Today, The Time Bum has a selection of marijuana-themed watches from 420 Waldos for review and we will give away one of them on April 20, a date that has special relevance to stoners everywhere. While it may be tempting to veer off into pot jokes (and I undoubtedly will), the watches are fun, well made, and a portion of the profits from each sale is donated to legalization efforts.
But before we get to the watches, I’m sure you are probably asking yourself, “what the hell’s a Waldo?” Good question. Before I encountered the watches, I had never heard of the Waldos either. It seems they were a group of friends at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California in the early 1970s. According to their website, they studied hard, played hard, goofed around, and got high. One of their more notable adventures involved a hunt for a patch of weed on Point Reyes Penninsula, for which they assembled at a statue of Louis Pasteur at 4:20 pm and got lit before embarking. I have no idea if they ever found the crop but they did find themselves referring to “420 Louis” as their code for all manner of things cannabis. Soon enough, it was shortened to “420.” The rest is pot slang history
It seems almost a little too good to be true, but the Waldos have assembled a body of documentary evidence to support their claim to 420 authorship, including contemporaneous notes, letters, art (as pictured on the box), and even a statement in the June 1974 edition of their high school’s newspaper. I had a nice chat with Waldo Steve Hager, the archivist of the group, and I have to say, it is a rather convincing tale and the only explanation for the term that withstands any scrutiny.
The Waldos are friends to this day and the 420 Waldos brand exists mostly to tell the story, but also as a vehicle for the odd endorsement or licensing deal, like the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Waldo’s Special Ale, and of course, these watches. They are produced by Time Concepts, better known for their Szanto, CT Scuderia, and Hawaiian Lifeguard Association products. This raised my expectations. Had the Waldos simply stamped their name on an Ali Baba special I never would have let it cross my threshold, but I know Time Concepts turns out quality products and I was curious to see what they did with this one.
There are two models in the line, one larger, one smaller, and all in a broad range of colors, case finishes, and straps. Mary Jane is the women’s watch but at 34mm wide on an 18mm strap, I’d say it easily qualifies as unisex. Its 40.8mm length and 10.5mm thickness puts it in the same range as many vintage men’s watches and most HMTs, making it a good choice for anyone who prefers a smaller case. You can buy this one with a steel or PVD gold finish that is brushed and not at all blingy. Selecting this model also gets you an interesting array of colors from which to choose, including white, green, orange, yellow, or the aqua pictured here on Mrs. Time Bum’s 6″ wrist.
If Mary Jane is for the ladies then the 41mm Bud is or the men, although, like its little sister, Bud is not so extreme in size as to be unwearable by those with smaller wrists. It measures 48mm long and 10.5mm thick, and takes a 20mm strap, making it a good mid-sized all-arounder, as shown here on my 6.75″ wrist. It doesn’t come in gold, but you can get it in PVD black or gunmetal gray as well as steel. Dial colors are white, yellow, blue, and black.
All models share the same case and layout, largely defined by soft lines. The case has curved lugs, a rounded bezel, and a brushed finish. On the dial, oblong markers, matte hands with blunt tips and tails, and the hippie font logo continue the theme. The pot leaf at 4:20 needs no explanation but I must point out that every watch has a green second hand in the same shade as the leaf. The lower half of the dial simply says “1971,” the year the Waldos coined the term. If I were to ask for one change it would be for slightly longer hands. The hour hand is just fine but the minute and second hands fall a little shy of their targets. And yet, I find it hard to get too uptight about that. The watches’ bold colors, soft lines, and fun details give them a friendly, laid-back vibe.
Water resistance is a respectable 50m and that is fine given that these are not tool watches. The crown is signed, recessed, and gear-toothed. A mineral crystal protects the dial and a Miyota 2039 quartz keeps the time. Granted, it is not what you would call a sexy movement, but it does the trick with minimal fuss. On the case back, you will find the logo and all the usual specs as well as one that is likely unfamiliar, “Visible247 Lume.”
Visible247 is an injection-molded polymer infused with photoluminescent crystals, which is to say, glow-in-the-dark plastic. That makes it sound like a novelty toy, but I assure you, the effect is no joke. The colors are vivid, the definition is crisp, and the illumination is strong. Every color is a full-lume dial except black, for obvious reasons. It is potent stuff. Even short exposure to a sunbeam produces unearthly daylume.
Time Concepts claims a ten-minute charge generates a 10-hour glow. I tested this by taking a watch that had spent two days in its box, zapping it with a UV light, and sticking it back in the box. Twelve hours later (hey, I was busy) it still had a glow. Not torch bright like when it was as fresh as those pictured below, but still quite legible. This lume is, as they say, some primo shit.
The black dial Bud departs from the full-lume formula but is in no way lacking. It is the only sandwich dial in the series, the gray-framed cut-outs revealing a bright Visible247 layer beneath. On this dial, the pot leaf and hands are both lumed as well.
Strap options abound for the 420 Waldos. Both models have a variety of colors, but the Mary Jane gets the more vibrant ones. These leather straps have minimal stitching, quick-release spring bars, and are marked with a cannabis leaf on both sections and the buckle. You can purchase them a la carte on the Time Concepts site.
So why buy a 420 Waldos watch? Well, first of all, they are fun. These watches have an irrepressible character and the lume is outrageous. Second, they are inexpensive: the full price is $150, they are on sale now for $100, and if you use code TIMEBUM20, you can snag one for just $80 (note that The Time Bum is an affiliate, so I’ll get a cut too). Extra straps are $40 each and you can use the same 20% discount code. Third, there is the cause. Between 5-20% of the profits from every 420 Waldos watch is donated to advocacy organizations such as the Drug Policy Alliance and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) that are dedicated to legalizing marijuana – an idea that is long overdue, and finally coming to fruition at a state level. It is also a cause that I support. Not because I want to get baked and eat snacks (I haven’t indulged for decades) but because legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana is a sound policy. The United States squanders an absurd amount of its law enforcement resources combating a substance that poses relatively minor risks the public health, we enforce those laws in a wildly inequitable manner that disproportionately penalizes people of color, and by continuing to outlaw marijuana, we throttle a growth industry, abdicate the authority to regulate its production and sale, and give up billions in tax revenue. It is absurd, and it is time for those outdated laws to change – high time, I’d say.
If you are down with the cause, or if you just want a cool, inexpensive watch with a lighthearted design and bright lume, head over to TimeConcepts.net and check out the 420 Waldos line.
