Most (possibly all) mechanical Timex watches from 1963 until the end of mechanical production in 1993 have a reference number, usually at the bottom of the dial. The last two numbers correspond to the year the watch was produced. The two (occasionally 3) numbers before that are the movement number, the remaining numbers are the catalog number. For example, 2495210592 would indicate catalog number 24952, movement 105, year 1992. In some cases this number is hidden under the bezel and cannot be viewed without removing the movement from the case.
Some earlier Timexes have an ink-stamped date code on the inside caseback consisting of one letter and one number. The numeral denotes the year of manufacture as follows: 1959-8, 1960-7, 1961-6, 1962-5 1963-4 1964-3 1965-2 1966-1 1967-9.
Watches from 1985 and later generally have a 2 digit code on the caseback indicating year and month of manufacture:
Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec 1985 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 1986 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1987 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 1988 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 1989 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 1990 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 1991 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 1992 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 1993 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 a0 aa ab 1994 b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 b8 b9 b0 bb bc 1995 c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 c6 c7 c8 c9 c0 cc cd 1996 d1 d2 d3 d4 d5 d6 d7 d8 d9 d0 dd de 1997 e1 e2 e3 e4 e5 e6 e7 e8 e9 e0 ee ef 1998 f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f0 ff fg 1999 g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 g7 g8 g9 g0 gg gh 2000 h1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 h7 h8 h9 h0 hh hj 2001 j1 j2 j3 j4 j5 j6 j7 j8 j9 j0 jj jk 2002 k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6 k7 k8 k9 k0 kk kl 2003 l1 l2 l3 l4 l5 l6 l7 l8 l9 l0 ll lm 2004 m1 m2 m3 m4 m5 m6 m7 m8 m9 m0 mm mn 2005 n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 n7 n8 n9 n0 nn no 2006 o1 o2 o3 o4 o5 o6 o7 o8 o9 o0 00 op
Below is a general breakdown of Men's model names per model number. Model number can be found below and to the left of six o'clock (in small print)
(1XXX = Mercury/Sprite) (2XXX = Marlin) (25XX = Sportster) (3XXX = Fun Timer) (4XXX = Viscount) (5XXX = Super Thin) (6XXX = 17 Jewel) (9XXX = Electric)