I've owned 10 Timex IronMan watches since 1987, and recently experienced a failure with a gift I gave my wife - the "custom" timex watchband DROPPED THE watch and she looked down only 4 months after receiving her christmas present and it was GONE FOREVER !!

Since I've owned so many of these watches I've watched over the years as they made changes, but this generation of watches is a HORRIBLE MISTAKE.  First of all, it's been true that since the beginning of time, the cheap resin watchbands have been uncomfortable so everyone knows that when they break (and they DO break, after about 1 year, in general), you must purchase an aftermarket velcro watch band, or a leather band, or whatever blows your skirt up ...

I went to WalMart last week looking to pick up 2 of these watches and demo'ed them extensively (one for my self and one for my poor watch-less wife), but then realized, WHAT WILL I DO WHEN THE WATCH BAND FAILS ??  And the answer is : I'll be stuck paying $12 for another crappy resin proprietary band that TIMEX ships with this watch.  Look at the photo.  THIS WATCH DOESN'T USE STANDARD PINS TO MOUNT THE BAND.  THE SPACE BETWEEN THE PINS IS TOO NARROW.

It's apparent to me that Timex is trying to become the Microsoft of watches!

I bought my wife a TIMEX Atlantis, and I recommend it highly to everyone.  It has all the features of the Ironman, and none of this B.S. about proprietary bands and watch faces that fall out ...