News · Timex

Noah and Timex Keep the Nautical Details Small

The Boatswain is a 31 mm oval quartz watch with a rope motif, two case finishes and Noah signatures on its dial and caseback.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 3 min read · 17 October 2026

• Timex and Noah introduced the 31 mm Boatswain on 15 October, using an oval steel case and restrained maritime detailing.
• An oval rope motif encircles the cream dial’s centre, with Roman numerals outside it and Noah signatures on the dial and caseback.
• Timex lists both versions at US$228; the gold-tone reference carries an A$420 regular price and is currently marked out of stock.

Watch collaborations often try to make sure you spot both names from the far side of a room. Timex and Noah have used the shape of a small dress watch, then put a rope motif inside the dial where it rewards a closer glance. Both names are visible on the face, but neither overwhelms its compact layout. Timex dated the introduction to 15 October, and the result is the Noah x Timex Boatswain.

A rope, an oval and very little shouting

The case is polished stainless steel, 31 mm across and only 7 mm high. An oval can look wider than its nominal diameter suggests, so the measurement alone will not settle how this sits on every wrist, but that low profile should help it slip under a cuff. The maker has not provided a lug-to-lug distance for the Boatswain. There is a choice of gold-tone or silver-tone case, both paired with a cream dial, and the product photographs make the two treatments feel like different moods of the same design.

The black Roman numerals are the most formal part of the face. Move your eye inwards and the rope-like oval frames a smaller central area, giving the dial a second outline inside the case. It is a neat way of introducing a maritime reference without adding an anchor or a ship's wheel. The black hands remain easy to distinguish against cream in Timex's images, although photographs cannot prove legibility under every light. The dial stays free of a date window, which seems the right decision for this unusually compact layout.

A mineral-glass crystal covers the dial. Timex describes the crystal as toughened glass, a practical choice for a watch built around everyday style. Timex rates the watch to 30 metres and specifically limits that to washing hands or accidental splashes, not swimming. The name Boatswain may belong on deck, but the watch itself is dressed for dry land. It is worth taking the brand's care guidance seriously rather than reading the water-resistance number as an invitation to swim.

A small quartz watch that knows its brief

Inside is a battery-powered analogue quartz movement. Timex does not name a calibre for this reference, but it does list an SR626SW battery. There is no mechanical movement to admire through the back. Instead, the Noah signature is engraved there as well as printed on the dial. The back gives the collaboration another small point of detail, while the front makes clear who helped design the watch. A buyer who wants a visible mechanical heart will need to look elsewhere; this piece makes a different case for itself through proportion and graphic detail.

The natural pebbled-leather strap adds texture that the otherwise polished case lacks. Timex describes it as genuine leather, brown in its product specification, and a simple buckle closes it. The watch weighs 31.75 g according to the maker, a figure that suggests it should barely register beside a larger steel sports watch. Whether that is a pleasure or feels too slight depends on the wearer. The low mass, slim case and quiet strap are at least consistent decisions rather than unrelated selling points.

There is a useful discipline in keeping the collaboration's design to an oval, a rope and compact signatures. Noah's name sits on the dial, yet the proportion and motif do most of the visual work. I would have preferred a little more detail from Timex about the case's length, because a watch this shape cannot be judged by width alone. Still, the product photographs give a much clearer sense of the silhouette than a conventional round case measurement would.

Noah x Timex Boatswain pricing and availability

Timex lists both colour treatments at US$228 on its US blog. The Australian storefront showed A$420 as the regular price for the gold-tone reference TW6A31100. Timex's current product page marks that reference out of stock, despite the launch article's original availability wording; the silver-tone reference TW6A31200 is also not currently available in the brand's product listing. There is no announced restock date on the pages.

That stock position matters because a collaboration can be desirable for a week and impossible to buy the next. The Boatswain is nevertheless a coherent little watch to put on a reader's radar, especially for someone who likes nautical cues but does not want a diver's case. Its best trick is that it could pass for a simple oval dress watch at first sight. The joke, if there is one, is on anyone expecting a boat on the dial.