There’s a specific comfort to an old-school woven metal bracelet paired with a case small enough that you forget it’s on your wrist. Milanese mesh has a soft, almost fabric-like give that most bracelets can’t match, and a 34mm case slides under a shirt cuff without issue. Timex has been mining that combination for years through its long partnership with menswear designer Todd Snyder. The latest result arrives this week as the Timex Marlin Mesh.
If the Marlin looks familiar, that’s the point. The reissue landed in 2017 and helped make small, vintage-styled watches popular again for a lot of guys who had written off anything under 38mm. The mesh bracelet itself showed up a bit later, in 2018, wrapped around a silver sunburst dial before a black version followed. I spent time with a hand-wound Marlin back then, winding it every morning like a small ritual. I’ve still got that watch. So this one hits a nerve before I even dig deep into the nerdy specs and stuff.
The original Marlin ran a hand-wound movement, which gave it a lot of its charm and, if we’re honest, a reputation for being finicky. This new version goes quartz instead. Purists will grumble, but the swap buys you daily reliability at a $199 price, and after living with the mechanical one, I get why they made the call.
The case stays true to the original at 34mm in polished steel, topped with a domed acrylic crystal that catches light the way these always have. The dial is where the novelty shows up. An applied metallic hour track carries Roman numerals at the cardinal points, with dashes between them and a railroad minute track around the rim. Todd Snyder’s stylized “TS” sits above six o’clock, and the dial comes in sunburst silver, pink, and sky blue.
The bracelet is the reason to look into these, though. Milanese-style mesh is still generally underrated, offering the glint of a metal bracelet with the easy comfort of a NATO. Timex fits it with quick-release flat end links and a sliding clasp, and the pry-off caseback carries a “Timex x Todd Snyder” engraving for anyone who flips it over.
At this price, the buy-in is almost nothing, and you get a versatile daily-wearer in return. Whether it earns a spot next to a hand-wound original or quietly replaces one is the part I’m still turning over. The Marlin Mesh goes on sale July 28 through both Timex and Todd Snyder.
Co-Founder & Senior Editor
Michael Peñate is an American writer, photographer, and podcaster based in Seattle, Washington. His work typically focuses on the passage of time and the tools we use to connect with that very journey. From aviation to music and travel, his interests span a multitude of disciplines that often intersect with the world of watches – and the obsessive culture behind collecting them.