Nike Triax Watches: Swift, Bowerman and Other Y2K Sports Watches
Nike Triax watches that have passed through the studio: Swift and Bowerman models, other Y2K sports watches, and what to check before buying one.
Contents
Fourteen Nike Triax watches have passed through this studio, ten of them Swifts, alongside five other Nike watches and nine from adidas, Quiksilver, Oakley and Fossil. Everything below comes from pieces we have had in hand and listed, not from a catalogue we copied.
What it is
Triax is the line of sports watches Nike built around its running range. Our listings date the pieces we have had to the 2000s. The Swift is the model most people mean by it: a digital watch with an angled display, set so it can be read mid-stride without turning the wrist. The Bowerman Series is the other Triax we have seen more than once; the ones we have had ran a chronograph, alarm, timer and light.
None of the Triax watches we have listed carried an exact year, so we do not give one. Our listings place them in the early 2000s, and that is as far as we go.
Models and colourways we have actually had
Triax Swift (10)
- Black, three times
- Grey, which sizes small on the wrist
- Brazil soccer team edition
- Swift 3i, with its original box and papers
- Swift Mini
- A second Swift with box and papers, and two more without a colour recorded in the listing
Other Triax (4)
- Bowerman Series, twice, once with its box
- A women's Triax
- A Triax without a model name on the listing
Other Nike watches (5)
- ACG Thermal, three times; the one with box and papers we listed as 90s, the other two as 2000s
- Tempest Flow digital, in lime
- D-Line in stainless steel, deadstock, with all its links
Other Y2K sports watches
The same years produced digital watches from other brands in the same spirit. These are the ones that have been through the studio.
- adidas FX40. One piece, listed as 2000s.
- Quiksilver Rubix. One piece, listed as 2000s, sold with a recently changed battery.
- Oakley D.5. One piece, in powder blue and silver. The listing records an aramid-fibre case, dual time zone, electroluminescent backlight, 90 stored lap times, 45 logged runs and water resistance to 100 metres.
- Fossil Big Tic. Six watches across five listings: a flame-number dial and a square blue case, both with their metal box, one on a leather strap, one listed as early 2000s, and a pair sold together. The Big Tic is Fossil's animated digital series: the numerals redraw themselves in blocks every minute instead of switching over.
Pieces we have had
These are the watches that have passed through the studio, grouped by the model written in each listing. Sold pieces stay here as a record; each photograph links to its original listing.
Nike Triax Swift
Nike Triax Bowerman and other Triax
Other Nike watches
adidas, Quiksilver, Oakley and Fossil
What to check before you buy one
- The battery. Several of the watches we have had arrived needing a new one. That is normal on a watch of this age and any watchmaker can fit it; what matters is that the display comes on once it is changed. Ask whether the watch has been tested with a fresh battery.
- The display and the crystal. Light scratches on the face are common and can often be polished out. Missing segments on the digital display are a different matter and are worth asking about directly.
- The strap. Most of these watches have adjustable straps, but not all fit the same wrist: the grey Swift we had sized small. On a steel bracelet such as the D-Line, check that all the links are included.
- Box and papers. Some come with the original box and papers, some with a metal tin, as two of our Big Tics did, and most with nothing. We say which in each listing.
- Water resistance. Whatever rating a watch had when new, old seals cannot be assumed to hold. Treat a vintage sports watch as splash-proof unless it has been resealed.
Looking for a specific one
Watches come through here one at a time. Whatever is available is in the shop.
Write to us with the model and colour you are after and we will look for it. That is what Sourcing is.
Written in Barcelona at 16.88studio, an archive and resale project working with technical and branded sportswear from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Corrections with a source are welcome: write to us.