Wearing a watch makes me feel like I’m part of something, a special club of sorts. A club that enjoys the time that they are given and observes it as it passes. The watch doesn’t even need to be anything fancy it could be something that costs thirty dollars. The price of a watch shouldn’t limit how much you enjoy the act of telling the time and artistry of machined movement. Time is a concept that we’ve overlaid upon the idea of money. For the hobby, the two can be entirely separate. Things may get a little corny here and overly romantic throughout this post today, this is your fair warning.
I enjoy watches and it can be seen as an odd hobby. It isn’t one that I thought I’d ever get into. The way that watches connect you to the past as well as the future is like none other I’ve experienced. The feeling of experiencing the same bits of machinery that tell time that did in the 1900s is a wonder. Technology has advanced and changed through the years but for watches they’ve only changed to better serve their core purpose, to tell the time. Casio GShocks for instance are solar powered watches with batteries that last seven years, sync through atomic clocks, are water proof and near indestructible, and have every sort of timer that you could want. All with costing only fifty dollars or less, that kind of reliability, function, and accuracy is amazing.
The feeling of experiencing the same bits of machinery that tell time that did in the 1900s is a wonder.
I know that there is the opinion that you can always use your cellphone to tell the time, but there is something freeing about wearing something on your wrist that tells the time and will never need a plug or an outlet. Telling time is one of the many things that phones can do, but sometimes having a machine remind you to post here, respond to this, check on this, and start a conversation over there, can be a bit overwhelming. The steadfast ticking of a wrist watch is the absolute opposite of this. There is joy to be had in the simplicity of a thing. I understand it isn’t quite same but pens have scarcely been improved over the years because of the efficiency at which they complete their job. Parts have been replaced and improved on pens, materials differ, and colors are different, but they still do the same job in the same way.
The steadfast ticking of a wrist watch is the absolute opposite of this.
Watches also have a long storied history and being able to take a piece of that history with you everywhere is incredibly fun. Some watches are near perfect replicas and recreations of what soldiers wore in World War II. There are watches that were worn by deep sea divers of yesteryear that are available. Hell, if you fork out the money you can even get a watch very similar to a watch that made it to the moon! None of those watches are the actual watch, but it inspires you think about where you’ll go with your watch over the years, even if the most action it will see is at the side of a keyboard.
I would be lying if I told you otherwise, but I do like the way they look as well. The way a dial is laid out and the material choices and colors used can be quite charming. It can make you feel svelte and daper or rugged and steadfast. They can even make you feel loud and flashy if you like that sort of thing.
Some go as far as saying watches are pieces of art, but I like to think of them in the way some people enjoy cars. Some old vintage cars are far from practical these days, but there is still something to them. The form and function of them are tightly coupled with the appreciation of engineering mastery. All of that applies to watches as well.
The form and function of them are tightly coupled with the appreciation of engineering mastery.
One of the last things that enamors me with them is that it is a way for you to experience time besides passing through it. With a watch you can physically see time moving. The second hand whirls around the face consuming seconds of time at a just and predetermined way. The minute hand dances around the dial, reminding you of the timing of your near future. While the hour hand is steadfast and scarcely blinks when five minutes have elapsed. It is the fantasy reader/writer that runs through my blood but I feel like a torch bearer of time with a watch on my wrist. I watch it and keep it for those that need it. On the street, at the inlaws, for my wife, or hey even just for myself. It’s like being part of a secret order of time bearers that guard time and remember it as it passes.
They are also a good reminder that we only have so much time so don’t waste it. Speaking of, I think I’ve spent enough time rambling about watches. It’s time to get back to work on the next novel!
A Few Things After Words 