Who doesn’t love a good mystery dial?
Somewhat popular in the mid-twentieth century but rather rare today, mystery dial watches feature hands that mysteriously “float” around the dial, with no clear attachment to any sort of mechanism that drives them.
Most mystery dials use center-mounted transparent discs to achieve this illusion, but Timex’s 1970s-era enigma and the modern-day reissue that debuted last year, use a simpler approach with hands painted to match the color of the dial save for their hi-vis tips, and a round sticker on the underside of the crystal that’s also the color of the dial.
While the effect isn’t quite as mysterious as a mystery dial with transparent discs, the Timex still looks cool. And I must not be the only person who thinks so, because the brand just launched a new elevated version of the Q Timex Enigma.
Hidden treasure
The new Q Timex Enigma is exactly the same as the one launched last summer, save for one difference: gooooooolllld.
OK, it isn’t real gold, of course. The watch’s case and bracelet are made of stainless steel, and they’ve been given a gold-tone finish. Most of the time, I think gold-tone finishes look pretty tacky, but I actually like the way this looks. The black dial, floating red seconds dot and the dial’s gold text and markings all pair very nicely with the glitzier case and bracelet. Plus, the gold tone really ups the watch’s ’70s vibes, which is almost never a bad thing.