Finally, there is the green second hand that drew me to the watch. It's distinctive. Something slightly different to other dress watches. There's a variation of the Marlin with a yellow second hand, but for me, this green variation is better.

The success of this marketing, and the sales of the watches through a variety of channels, meant that by the 1960s they were America’s best selling watches. A third of all watches sold there were made by Timex. Of course, the hands, markers and date window are designs points you notice at a second glance. The Snoopy graphic - a beagle hugging a globe - is what really catches your attention. It's a great little picture and makes this dress watch a playful piece. This simple polished case is matched with a domed acrylic crystal. Both the shape and the material reinforce the vintage aesthetics of the Marlin and the sloped case creates a nice transition from it to the crystal. For some, these eco-credentials will be important. The Take Care x Peanuts Marlin has two selling points here. The strap and the self-winding nature of the automatic movement. The current Timex range is built on the foundations of this history and the brand’s later innovations. A standout watch from this later period was the Ironman - introduced in 1986. It became the best-selling watch in America and the world’s most popular sports watch. Following this, the company developed the Indiglo night light and the Expedition collection.The only area for debate will be the size. It's 40mm wide. That's probably as big as I'd like to go with a dress watch. However, the earlier Marlin reissues were only 34mm wide - smaller than I'd like.

The MK1 depicts Snoopy walking on the cratered surface of the moon, set against a multicolor sunrise and the inscription "Snoopy - Space Mission - 1969." Within the current Timex range, there are a number of memorable designs, most of which do represent good value for money.It’s a mission that has remained fairly consistent. Timex still focuses on the affordable end of the watch market. If you are into watches and haven’t noticed that Timex is making big moves lately, I envy you. You are truly living the dream of collecting in a vacuum. Chances are, most of us aren’t. We’ve even covered several Timex models here at Two Broke Watch Snobs.

The first wristwatches released for sale feature Snoopy dressed in his modern, NASA-inspired orange spacesuit while "standing beneath the American flag astronauts planted on the moon in 1969" (says Timex, though the surface beneath Snoopy's feet is Mars red rather than moon gray). The Timex Marlin is a classic affordable watch with a tried and tested design. Unsurprisingly, Timex has re-released the model in recent years. Their first reissues were very faithful to the originals with 34mm cases - somewhat small by today's standards. A mechanical movement Timex Marlin featuring Snoopy was a little too meta for me. The Timex X Peanuts X Todd Snyder seemed a little too overly branded. The Space Snoopy models were all at MSRP due to the Moon landing frenzy. I decided to chose the “Snoopy 38mm Fabric Strap Watch”. For technical purposes it’s a Timex Weekender. Again it's quite spartan - and that is a big part of this watch's enduring appeal. Both the indices and hands are slim - there's lume on the hands but not the markers. I can't quite make my mind up about the date window. It's small and discreet, presumably to avoid creating an imbalance on the dial. But at the size it is, I'd prefer if it was removed altogether.I'd suggest that it does. Firstly, it's a straightforward watch. The case is simple with modest lugs, no crown guards and a relatively small crown. The case is polished and has the timeless design that you'd expect from a dress watch.

Of the two, I do prefer this larger case - and yes, some brushed finishing would be nice. But there's also an argument that the addition of different finishing could spoil the watch's simplicity. I've stressed that the Marlin Take Care is a fun piece, but let's not forget the watch's heritage. This is a dress watch. The Marlin - with numerous iterations over the decades - is a no-nonsense budget dress watch. It was Timex's go-to simple timepiece. The new generation of Marlin watches updated the case size and upgraded the movement. Both improvements that have largely been welcomed by watch fans.