Reasons to Wear a Watch

There was a time, not so long ago, when everyone wore a wristwatch. I did, back in high school and college. They were usually inexpensive digital types, with plastic or rubber wristbands, and they inevitably broke or died, but I wore them fairly regularly. 

Shortly after I acquired my first cell phone around 2001, I gave up wearing a watch. I am not alone. I’m sure someone with a lot of time on their hands has analyzed this, but once we all started carrying cell phones around, we had something in our pocket that told the time, and so wearing a watch became functionally redundant. Sure, plenty of people still wore them - and still do today - but the wristwatch is not the ubiquitous accessory it once was.

In May of 2021, I decided I was going to go back to wearing a watch. I was in the process of overhauling my wardrobe and trying to find an intentional look for myself, and I dug around on Amazon until I settled on a nice, classic-looking Fossil analog watch. Stainless steel case, off-white face, brown leather band, it was a watch that at a glance wouldn’t be out of place anywhere between now and fifty years ago. I bought it, liked it, and started wearing it every day.

A month later, I joined a “watch of the month” box service, and received a new watch. It was another great-looking analog, with classic lines and a modern flair. A bit bigger and chunkier, a little less dressy-looking, but still able to run the gamut between casual and dressy. I would switch between the two daily, leaning towards the Fossil if I was dressing nicer. The next watch I received from the box service was very much Not Me, and I wound up giving it to a friend and cancelling the service.

Months passed. I got a battery for an old Timex Expedition I had in a drawer and had given up on, then replaced its awful canvas band with a nice leather one. That watch has occasional reliability problems, probably a bit of grit in the works, and so I only wear it at home or on the weekends. Later, after buying a friend a gorgeous little wafer-thin Bulova watch as a present, I eventually got one in the same design, but with a dark face and black crocodile leather band. It’s my fanciest watch, one I reserve for special occasions.

The latest watch in my collection is special in a different way. A friend of mine let me know that he had inherited a few watches from his father, who’d passed away. He asked me if I’d be interested in any of them, and I said sure, so he sent me some photos. I wound up buying from him an Invicta dive watch, all stainless steel and as solid as a bank vault. It is big and heavy and shiny and makes one hell of a statement. I wear it at least once or twice a week. 

So, reasons to wear a watch.

1. It tells the time. Not everyone works a job where there’s a clock within sight at all times, and no matter how fast you are, it is always faster and easier to look at one’s wrist than to take a phone out of one’s pocket, especially if you are sitting down, on a train or bus, or in a cramped space. 

2. It is a fashion accessory. I am no fashion expert, but most men’s traditional mainstream fashion trends towards simplicity and minimalism. If you’re not into wearing rings, bracelets, necklaces, or earrings, a wristwatch is one way you can add a bit of bling to your wardrobe that will catch the eye without seeming ostentatious. There is nothing wrong with wearing something because it is a beautiful object. Art is a good thing. Embrace it.

3. It is a conversation-starter. Just in the few months I’ve been wearing watches every day at work, I’ve had people compliment them and ask about them. Since each of mine has a backstory, they’ve sparked conversations on all sorts of topics. Again, with the relative minimalism of most men’s business casual fashion, what else are you wearing that’s worth a comment, your khakis? 

4. It is a personal statement. Whether you like it or not, and whether you realize it or not, the things you own and the things you wear say something about you to other people, even if they also don’t consciously realize it. Wearing a watch and the kind of watch you wear is one way for you to frame yourself a certain way to people just like if you wore a tie made to look like a trout as opposed to one of black silk or silver paisley. 

5. Watches are actually pretty cool. You can get one that’s old-fashioned and retro-looking, or one that’s sleek and modern. You can get a mechanical automatic, or one that’s battery-powered, or some that are self-winding, using your movement to wind the spring. Just as there are people who geek out over pens, knives, or other gadgets, there’s plenty of interest in the mechanics, design, and history of wrist-watches. Even if you don’t become a collector, you might learn something cool, and that might be reason enough.