Timex Just Resurrected a Legendary Affordable Sports Watch from the ’90s

The Intrepid was designed for sailing and other water sports, and it was notably favored by JFK Jr.

Published April 8, 2025

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Updated April 29, 2025

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Over the past decade, Timex has become a leader in affordable men’s watches by leveraging an extensive and impressive archive.

The revived Marlin and Q Timex collections, popular during the 1960s and 1970s, respectively, are currently the brand’s foundation.

a Timex watch with a white dial — The Intrepid has a huge 46mm case with a slide rule bezel.

One of Timex’s newest callbacks, the 1995 Intrepid Reissue, is a deep-cut sports watch from the 1990s. It was designed for sailing and other water sports and features a huge 46mm case with highly legible black hour markers and hands on a white dial.

The Intrepid was originally part of Timex’s Indiglo collection of sports watches, defined by the brand’s dial illumination feature first released in 1992. It is a big dive watch with a slide-rule bezel marked for nautical distance calculations.

a watch laying on a newspaper — The Intrepid became a cult favorite in the 1990s after being spotted on the wrist of JFK Jr.

However, the watch is best known for its celebrity connection, as it was worn by 1990s style icon and noted sailing enthusiast John F. Kennedy Jr. Were it not for this bump, the already obscure design probably would have been lost to history and not resurrected 30 years after its debut.

An illuminating dial

In 1992, Timex revolutionized the ability to read watch dials in little to no light with the Indiglo system. It is essentially a small light placed along the gasket between the dial and case, which illuminates the dial when triggered.

the case back and band of a Timex watch — The rubber pin-buckle strap has quick-release spring bars for easy strap changes.

It sounds simple, but until it was introduced, radioactive tritium lume was the only way to mark watch dials for low-light visibility. (Non-radioactive LumiNova paint debuted the following year in 1993.)

Indiglo was added to Timex’s affordable everyday watches like the Easy Reader, but it was more prominently featured in sports watches like the iconic Ironman and Chrono Sport diver.

The Intrepid is an interesting piece of Timex history because it was a niche design for sailing enthusiasts, offered as an affordable alternative to pricey regatta timers from luxury watch brands.

Reading a watch dial at arm’s length in adverse conditions is crucial for sailors, so it was an ideal use of the Indiglo system.

An affordable sailing watch

What makes the 1995 Intrepid Reissue a sailing watch is the slide rule bezel, which is marked with a nautical distance scale. It works by rotating the bezel to align with the scale printed on the gasket, allowing the wearer to make quick calculations in their head.

the case side and band of a Timex watch — The Intrepid’s case measures 11mm thick.

Slide rule bezels are most associated with aviation and the Breitling Navitimer, but sport sailors like JFK Jr. wore them to practice old nautical navigation techniques and have a backup for emergencies. Using it to calculate distances traveled over open water takes a lot of practice, so it is more of a novelty for enthusiasts.

The Intrepid is still very useful for water sports because of the oversized dial, water resistance and Indiglo light. Even after thirty years, Indiglo remains one of the most useful methods for reading a watch dial in low light on the move.

the white dial of a Timex watch — The Intrepid has a slide rule bezel, with scales on the bezel and gasket that line up to assist with calculating nautical distance.

Nostalgia for the 1990s still has a strong hold on popular culture, so owning an obscure watch once worn by one of the era’s definitive fashion icons is appealing.

But regardless of the association with JFK Jr., the 1995 Intrepid Reissue is a good-looking, affordable sports watch that still holds up for nautical pastimes. Plus, it’s a fun piece of deep-dive Timex history.