quote:

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Originally posted by Banner Lady:

So, do you still regularly strap on a wristwatch, and why?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Hedgehog:

Mind you, if I were independently wealthy, I'd be tempted to risk wearing a wristwatch again for this little beauty. I love mechanical clocks and watches.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I've worn a watch every day of my life since I was six years old. I feel naked without one ...

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Me too. I take it off when I'm using our home computer, as the mouse-pad has one of those padded wrist-rest thingies and my watch (which I wear on my right hand) catches on it.

I only ever check the time on my mobile to compare it with a watch or clock that I suspect may be wrong.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I was never good at carrying around watches, I bump into things and lose them, so expensive watches have a painfully short life.

I do have a cell phone and am in the habit of using it as a watch. Many people stopped using watches because they have the cell phone.

However just this month Apple has introduced its new watches which connect to the cell phone. Although they run from a few hundred dollars to many thousand for one in a gold case, they may become popular. Apparently Google is teaming with several high end watchmakers to make competing versions.

The big loser on this is probably swatch and other mass market watches that cost more than 10 dollars.

I do love the mechanical complexity of the high end watches, but it's clearly not the practical solution.
 

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Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :
 
I LOVE my Timex watches but the bands are not made to endure the punishment I put them through and if the band is of a woven type instead of rubber, water and sweat tend to make the band smelly and impossible to get clean. The other kind of watchband breaks in two or chafes my wrist or the clasp breaks. It's too much trouble to always have to pull out my cellphone--it's big and clunky. Any minute now I plan to buy a new watch band for one of the three Timex wrist watches that are in my nightstand!
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
If you have your cell phone out much of the time, it makes sense to use your cell phone as your timepiece. However if you don't, you might find it annoying (as I do) to fish out your phone whenever you want to glance at the time. Even if I have my phone in my pocket, I find it so much more satisfying to know the time at a flick of my wrist.
 

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Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :
 
I already wrote about this on the thread in Purgatory about people being late. I love wearing a watch and need it for casual teaching and also my holiday job looking after school age kids in a holiday program. Both jobs require me to keep track of the time and also not use a mobile phone while on the job. It would be impractical to carry around a phone and not all my clothes have pockets so a wrist watch works much better, especially when I am outside or in rooms without a working clock. Schools seem to be one of those places where clocks don't always get changed at daylight savings time or have their batteries replaced immediately. Or for months in some cases!

Also I am a really on time person and don't drive, so like to quickly know what the time is so I make sure I don't miss a bus or train.

I don't buy expensive watches. My current one cost about $40 Australian on sale from about $60 and is an analogue watch with a leather band. I often replace the bands and batteries a few times before buying a new watch and find watches in this price range are accurate and last a long time. I think I have had two watches in the last 18 years - which is half my lifetime!
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I've never liked wearing watches, and always relied on clocks, but I do have the watch that I was given for my 18th birthday and as I haven't used it for years, it still works. In the past few weeks I've taken to wearing it as I decided that checking my mobile for the time (and calls) was a habit I needed to break.

Also, it doesn't look good in meetings to be checking your mobile. Offices used to have clocks on the wall, but that seems to be dying out now, as everybody has a display on their computer or else a mobile phone to tell the time by.
 

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Posted by bib (# 13074) on :
 
I have always worn a watch preferably with a second hand. I depend very much on an accurate watch to tell me the time. I don't often carry a mobile phone as I only use one as my emergency/occasional phone.
 

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Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 
I've got three or four Swatch (tm) wrist watches, which, I'm afraid to say, I never all wear at the same time as I'm not that trendy.

However, I've always had Swatches since the 1980ies, and although they eventually die after some years, being worn out and all that (one I killed in a washing machine! ), I've come to find they're the most precise wristwatches I've ever had! They're not too expensive, there's a choice of designs, and they're quite reliable.

However, having once tried one with a leather strap, I noticed it didn't agree with me. I got some sort of allergic reaction - which, come to think of it, reminds me of my first wristwatch I received for 1st communion, and which caused a similar problem.

My first wristwatch was mechanic, and supposed to 'recharge' itself by me shaking my arm, or just the daily movements of the wearer. This is something I find mysterious to this day! - Apparently I was so taken by it that at school I was admonished not to look at it every few seconds, or wouldn't be allowed to wear it to school anymore...

I always choose the cheapest Swatch, the all-plastic ones, and it needs to have a second hand and possibly a date and day-of-the-week indicator. Changing the date and day at the end of every month appears a bit fiddly, though.

