News · Timex

Vontélle gives the Timex Marlin a vivid blue chevron dial

A 40 mm steel Marlin puts Vontélle's pattern on the dial and leaves the rest of the watch simple, at US$199 or A$360 by region.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 21 October 2026

• Timex announced its Vontélle collaboration on 19 October, including a 40 mm Marlin with a brilliant blue chevron dial.
• The steel-cased watch uses quartz movement, a domed acrylic crystal and a quick-release navy leather strap, with 50 m water resistance.
• Reference TW2Y73800 is listed at US$199 on the US storefront and A$360 with Australia selected; no numbered limit is stated.

The blue dial on the Vontélle x Timex Marlin does not try to be discreet. Its chevrons repeat across the whole surface, with black and lighter blue shapes giving a simple three-hand watch a strong graphic identity. That is a sensible place for Vontélle, a company known for patterned eyewear, to leave its mark. Timex announced the collaboration on 19 October 2026, and this 40 mm leather-strap Marlin is the cleaner of its two watch designs. It keeps the case and display straightforward, allowing the pattern to be the argument.

The Vontélle Marlin uses the dial as its canvas

A plain blue dial would have made this an easy colourway. Instead, the chevron pattern occupies almost all the visible dial, with rectangular markers at twelve, three, six and nine and slimmer baton markers between them. Timex describes those quarter-hour markers as retro-style Arabic numerals. The official straight-on image makes the contrast clear: the pale numerals in black rectangular surrounds are small islands in a busy field, but their placement gives the eye an orderly route around the face. The hands and markers carry luminous material, so the graphic treatment is not the only provision for reading the time.

The case is polished stainless steel, 40 mm across and 13.5 mm high according to the product specification. A domed acrylic crystal adds to the Marlin's older visual language. Acrylic can acquire scratches more readily than sapphire, although it can also be polished; Timex itself describes that trade-off on the product page. The polished case does not compete for attention with the dial, but it gives the blue a bright border. On the wrist photograph, the watch looks substantially more vivid than it does in an isolated product render, which is useful context for anyone drawn to it from a thumbnail.

Inside is a battery-powered quartz analogue movement, with an SR626SW cell listed by Timex. This is not a hand-wound Marlin whose movement is part of the romance. The value of quartz here is that it leaves the attention on the face and makes the watch a low-fuss daily object. Timex rates it to 50 metres of water resistance, a useful figure for everyday exposure, while warning against snorkelling or diving with it. None of these choices is radical. The design's distinctive act is to take a familiar case type and give its dial a textile-like visual rhythm.

Fit and finish beyond the blue pattern

Vontélle's stated design interest is fit, particularly in eyewear. The watch translates that idea more modestly: a blue natural leather strap with quick-release spring bars gives the owner a straightforward way to change how it sits and looks. The strap is 20 mm at the lugs and closes with a buckle. Timex's product page gives a suggested wrist-circumference range of 150 to 205 mm. That is a practical detail, although it cannot guarantee how a 40 mm case will feel on any one wrist. Trying it on remains the only reliable answer to that part of the collaboration's promise.

The brand photographs show why the strap choice matters. The dark navy leather is calm beside the bright dial, stopping the chevrons from spreading into every part of the watch. It is also removable without tools, so a wearer could change the balance without changing the watch itself. The caseback carries no big technical story in the published specification; the front is where the collaboration lives. That focus is refreshing. A partner's visual language has been translated into something visible while the watch is being worn, rather than hidden as a logo that only an owner sees when taking it off.

Timex has a second Vontélle model, a Marlin quartz chronograph gift set with two patterned fabric straps, but this blue three-hand watch works independently of it. The product page identifies it as reference TW2Y73800 and does not call it a numbered limited edition. That distinction matters because the chronograph set is described separately as limited and individually numbered. Treating the whole collaboration as limited would make a false scarcity claim about this watch. Its case, movement and strap are ordinary enough that it can be judged on how well the dial does its job rather than on a countdown of available pieces.

There is a fair objection to the pattern: it can make the narrow hands less obvious at a quick glance. The luminous inserts help in low light, but they do not remove the busy blue ground during the day. I find the quarter-hour numerals and polished case give it enough structure to stay readable, although this is a watch for somebody happy to pause and look. The design succeeds because it does not pretend to be a restrained dress piece. Its energy is on the face, and every quieter choice around it seems aimed at letting that energy remain legible.

Vontélle x Timex Marlin pricing and availability

Timex lists the Vontélle x Timex Marlin 40 mm Leather Strap Watch, reference TW2Y73800, at a regular US price of US$199. With Australia selected on the official storefront, the regular price displayed was A$360 and the product offered an add-to-bag option. Those are regional list prices, not a currency conversion. No numbered production limit or separate future delivery date is given for this model. For a buyer the decision is direct: if the chevron dial is the reason to own it, the steel case, quartz movement and replaceable navy strap leave that design room to speak.