman Triathlon watches. I have one of the earlier models as well, and this one is almost a dead ringer for it, with the exception of the LCD display. As you can see in the photos (especially the side-by-side one) the new Ironman has a very different display than the old one. Not only is everything about the numbers different, but the color is unlike any LCD I've ever seen. While the old LCD was a standard grey color, this new one looks green if you view it from straight ahead, but various shades of brown, grey and purple from an angle. You can definitely see this in the photos below. I still like the watch but it's a bit disappointing that Timex couldn't be bothered to make a display that was more faithful to the original. I don't know if the new display was different by design, or if it was just a cheaper alternative to use this display than produce a duplicate of the old one, but I have a feeling it was the latter. Perhaps if the rest of the watch wasn't such a good replica then the new display wouldn't be so jarring. I guess the upside is these things are dirt cheap, seem to work well and will probably hold up almost as well as my original Ironman. Both the old and new versions are also lighter and lower profile than any of my G-Shocks, so they would probably be good watches to wear for sports or any other time you want your watch to be as unobtrusive as possible, which I guess was the point of these in the first place.
Looks nice. For some reason I'm feeling nostalgic and really want this watch. I can't find the anniversary edition new, but I put a bid in on an original version that's in pretty good shape. I like your blog!
ReplyDeleteThe 20th anniversary ironman triathlon has it on the dial. Its all metal with a screw caseback and was made in 1998. Daniel
ReplyDeleteIt looks like there were a number of Timex Triathlon models made in 1998 that were branded "20th Anniversary". This particular model only mentions it on the box (tin) insert, but was definitely sold as a "20th Anniversary" model.
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