Brendon Babenzien, the Noah founder and J.Crew menswear guru, made his name designing vivid rugby shirts, well-tailored sport coats, and covetable logo hoodies. Last summer, however, he unveiled another hidden talent. Turns out Babenzien can also design the heck out of a watch. When it dropped in late June 2024, Noah’s debut collaboration with Timex sold out so quickly that the partners scrambled to make more to ensure no one on the Lower East Side of Manhattan would have their wrist go naked. Now, over a year later, they’re bringing that smash-hit design back. Babenzien’s talent for crafting hit watches may have come as a slight surprise even to him. “I’m not a watch guy,” he told me last August, after the first run of watches had sold out. “I don't collect watches.” But the designer was just outside the industry enough to understand exactly what a mass audience needed: an affordable, Tank-style watch with just enough design flourish to make it appear far more valuable than its $198 price tag. The new version of the watch is a slightly more understated version of the original. The Noah x Timex watch has lived several lives. The initial model featured a gold-plated steel case and a rarely seen “sun and moon” phase that cycled between day and night. That watch proved so popular that after the first release, the collaborators went back to the manufacturers and begged them to make more of the specific movement configuration before it was sunsetted for all eternity. Then, last November, Noah followed up with a second Tank-style Timex that swapped out the “sun and moon” phase for a display that only showed the lunar cycles. For the third iteration, which launched today, Noah and Timex are introducing a new material: After previously only being cased in gold, the watch is now also available in stainless steel. The silvery tone adds a dimension of ruggedness and versatility to an otherwise dressy watch. Noah’s entry into the watch game has been an exciting development for budget-minded collectors. Affordable watches are like Mission: Impossible movies or good bakeries in your neighborhood: it’s simply impossible to have too many. In addition to Noah, fashion brands like Todd Snyder, Adsum, and Undefeated have all dialed up their own covetable timepiece collaborations at digestible prices. Babenzien, however, brings a totally fresh eye to the space, and the Timexes have opened up a new category for his brand. Earlier this year, following the success of the moonphase model, Noah also put out an oval watch (a shape reminiscent of Patek Philippe’s Ellipse) with a lighthouse design on it. Almost as good as the design of these pieces? The fact that none of them cost more than $200. The new Noah x Timex Moon Phase Watch ($198) is available on Noah’s website right now. Unlike past drops, this is not a preorder, which means supplies are limited, but those who purchase will get their goods right away.