One of my most vivid childhood memories is sitting on my grandmother’s lap reading the comics, or “funnies,” as we called them. I grew up in Atlanta, but both of my parents are from Kansas City, and all our extended family remains there. We took at least two trips back each year for as long as I could remember: one over summer vacation and then every Christmas. Each morning during those stays, I would run from my bed in mom’s childhood room to the “new room,” a small sunroom my grandparents added to the modest 1950s ranch home. Here, my grandmother had what I consider to be the most quintessential grandmother’s chair: oversized, plush, pink, floral, spacious for one, and the perfect fit for her and me to cuddle up – it was made for us. On a small ottoman nearby, the day’s Kansas City Star would be neatly folded until I b-lined toward the paper, tossing away the superfluous sections until I extracted the comics from the bunch. We had several favorites, but the one that rose above the rest was undeniably Peanuts.
I couldn’t tell you the last time I picked up a physical newspaper or read the “funnies” like we used to do. As I grew older, and went off to college, my grandmother would mail me clips, and I’ve since framed some of those and tucked them around my New York City apartment. Today, I perpetuate this memory in a way my grandmother would never understand or consider a comparable replacement for the comics section – I follow an Instagram account called Go Comics that features a slew of iconic titles as well as the Instagram account of the Charles M. Schulz Museum, situated just about an hour north of San Francisco and a destination on my bucket list. To this day, I can’t read one of the Peanuts comic strips posted by the account without hearing it in my grandmother’s voice followed by her unmistakable laugh after the punchline. Like so many, Schulz’s work has touched my heart in a deep and abiding way.
I had always wanted a Snoopy watch to commemorate these formative memories and part of my life, but I was never sure which one was right for me – and there are many to choose from. Armitron, Bamford Watch Department, Seiko, Swatch, Orient, Invicta, Citizen, and the list goes on.
Omega has arguably been the biggest brand to put Snoopy in the spotlight, with NASA adopting the famed beagle as its official safety mascot in 1968 and the watchmaker receiving the space organization’s Silver Snoopy Award two years later in 1970 following the safe return of Apollo 13. The new millennium brought about a flurry of Omega watches spotlighting Snoopy, starting with the “Eyes on the Stars” version of the Speedmaster, which gets its name from the NASA motto, “keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” This limited edition of 5,441 pieces (a reference to the 142 hours, 54 minutes, and 41 seconds of the Apollo 13 mission) honored the aforementioned award with a colored illustration of Snoopy wearing a light blue space suit tucked at 9 o’clock on the dial and a Snoopy badge on the caseback. Since then, Omega has iterated on the concept twice more with the 45th anniversary limited edition of 1,970 pieces (also featuring Snoopy in the 9’clock subdial and the caseback), and the 50th anniversary model, marking the first non-limited piece, this time with Snoopy in his typical position in the 9 o’clock subdial on the front but in a unique animation of the moon, the earth, and Snoopy himself inside of a white Command and Service Module on the back.
While Omega may have put Snoopy on the horological map, it was in fact Timex who initially started licensing Peanuts in the mid-1950s, with the first evidence of Snoopy appearing on one of the brand’s watches coming the next decade, 1965 to be exact. Over the past 60 years, I would venture to say Timex has gone on to create hundreds of different iterations of its Snoopy watches, with nearly 40 in its current catalog. However, there are two that are particularly special to me.
In 2020, I took a step back from my freelance career and was working on staff at Hodinkee. As you may remember, this was the era of the Hodinkee Shop, which sold many brands, including Timex. The year 2020 also marked the 70th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip, which was initially published on October 2, 1950. Unsurprisingly, Timex wanted to celebrate this moment with a commemorative 70th anniversary Snoopy collection. The lineup consisted of three models across the Marlin, Q Timex, and Timex Standard series. The biggest hit from the new collection was arguably the Q Timex x Peanuts 70th Anniversary model, thanks to the popularity of the Q family. However, the Timex x Peanuts 70th Anniversary Marlin firmly anchored the trio as the flagship piece.
Here, you have the so-called contemporary “dress watch” base of the Marlin rendered in modern, oversized 40mm proportions in stainless steel with a sober silver dial and simple black leather strap. Of course, Snoopy also graces the dial at 6 o’clock sitting hard at work on his typewriter – say no more. My beloved beagle at a typewriter – I knew I found the Snoopy for me, and this was proudly my first purchase with my employee discount from the Hodinkee Shop, making the already affordable watch an absolute steal and no-brainer even if the proportions are slightly large for my 5.75-inch wrist. Flip the watch over, and you get the commemorative 70th “platinum” anniversary logo with the number 70 encircled by the phrase “from paper to platinum” printed atop the exhibition caseback revealing the Miyota 8215 automatic movement.
Five years later (yup, that’s last year), I found myself receiving an invitation to a Timex press preview. As you can probably imagine given the brand’s sheer volume of offerings, there was a lot of ground to cover, but I have to confess, I really only cared about one collection: the 75th anniversary Snoopy editions. The clear frontrunner of this commemorative lineup was the Peanuts 75th Anniversary Marlin Automatic, rendered in recycled stainless steel from the 40mm case to the Jubilee-style bracelet. With this model, Timex opted to prominently feature the anniversary on both the front and back, with an open-heart circular cutout on the dial between 6 and 8 o’clock featuring Snoopy resting above as if he was sleeping atop his doghouse along with the text reading 75 years. The same anniversary logo with Snoopy can also be found blown up on the exhibition caseback. However, this is not the particular 75th anniversary edition model that struck my fancy. Instead, I found myself drawn toward a different Marlin model with a simple quartz caliber and slightly smaller 38mm proportions showcasing Snoopy front and center, his arms serving as the hour and minute hands and his faithful companion Woodstock fluttering at his side between 10 and 11 o’clock.
My first Snoopy watch was for me, but this second one with the pair of characters is for me and my grandmother. Timex
Cait Bazemore
2026-05-11 19:00:00