Timex Group USA

Timex Group USA, Inc.

Formerly called	Waterbury Clock Company Timex Corporation
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Manufacturer
Founded	1854
Headquarters	Middlebury, Connecticut, USA with various operations in Europe, the Americas, and Asia
Products	Watches (notably the Expedition, Intelligent Quartz, and Ironman lines)
Number of employees	2,000
Parent	Timex Group
Website	www.timex.com

Timex Group USA, Inc. (formerly known as Timex Corporation) is an American manufacturer company founded in 1854. The company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dutch conglomerate Timex Group B.V..

In 1854, the company was founded as the Waterbury Clock Company in nearby Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company was thought to have become insolvent, but it was reformed into Timex Corporation, being the only current successor. In 2008, the company was acquired by Timex Group B.V, and was renamed into Timex Group USA.

Shortly after purchasing the Waterbury Clock Company in 1941, founder Thomas Olsen had renamed the company Timex, as a portmonteau of Time (referring to Time magazine) and Kleenex.

In 1854, Waterbury, Connecticut-based brass manufacturer Benedict & Burnham created Waterbury Clock Company to manufacture clocks using brass wheels and gears. Waterbury Clock Company was legally incorporated on 27 March 1857, as an independent business with $60,000 in capital. The American clock industry, with scores of companies located in Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley, was producing millions of clocks, earning the region the nickname, "Switzerland of America". The Waterbury Clock Company was one of the largest producers for both domestic sales and export, primarily to Europe. Today its successor, Timex Group USA, Inc. is the only remaining watch company in the region.

Originally, the company produced clocks as less expensive alternatives to the high-end European counterparts of the time. In 1887 the company began experimenting with its product line, leading to the creation of the large Jumbo pocket watch, invented by Archibald Bannatyne and named after the famous P. T. Barnum elephant. The Jumbo was put on the market in New York City on a trial basis, catching the attention of Robert H. Ingersoll, a salesman and eventual marketing pioneer. During the turn of the century, Waterbury Clock Company produced millions of pocket watches for the newly created partnership of Robert and his brother Charles, Robert H. Ingersoll & Bro., under their own brand name. In 1896, Ingersoll introduced the Ingersoll Yankee, a dollar pocket watch supplied by Waterbury Clock Company. These watches gained such great popularity that they became known as "the watch that made the dollar famous."