By Kirk Miller Timex has always been about a good deal — it’s part of their ethos. When the Timex watch debuted in 1950 (from the then-monikered U.S. Time Company), jewelers wouldn’t carry the timepiece because of its low 50 percent markup. Other brands apparently offered 100 percent. So the company turned to promoting its inexpensive tickers in drugstores and department stores, emphasizing their durability (“takes a licking keeps on ticking”) and low prices. Within a year, the company had captured 18 percent of the low-priced wristwatch market (h/t to the blog Watch Doctor for the history les…