Travel makes a great inspiration for a watch. Take the TX 530 here (model number T3C474TX): it's got world map as a dial, 24 cities around the bezel, and a retro design from the days when flight was glamorous. New in 2009, the 'World Time Airport Lounge' is a vintage-inspired design with a brand new six-motor quartz movement.

Let's look at the details:

• Stainless steel case, 44mm by 13mm, 90g on the leather strap.
• Hour, minute, second, date, and a fourth hand for time in one of 24 global cities (simply set with the buttons).
• Water resistant to 100m (330ft).
• Unusual domed sapphire crystal, done in the look of a classy vintage watch.
• Signed screw-down crown with etched TX logo.
• Simple handling of daylight savings time with switchable summer/winter indicator.
• Lumed hour and minute hand.

Read on for the full review.

It is a rare occasion that I am sent a dress watch amid the bevy of divers that swim through my collection. I have had the opportunity to review two previous TX models and both were multifunction chronographs with busy dials and many duties beyond date and time. The 400 Series is a different piece altogether: an attractive and simple dress watch that matches its understated look with a simple and functional perpetual calendar quartz movement. TX supplied a stainless steel version on a black leather strap. Here are the details:

• 46mm case.
• German made quartz movement.
• Perpetual weekly calendar.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Separate day/month hand.
• 20mm lugs.
• Signed butterfly deployment clasp.
• Water Resistant to 10 ATM (330ft).
• Available with leather or stainless steel bracelet.

TX has released a new line of watches: the 800 series Linear Chronograph. It is a watch that carries the design ethic of the popular TX 730 which we reviewed last year, but incorporates a 30 minute linear chronograph register and the ability to track the time in a second time zone. It's a stylishly understated watch with a considerable amount of wrist presence and a completely useful feature list:

• 44mm stainless steel case, or 47mm titanium carbide case.
• Chronograph resolution of 1/5th of a second measuring no more than 4 hours.
• Linear hand measures 30 minutes.
• Second time zone.
• German designed, Asian built 6 hand movement.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Water resistant to 10 ATM or 100M.
• Available with leather, rubber, or stainless steel bracelet (44mm versions only).

View the TX 730 photo gallery.

When we think of Timex, we usually think of the king of the American bargain bin. Timex is known for inexpensive "drugstore" watches sold in places like Walmart and Target. But they are good inexpensive watches, and because they are such a good value, we like Timex. Besides, any company that has put over a billion watches on wrists over the years deserves and gets our respect.

And now, with their new TX line of premium quartz watches, Timex deserve even more respect. The TX 730 Flyback Chronograph is a watch to stand against the canons of Asian elites like Seiko and Citizen. Like Ford beating Ferrari with the GT40 in the LeMans in 1966, Timex is showing the world that even a good old-fashioned American staple can rise to the occasion.

Features of the TX 730 include:

• PVD coated stainless steel case, and PVD coated bracelet with solid end links (SEL).
• 46mm case.
• German designed 6-hand quartz movement.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Analog time, retrograde GMT, retrograde chronograph, and compass.
• Date between the 2 and 3 o'clock positions.
• 100m water resistance (about 330 feet).
• Retail price of $550.

Case and Hands

Given the price point, the case is very good, and the finish is on par with the Seikos and Citizens that tend to dominate this price range. The crystal is flat and sits over an inky black dial with inlaid markers that are too small to glow brightly in low light. The hands are interesting, unique, and nicely fashioned, however they, too, do not glow as brightly as I would have liked. This is one area where TX has some room for improvement.

Historic American watchmaker Timex has been doing some interesting things lately. In addition to their broad line of quartz watches, they've reintroduced a line of inexpensive mechanical watches based on Chinese movements, and more recently added upscale lines under the TX brand. These are analog quartz watches, with retrograde displays (where the hands move back and forth in an arc) and lots of hands. Timex designed these in Germany over a five-year period, with six-sigma manufacturing. The watches have a lot of the details that you get with nicer watches, such as sapphire crystals, four motors, legible faces, deployant buckles, enameled crowns, and nicely finished cases.

There are three series of TX watches right now: the 300 perpetual calendar (which doesn't require adjustments on months with less than 31 days), the 500-series with a second time zone display, and 700-series with a stopwatch, second time zone, and an electronic compass. The picture is from the 730 model.

It's difficult to find prices for TX watches online, but they appear to be in the $500 range, which is quite good for what they offer. It's good to see the classic American brand stage a comeback, and I hope these new models succeed.

By Paul Hubbard