All in all, I always wear one, except at home. (It can be liberating to look out for clocks, not a watch or mobile, sometimes.) Being an avid user of public transport, I also rely on it when catching a train or bus; that's where the second hand comes in very handy! Mobile phone clocks are unreliable, in my experience, plus the thing is just too big.

So Swatch watch it is, and will be.
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 
I've always thought it funny that the wristwatch was introduced as a handy little gadget that could be looked at immediately without the fuss of having to take a watch out of your pocket to look at it. Now it's being replaced by a gadget you have to remove from your pocket to look at it. That's what you call progress!
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Wesley J:
I've got three or four Swatch (tm) wrist watches, which, I'm afraid to say, I never all wear at the same time as I'm not that trendy.

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quote:

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Ariel: I once saw a woman on a bus who was wearing four watches, two on each wrist.

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I've seen instances where expats wear two watches. For example, a Thai friend of mine living in the UK wears one watch set to Thai time, and one set to UK time.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
I wear pendant watches because my skin can't stand a wrist watch. Anything which prevents sweat from evaporating from my skin gives me a rash. It's a nuisance.

Pendant watches are currently not in fashion, which means they are hard to find and the selection tends to be unattractive.

Moo
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
My parents got me a nice watch for high school graduation, which was promptly stolen by one of my college dorm mates. That was the only nice one.

My wrist is way to small for over the counter cheap ones so I keep a five dollar child's watch in my purse for those rare moments when I need to know the time.

I've never had a cell phone so I didn't know they had the time. Finally, I see a reason to get one.
 

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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 

quote:

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Twilight: I've never had a cell phone so I didn't know they had the time. Finally, I see a reason to get one.

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Mine also has a built-in torch!
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
I wear a wristwatch every day and have done since my seventh birthday.

At the moment I have 3 watches which I alternate depending on what I'm doing:

1. A simple watch (with second hand) on a black leather strap which I wear for work - the second hand is useful for checking tempi.

2. A cheapo sports watch that is waterproof which I wear during the week: it means I don't have to worry if I go swimming or am mucking about with the boat.

3. A smarter watch I inherited which has a gold expanding strap - sounds grand but really isn't: worn for short bursts only because the metal strap brings up a rash.

I don't have expensive watches for the simple reasons that they don't work on me (had a relatively expensive one once which proceeded to go backwards, something to do with polarity?), plus no one has ever offered to buy me a Rolex (or similar).
 

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Posted by Adam. (# 4991) on :
 
I know what people mean about feeling naked without a watch. I'm just so used to being able to glance at my wrist and see the time; having to get my phone out and tap one button seems like far too much effort. Plus, everyone would know that you're looking at your phone, whereas a watch can be checked much more discreetly (especially if you turn it so as the face is on the 'artery side' of your wrist.

I also have a separate sports watch for exercise.
 

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Posted by The Rogue (# 2275) on :
 
I used to wear a watch but would take it off and play with it which meant it went missing regularly. Once I found it at church and my dad suggested that if I was female then we could have sung the hymn "Lord, her watch thy church is keeping".

In the end I stopped wearing a watch because it got irritating to have it on my wrist. I generally look at clocks or I don't worry about what the time is.
 

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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 

quote:

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Adam.: Plus, everyone would know that you're looking at your phone, whereas a watch can be checked much more discreetly

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quote:

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Originally posted by Adam.:
...Plus, everyone would know that you're looking at your phone, whereas a watch can be checked much more discreetly (especially if you turn it so as the face is on the 'artery side' of your wrist.

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Exactly! Much easier to be discreet.

I wear my watch on the inside of my wrist also -- and here I thought I was the only one.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
It is easier to have a quick glance at my watch that to get out of mobile. So when i am doing spiritual direction, I can keep an eye on the time without giving the expression that I am bored with the person who is with me.

When I was a teacher, I sometimes banished student teachers from my classroom if they didn't have a watch. They were not allowed to return until they got one.
 

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Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I've worn a watch every day of my life since I was six years old. I feel naked without one.

My very basic cell phone lives in the bottom of my purse, turned off.

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Same here! I never realised how often I glance at my wrist until I forgot to put my watch on one morning!
 

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Posted by Cathscats (# 17827) on :
 
I wear a watch, and it has to be analogue, not digital! Recently I was given a new one for my birthday. Technology has moved on in the 25 or so years since I last got one: now the movement of then wrist will keep the battery eternally charged, or so it says.....

My kids OTOH rely entirely on their phones.
 

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Posted by basso (# 4228) on :
 
I wear a watch, and always have. I briefly went digital back in the 70s when it was a thing, but moved back to the classic type very quickly.

