Timex, one of the world’s best-known watch brands and one of the most widely sold in America, recently produced its 1 billionth watch.

“That is equal to 50 million a year for each of the past 50 years and indicates millions of people all over the world have put their confidence and trust in this watch,” said Joe Santata, president and chief executive officer of Timex. He announced the milestone in April.

The calculation is based on the number of watches the company has produced since 1950, when it was established as “Timex,” but doesn’t include those produced by the company’s predecessors, going back to the late 1800s, says Timex spokesman Jim Katz.

The Timex brand was built on one of the most memorable and long-running ad campaigns in history—”It Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking”—in which Timex wristwatches were subjected to various “torture tests” (such as being strapped to a motorboat propeller) to demonstrate the reliability and sturdiness of the inexpensive timepieces.