The parent company of Timex Group USA, Inc., formerly Timex Corporation until 2008, is Timex Group B.V. The latter, which is situated in Middlebury, Connecticut, got its start in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock in the Naugatuck Valley of Connecticut, which was dubbed the “Switzerland of America” during the nineteenth century. When brass gears were first used in clockmaking, Benedict & Burnham, a maker of brass products located in Waterbury, Connecticut, established Waterbury Clock Company as a clock-making subsidiary.
On March 27, 1857, the Waterbury Clock Company was formally established as a separate corporation with a capitalization of $60,000. The first low-cost mechanical pocket watch was created by sister firm Waterbury Watch in 1880. Waterbury began producing wristwatches, which had just recently gained popularity, during World War I. In 1933, with Walt Disney’s permission, it created history by producing the first Mickey Mouse clock, complete with Mickey’s hands showing the time. Under the Ingersoll brand, this was produced.
The corporation changed its name to the Time Corporation in the United States in 1940 after Thomas Olsen and Joakim Lehmkuhl acquired possession of it. In 1946, a tiny consignment of nurses’ timepieces gave rise to the first Timex-branded watches. The “X” suffix was employed to connote technical progress.