I was given a watch for my 50th birthday that I wore daily for 10 years, before it finally gave up the ghost. It charged itself by solar power and always kept accurate time. (One of the best gifts I ever got.) Now I've had to replace it, and I'm wearing a cheap Timex. I can't get used to fishing my phone out of my pocket to check the time.
 

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Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :
 
I find them uncomfortable and end up taking them off, but I have two really nice ones and wear them when going out 'dressed up'.

My son's watch cost a month's wages, and he has his eye on one which costs an eye-watering sum. He certainly has a posh-watch fetish. I don't think makers of high end watches will go out of business.
 

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Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
Definitely wear a watch. I can glance at my wrist and not have to dig around for my phone. Searching or even just reaching for my phone takes time and requires use of my hands, when I might be doing something else with them. It's the reason people started wearing wristwatches and fob watches became passé. We're going backwards.
 

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Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
Ooops, I see now Spike made the progress/regress point. Sorry; didn't mean to encroach.
 

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Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :
 
Yes, I wear a wristwatch and have done for years. I put it on when I dress in the mornings and don't take it off until I go to bed (unless I'm doing something very unusual like going swimming ). I like having the time available to me - while I carry a phone I wouldn't think to look at it for the time (it may be on British Summer Time, it may not, I haven't looked).

My wristwatches have to be analogue, and to have Roman numerals.
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Cathscats:
I wear a watch, and it has to be analogue, not digital!

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Do digital watches even still exist?
 

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Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :
 
Let me Google that for you ...
 

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Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :
 
I haven't worn a wristwatch for years. I went through a very stressful time, and my watch kept stopping, or being an hour slow. My mum took the watch to a watchmending friend of hers, who took it apart, put it back together and said: "There's nothing wrong with this watch - it's her!"
So now I have a pocket watch in a little leather case.
 

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Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :
 
It is much more fun at meeting to tell the group that it doesn't matter what time their watches say because mine is right. I have an atomic radio signal corrected watch. Such conversations are over by the time the cellphone people have gotten their thumbs out and assumed the phone zombie posture.
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
I break them (very dyspraxic, I bump into everything and walk into doorposts on a regular basis). No watches for me.
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Boogie:
Let me Google that for you ...

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quote:

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Originally posted by Banner Lady:
Do you still wear a watch? This story indicates that watchmakers could be in trouble, with decreasing sales globally, even though now you can have a watch with worldwide web interfaces.

I stopped wearing a watch when I began carrying a mobile phone. Simply could not see the need for both. But I am curious as to how widespread this is as a habit.

So, do you still regularly strap on a wristwatch, and why?

(Thread title edited out of capitals. Ariel, Heaven Host)

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Quite right - no point at all in having both. So ... a watch it is!
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
My parents gave me my first watch on my eighth birthday. It was a blue Cinderella watch and had a little porcelain figure of Cinderella in a blue gown that went with it. For a long time they were my most treasured possessions! This was an old-fashioned stem-wound watch, and it was a family morning ritual for all of us to wind our watches at breakfast time. (Hadn't thought of this for years!)

Unfortunately, as I matured, my body chemistry started wreaking havoc with watches and other things made of metal, especially nickel. If the watch back isn't all stainless steel, it will corrode very quickly. Then, my skin under it will go completely raw. And very itchy. But, I still wear watches every day. (Analog, of course!)
 

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Posted by TonyK (# 35) on :
 
For many years (35 now, I think) I've worn a stainless steel watch on a stainless steel bracelet. The first two were Seiko Quartz (the first a leaving present; the second a Christmas present replacement).

When the second expired after some 13 years, I was given a Citizen Eco-drive - with a built-in solar recharging system. I've had this now for 8 years, no replacement battery and it keeps pretty near perfect time.

It's really much simpler than getting the mobile out of its belt holster! Plus the watch goes on in the morning when I put on my spectacles, and comes off at night before I go to bed. I don't always bother with the mobile ...

And like some others I wear it 'face-in'. I started doing this at school, after I'd damaged a watch by scraping it several times along the walls of school corridors.
 

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Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
I threw away watches with great joy when I received my first cell phone (a hand-me-down iPhone 3 from one of my kids).

Like many others, I have sensitive skin and hated enduring the itchy rashes many types of watches would give me.
Secondly, I had small wrists and they would invariably flop into the washing up water, paint or catch on whatever crafty thing I happened to be attempting. I was always losing or breaking them.

