TIMEX LAUNCH - Fairfield Contactless Payment Watch

This month sees the launch of the Fairfield Contactless Payment watch by fashion heritage watch brand TIMEX, Powered by bPay. It's new to the range for SS18 and a debut for TIMEX in the contactless genre. 

Founded in 1854, Timex Group is headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut, with multiple operating units and over 4,000 employees worldwide. As one of the largest watch makers in the world, Timex Group companies produce watches under a number of well-known brands, including Timex, Guess, GC, Versace, Versus, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Nautica. Launched in 1950, Timex sells millions of watches each year worldwide.

For someone that is stationed south of the river, I'm forever back and forth to the city for meetings and press events. The introduction of a contactless strap actually appeals to me.  Though this is not the first collaboration of its sorts for bPay. In 2016 bPay and Lyle & Scott collaborated on a contactless jacket, inserting a contactless payment chip discretely hidden in the cuff of the right sleeve. Although at first glance, I can no longer see the jacket on their online store.

Of course it's not just designed to make life easier on the tube, you can also finally impress the cute girl behind the coffee counter by performing your 'Master Jedi wofty-hand trick'.

Aesthetically it's modern, with a 41mm case, which is very on trend at the moment. Even Montblanc are dialing their 1848 collections back to a 40mm casing for 2018. A lot of people I speak to have compared the look to a DW, but I'd say with the 3 sub-dials and white face it's more reminiscent of latest ADEXE London THEY timepiece. However, with the added bPay payment chip, TIMEX certainly has the upper hand in the utility department.

The bPay payment chip within the watch strap is available to anyone with a UK-registered Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card. Users can conveniently add funds to their digital wallet ‘on the go’ using the mobile app, online through the bPay website, or set their account to top-up automatically when their balance falls below a pre-set level.

“bPay is designed to meet the needs of time-pressed shoppers who are increasingly looking for easy and convenient ways to pay for everyday goods and services. September marks the 10th anniversary of Barclaycard introducing contactless payments to the UK and our partnership with TIMEX represents another exciting way ‘touch and go’ technology can be simply and stylishly integrated into fashion and accessories.” - Tami Hargreaves, Director of Innovation and Partnerships at Barclaycard Mobile Payments

The new contactless straps will be available in black or brown, and also available to buy separately. 

RRP: £149.99 Available now on www.timex.co.uk and other fine retailers.