WATCHES “TICK” MY BOXES

In my opinion a watch is a completely useless (practically speaking) object. It tells time, as do almost all of your house appliances and personal accessories nowadays. However, this does not stop people from wearing them religiously, and to me that makes sense, now more so than ever.

I believe that people wear mechanical watches because they make them feel. It may be a connection to a loved one, a fond memory, an appreciation of design, an acknowledgment of the elaborate movement structure or an inspirational story behind the watch. Ask anyone who likes or, more honestly put, loves watches and you will never hear them say that they wear them in order to tell time. Even people obsessed with timekeeping will be easily consumed by discussions about the precision capabilities of their watch, but even so, the heated discussion is more likely to be about mechanics and engineering rather than a need to tell time.

To me, a watch is an exhibit of humanity’s finest accomplishments, all in a small package, made to adorn your wrist in an elegant fashion. Architectural design for the case, complex, intricate engineering for the movement, art for the dial, inspiration for all the elements that come together to make a watch something more than its parts. This effort, all made to satisfy, not a need for survival, but a quest to satisfy higher needs than just survival. A need to excel and push boundaries. Make things smaller, more intricate, more elaborate, more beautiful. It’s a primal urge starting with painting cave walls and adorning pottery and in its more advanced form spending hours upon hours devising different ways of showing time pass.

And what greater way to tell stories regarding ancient artifacts, discoveries, theories, myths, legacies and history than through this, one of the finest art forms that man has produced?