Ben Hogan X Timex Watch Co

Ben Hogan was one of the greatest players the game of golf has ever seen. He transcended entire generations of swings with his book and most older legends say that he's still the best pure ball striker they have ever seen. His peak career dominance was between 1938 and 1959 where he won 9 major championships while also being one of only six players to ever complete the Grand Slam.

But what was Timex doing during this time period and how did they end up collaborating? In the early 1950s the company was trying to find a way to market their shock resistant technology. The slogan back then, as any of your Grandpas will tell you, "take a licking and keep on ticking". Timex built an entire campaign around Hogan with the line "Born out of 100,000 swings." Even by today's standards, extremely cool and classy.

As you can see on the ad, the price was $25. In 2026 standards, this translates to around $302!

The watch itself was a manual wind Timex Marlin. Case size comes in at 32mm with the beautiful gold colored hands. You can see now how beautiful these are now that some Patina has taken over. Look at the distress on the crown on this amazing example.

The Marlin, today is one of the best bang for buck options on the entire market.

There was also a pocket watch as well as a belt loop options. The concept was a golfer never had to look down at his wrist and could just glance down at his waist section.

Want to buy one for your own collection? Good luck as I searched over the web and could only find one that has taken a beating. You can find it HERE

You may be able to find the belt loops version more easily, but we are all after the wrist let's be honest!

So to put a bow on it, Timex campaign was a success. They also did one with Mickey Mantle where they attached the watch to his bat and allowed him to hit home runs in batting practice with it!

We still haven't answered the question tho... Can Timex be cool again in the sport of golf?

I think it can, but it has to be framed differently and serve a different purpose. You're probably wondering "Don't watches all tell time?" Well yes, but in different settings. The Cartier Tank is an iconic piece known as a dress watch while the Rolex Sub, a diver or sport category.

But where does Timex fall...

I want everyone to open their mind to the concept of a practice watch. See when I go out and practice golf for hours, I still want to wear a watch, but I don't want to wear something expensive and automatic that could potentially need to be serviced faster due to repetitive motion. I would take the risk if wearing a nice watch in an actual round since it's only about 45 swings, but when that ramps up to 100 with another 100 of chipping, I won't take the risk.

So am I wearing Timex when I practice?

Absolutely, my easy reader on Nato strap has truly stood the test of time out of everything in my collection, I still reach for it more often than I ever thought. Being quartz I don't ever have to worry about the movement.

My exact model is a Timex Easy Reader reference number T2P142 with the Indiglo. It's a beautiful piece with the stock strap that it's on, actually matching the second hand in light navy.

For $25... it's actually a joke how good these are!

These easy readers are known to be extremely loud. The old adage that you have to put them in your sock drawer every night, definitely rings true! If there isn't enough back round noise when I am writing I can even hear it ticking away.

So yes, Timex can make a return to the sport of golf. I would try to sign deals with select personalities on tour and base the campaign around practice and hard work.

Cheers everyone and sound off in the comments if you wear your Timex.