As I aged, though my wrist size did increase slightly, my eyesight got long. So the numerals and faces had to get bigger. I do not like big watch faces and never have. The iPhone is perfect for me - though it may soon be replaced by a fablet.

I also hate being tied to the tyranny of time, and throwing away my watch(es) led to a newfound freedom. Now I only check the time when it is very important to keep an appointment. Life is much more relaxed. Vive le retirement de Chronos!
 

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Posted by Uncle Pete (# 10422) on :
 
I had a timex with an expansion bracelet when I was a young man. I am on my 5th or sixth one now. At various times I have had a digital (Only bought one because I swept my 3rd Timex into the toilet My sister gave me a nice watch about 8 years ago, and up until a few years ago I wore it in Canada when the strap disintegrated. Now I am back to Timex and will wear one until I die (Cost has risen from $15 to 75) Don't like clasps or buckles - they are too fiddly.
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
Still wear one all the time. In fact it's often still on when I sleep, because I'm short-sighted as hell and reading the alarm clock next to my bed is impossible from a normal sleeping position.
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by TonyK:
It's really much simpler than getting the mobile out of its belt holster!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Spike:

quote:

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Originally posted by Cathscats:
I wear a watch, and it has to be analogue, not digital!

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Do digital watches even still exist?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Uncle Pete:
I had a timex with an expansion bracelet when I was a young man. I am on my 5th or sixth one now. At various times I have had a digital (Only bought one because I swept my 3rd Timex into the toilet My sister gave me a nice watch about 8 years ago, and up until a few years ago I wore it in Canada when the strap disintegrated. Now I am back to Timex and will wear one until I die (Cost has risen from $15 to 75) Don't like clasps or buckles - they are too fiddly.

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My last Timex was no more than GBP15. Do you buy really fancy versions?

I wear a watch every day, don't really use a mobile phone due to lousy reception and lack of need. The Time watches are great - robust leather strap, 10 year battery life. Means I don't need to think about it, it Just Works.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Thanks to this thread, I've spent a couple of evenings scouring the net looking for a digital watch like the little Casio one I was given for my 18th birthday (fat chance) and which I was immensely proud of at the time, until the strap broke some years later and I lost it.

After just about giving up, I've now found one that's almost identical on eBay.
 

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Posted by Rowen (# 1194) on :
 
I wear a watch.
Big face, easy numbers, seconds hand... Makes timing my church services a breeze, as I can easily see how long or short something is.


When I bought my watch, the assistant in the shop said the brand was popular with nurses, teachers, and priests. I can see why.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
The only times my watch is off is when I'm having a massage. It's an inexpensive Lorus analogue. I have difficulty telling the time with digital

Huia
 

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Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :
 
My auntie bought me a Timex watch when I was 5 or 6 years old. I really loved strapping it on very tightly so I would leave red indents on my skin after I took it off.

Talking about the progress / regress things, we said the same about digital watches when they first appeared. Very clever, like, but where's the progress when you need to hands to tell the time? Many early digital watches had a button you needed to push to activate the display; some even came with special covers to protect the watch face that needed to be unclipped when you wanted to look at your watch. That was a fad that didn't last for very long.

I did buy a digital watch when I was a teenager, but only because the digital date display was in Welsh.

When I ran a business in my home city I had long given up on wearing a watch. I had a routine and I kind of knew by the light and the street activity what time it was, and if I was in town I knew where the clocks were if I needed to double check. When I went on holiday I took a watch with me, because new surroundings and new routines meant that I would have no idea of the time.

Have you ever done that thing where you see someone glance at their wrist watch, and then ask them the time? Many people have to look again before they can tell you.

I just use my phone now, or the clock on my computer, or the one in my car. I'm never far from a timepiece so I don't need to wear a watch.
 

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Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 
That's humans for you, so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. (Douglas Adams).

How long will it be before the watches are smarter than the wearers?
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
I was abssesswed with time ever since my father bought me a Micky Mouse watch. I impressed a sceptical headmistress when I proved that I could tell the time at the age of four.

Its taken years in retirement to unlearn this burden.
 

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Posted by Smudgie (# 2716) on :
 
I'd love to wear a watch. Sadly it took me the loss of several watches to realise that my demographic urticaria (basically an allergy to touch) was so irritated by them that I kept absent-mindedly taking them off and putting them in my pockets or down on any nearby surface.

I thought I'd cured the problem by buying a nurse's watch which I pinned to my clothes, which is great as long as you remember to remove them from your clothes when you stick them in the washing machine. (Actually, I think it was the tumble drier that dealt the death blow!)

