Only a few weeks after the Audemars Piguet x Swatch collab shook up the watch world, another unexpected watch collaboration is flying off the shelves. The newly released J.Crew x Timex watch sold out within two hours of its debut on May 27, J.Crew CMO Julia Collier told Glossy. Despite costing under $200, the watch lit up watch forums on Reddit with users discussing how and where to get it.
The release of yet another highly coveted, affordably priced watch collaboration, along with the ensuing popular consumer reception, signals a shift in the watch market. While much of the hype and demand for watches has traditionally centered on expensive brands like Rolex and Vacheron Constantin, limited collaborations like this allow brands to sell watches at relatively low prices while still benefiting from the hype and FOMO that come with an exclusive timepiece.
As consumers pull back on discretionary spending and luxury brands raise prices to focus on their most affluent customers, affordable watches have an opportunity to shine.
“On the consumer side, the luxury watch market priced itself out of the conversation for most shoppers,” said Jackie Swanson, managing partner at Gartner Consulting. “Rolex grey market markups, Patek waitlists, AP allocations, … The $200-$500 collab gives someone the brand association without the secondary-market gymnastics.”
Collier told Glossy that J.Crew’s aim was to tap into the growing and enthusiastic watch community. J.Crew has been steadily rebuilding since its 2020 bankruptcy by focusing on building cultural capital. It does nearly $3 billion in annual revenue.
“The goal was to create something that resonated with both our customers and a broader audience of watch enthusiasts,” she said. “The watch community is incredibly passionate, and we loved the idea of bringing a J.Crew perspective to a category with such dedicated fandom.”
Both the J. Crew x Timex watch and the recent collaborations between AP, Omega and Swatch all follow a similar playbook to how brands dabbled in sneakers in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Collaborations with sneaker brands allowed brands like Prada and Loewe to tap into the cultural zeitgeist and offer products at more accessible prices without diluting the main brand’s high-end pricing.
“Sneakerheads eventually realize they only have two feet, so they’ve naturally migrated up to the wrist,” said Eugene Tutunikov, CEO of SwissWatchExpo. “The playbook is identical: Take a heritage silhouette, inject some pop-art color, keep the supply tighter than a submarine hatch and let the FOMO do the heavy lifting.”
But there’s a risk to this playbook. The hype for sneakers eventually started to suffocate under the sheer volume of new drops and collaborations released every day. Even the most die-hard collectors can’t keep up with every drop that comes out. While the affordable watch collab is still a relatively novel concept, it’s not hard to imagine watch collectors also succumbing to hype fatigue over time.
“I don’t think watches can rely on the sneaker playbook alone,” said Tim Richardson, founder of the luxury watch marketplace Exquisite Timepieces. “In the watch industry, collectors care deeply about heritage, craftsmanship and authenticity. A collaboration can generate a lot of attention, but if it feels forced or exists purely to create hype, enthusiasts usually see through it pretty quickly.”
