Timex Expedition T49950

The Timex Expedition Shock XL Vibrating Alarm (ref. T49950) is a 50mm digital sport watch from Timex's Expedition collection, built around a shock-resistant black resin case with a negative LCD display, Indiglo electroluminescent backlight, and a vibrating-alarm module aimed at users who need a discreet, feelable alert. It is water resistant to 200 meters and includes a 100-hour chronograph, 24-hour countdown timer, three programmable alarms, and three-time-zone tracking. The reference has been discontinued by Timex and is now found mainly through closeout and third-party retailers, though the Expedition Shock XL platform continues in current Timex references.

Timex's own marketing materials date the Expedition collection to 1995, but a forum member's review of Timex's internal catalogs, posted to WatchForum.com under the handle MarkinTex, found no Expedition-branded watches in Timex's 1992 catalog and identified several Expedition-branded references — including a digital chrono-alarm model and a set of "Adventure Combo" watches — marked as "New" in the 1994 catalog. That evidence points to 1994 as the collection's actual first production year, a year earlier than Timex cites and three years earlier than the 1997 date sometimes attributed to Wikipedia.

The T49950 sits within Expedition's "Shock" family of digital sport watches, and specifically within the "Shock XL" variant, which retailers distinguish from the standard Shock line by its enlarged 50mm case and correspondingly larger LCD numerals. Timex continues to sell Expedition Shock XL references today — current examples include the TW4B24100 and TW4B240009J — each carrying forward the same vibrating-alarm, chronograph, and Indiglo backlight feature set introduced on earlier Shock XL references like the T49950, indicating the core design has changed little across more than a decade of production.

The T49950 runs on a battery-powered quartz digital movement rather than a mechanical caliber. Retailer specification pages for the reference list the movement simply as "quartz, battery powered" and do not publish a specific module or caliber number for the watch.

The module drives a 100-hour chronograph, a 24-hour countdown timer, three independently programmable alarms that can be set to sound audibly, vibrate against the wrist, or both, a day/date/month calendar, a 24-hour military time display, and simultaneous tracking across three time zones. Illumination is handled by Timex's Indiglo electroluminescent backlight, which lights the full digital display for low-light reading rather than illuminating individual hands or markers as on an analog watch.

At 50mm across and 17mm thick, the T49950 is a large-format digital watch; the "XL" in Timex's naming reflects both the enlarged case and the bigger digital numerals it allows compared with the standard Expedition Shock models. Zappos customer reviewer Tyler D., who rated the watch 5 stars for comfort, wrote that "the numbers are big and easy to read." Fellow reviewer Elizabeth W. found the watch's buttons "very easy to push," noting the design would suit someone with finger pain or limited dexterity, and described the vibration alarm as "perfect for someone who needs a subtle reminder" rather than something forceful enough to wake a person from deep sleep.

Long-term durability drew more mixed feedback in the same review set. One reviewer, posting anonymously, reported that the Indiglo backlight failed within 45 days of purchase; a Timex repair restored function for roughly a year, after which both the backlight and the vibration alarm stopped working again around the eighteen-month mark. That reviewer said they liked the watch's design but concluded it was "not a durable watch."

The T49950 is discontinued as a current Timex product: its original product URL on timex.com now resolves to the brand's general watch navigation rather than a dedicated listing for the reference. The watch (also sold under the sub-SKU T499509J) is available through closeout retailers and third-party sellers rather than directly from Timex, with listed prices spanning roughly $50 to $105 depending on retailer and promotion — for example, $79.95 regular/$51.48 sale at one outlet and a $105 MSRP against a $71 sale price at another.

Buyers looking for the same design new can look to Timex's current Expedition Shock XL lineup, such as the TW4B24100 (listed at a $90 MSRP), which keeps the same 50mm resin case, vibrating-alarm module, chronograph, and Indiglo backlight as the T49950 but adds updated colorways. Timex also still sells an official 22mm black resin replacement strap sized for the Shock XL case on its US site, indicating continued parts support for the platform even though the original T49950 listing itself is gone.