All the clocks in my house tell different times which somehow seems really to annoy the people who don't know how much each clock is out by, so only my mobile and my laptop are entirely reliable. But like so many others, I really don't like having to have my mobile out so that I can keep an eye on the time - and as my mobile is penguin shaped, can be a bit embarrassing too!
 

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Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :
 
Now you all have me really missing my last watch. I find it's getting harder and harder to find cheap watches that are moderately reliable. I was one of the last people I knew with a watch tan, but finally gave up when I was too broke to keep paying 35 bucks on cheap crappy watches. The problem is definitely that watches are considered jewelry now.

But like others I have a dumbphone and I don't always even carry it with me, so a watch would be very very handy. May have to start looking again.

[ 03. April 2015, 14:40: Message edited by: Gwai ]
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by balaam:
That's humans for you, so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. (Douglas Adams).

How long will it be before the watches are smarter than the wearers?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Banner Lady:
Do you still wear a watch? This story indicates that watchmakers could be in trouble, with decreasing sales globally, even though now you can have a watch with worldwide web interfaces.

I stopped wearing a watch when I began carrying a mobile phone. Simply could not see the need for both. But I am curious as to how widespread this is as a habit.

So, do you still regularly strap on a wristwatch, and why?

(Thread title edited out of capitals. Ariel, Heaven Host)

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quote:

---

Originally posted by balaam:
That's humans for you, so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. (Douglas Adams).

How long will it be before the watches are smarter than the wearers?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
My Dad's watch lasted 40 years. Mine die in 6 months. Of course, I don't pay as much as he did, but I think the old wind up has real virtue in batteries not dying in a few months!

I would wear one because of the lack of wall clocks and I don't carry a cell, but I have a drawerful of dead watches and got tired of buying them. Battery replacement fee is more than another watch. I tried replacing batteries myself (with tiny screwdriver and magnifying glass) but none of them worked.

My wall clocks last a couple years, then fall behind an hour or more per day; a new battery gets them going well for a few hours then they again quit keeping anything remotely related to real time.

I ask whoever has a computer or smartphone on "what time is it?"

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quote:

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Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Battery replacement fee is more than another watch.

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quote:

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Originally posted by rufiki:

quote:

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Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Battery replacement fee is more than another watch.

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Yikes! Is that common? I had my watch battery replaced today by a local jeweller for the princely sum of £5.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Belle Ringer:

I ask whoever has a computer or smartphone on "what time is it?"

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My mobile phone has the time displayed anyway - whatever I'm doing with it, even when it's on 'lock' it shows the time.
 

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Posted by Smudgie (# 2716) on :
 
The Smudgelet has a lovely analogue watch which his sister bought him and he wears with pride.
Got very confused when the clocks went forward last weekend, though - I think he expected the hands to whizz round independently at 1am.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
I didn't wear a watch for years after I got a mobile phone but then found a brilliantly simple and plain [and cheap] analogue watch online - black face, no numbers, two silver coloured hands - which I wore for a year or so until it died [it was very cheap] and now have a very plain and simple digital probably designed for kids but it suits me admirably.

No changing of hours over here, thank the powers, so no hassle about adjusting it twice a year or losing/gaining sleep.
 

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Posted by St Everild (# 3626) on :
 
I love watches...the analogue kind. I don't feel properly dressed without one on my left wrist...
I have a Berens ceramic one, a Skagen one with a second hand and the date, but the date is always wrong because it is so small I can't see it even with specs, a Seiko one which belonged to my mum, a Titan gents one with a big clear face, and another one which I cannot remember the name of...I'm fortunate because I don't have any allergies.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I always wear one. I have a cheap Sekonda man's watch (man's because I have large wrists) with a second hand. I have a second choice, cheap Sekonda man's watch that needs daily winding, I had that first, but lost it, thinking someone had removed it at the swimming pool, only to find it a year later between the lining and the outer layer of my handbag. Cheap watches because of my teaching and the risk of damage round school. Analogue because I don't just look to see what the time is, but to see how long it is until.... whatever. Without having to do sums.

I also have the tiny one I was given as a significant birthday present (can't remember whether it was 18 or 21), and my mother's good metal one, which my Dad gave me after she died. I only wear those for special.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
I still wear a watch: I am a supply teacher and I don't trust school clocks. I can also wear my waterproof Timex when I go surfing!
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Smudgie:
The Smudgelet has a lovely analogue watch which his sister bought him and he wears with pride.
Got very confused when the clocks went forward last weekend, though - I think he expected the hands to whizz round independently at 1am.

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