The only reason I can think of why I'm starting this topic, I think is because of how obsessive I can get. And I've been obsessing about watches lately, and I feel like Andy Rooney doing this, but here goes. Well, I seem to have lost my watch -- it's been missing for almost a week or so now and it's been causing me some problems with lateness and all (I have a tendency to lose track of time, and without a watch, I've been doing that a whole lot more often). And I've been obsessing over what to replace it with, where to buy it (buying it on-line would be problematic, because I always need to change the watch band -- the existing watchbands are never adequate or are the wrong kind or are too small. Anyway, this all has gotten me thinking. I liked my old watch a lot. It was pretty cheap (actually bought it at a mall kiosk, and was able to bargain with the guy, and got the price down way low -- I didn't have a lot of money at the time, having just moved from Ohio). I'm not normally very fashion conscious. For me, a T-shirt and jeans are fine. But I loved that watch. And I can't understand that. What was it about it that I liked? Well, it had a black face, no numbers, but gold-colored ticks for where the numbers should be. It had a date number, but it was never correct (too much trouble to set it right every month). Watch itself was gold in color, and the band was gold and silver (obviously just the colors -- I'm not that rich). I loved it. It wasn't expensive, but it was mine. BTW, that watch was a replacement for another watch which broke. It was a gift from my Brother -- I was best man at his wedding, and he gave it to me as a gift. I loved that watch also. It must have been expensive, and it had features that I loved (a stopwatch, timer, etc.) Anyway, there are hundreds of different watch styles and a cheap watch generally will keep time nowadays just about as well as an expensive one. That said, many watches look ugly to me. I HATE digital watches. Especially the black kind with the rubber wristbands. I also dislike watches with big numbers on them -- they look kind of tacky to me. I don't know why, but they do. But I do like for there to be demarcations for where the numbers ought to be. Those watches without even a mark for 1, 2, etc. would, I'm sure, cause me confusion before I've had my morning coffee. Even with numbers, I've put my watch on upside-down and ended up missing a movie at a theater as a result. Roman numerals are fine, they don't need to go all the way around the watch -- just at 12 is good enough (to help keep me from putting my watch on upside down), so long as there's a tick for the other numbers. For a VERY long time, I used to carry a pocket watch. The reason was that for a long time, I found watch bands, particularly the metal kind, to be uncomfortable (they'd pinch). The leather/faux-leather kind were better, but they'd always wear out far too quickly. But the problem with pocket watches is that with all the sliding in and out of your pocket, and sometimes banging against your keys, and so forth, they tend to get scratched too easily. But I do like how they look (I don't mean this as a status symbol or anything, because people do tend to give you odd looks if you use a pocket watch nowadays -- I mean they please my personal aesthetics). As I said, I don't worry too much about my appearance. So it confuses the hell out of me as to why I'd obsess over a watch. But I do. Feel free to ignore my ramblings, or tell me how crazy I am, or to share your own obsessions.
This is my watch: Well, okay, that picture isn't of MY watch, but mine is the same model. Mine's looking much more worn. The time doesn't display until you press a certain button (the screen is blank otherwise). I love it. It's funky, and I've had a few people ask me about it. But I normally have three time-telling devices on me outside of the house. Watch, phone and iPod Touch.
That actually looks a lot better than 99% of digital watches. LEDs look a lot better than LCDs, probably because they have more contrast. I take back what I said about digital watches -- that one I wouldn't mind wearing. I also usually carry around a cell phone, but a watch is still more convenient. Plus, I have a tendency to forget my cell phone at home, or forget I'm carrying it, or forget to charge it (did I say my mind is going to mush?). I actually was dragged kicking and screaming into getting a cell phone to begin with. Having had to carry a pager, and later a cell phone from my work, It always felt too much like a leash to me. Don't get me wrong -- my opinion on that has... not changed, but become more refined. I do understand why I need one. (Emergencies, for example, so long as they are not work emergencies). For me, a cell phone is just a reminder that anyone at any time can find you day or night and cause you to lose sleep, and have to take aspirin and antacids to deal with the stress. At least a land-line has decent sound quality and doesn't cut out every few minutes and at least I don't worry about my brother getting into an accident because he's talking to me on his 'perfectfly safe' hands-free phone during his long commute in the car. (I refuse to answer my phone while I'm driving, even though I also have a hands-free device. Statistically, hands-free devices are not much safer than talking on your cell phone held in your hand, which also are not much safer than driving drunk (no joke). I'm actually getting better about charging and carrying my cell phone. But for a while there, I could never remember where I had last put it (sometimes it wouldn't actually show up until I was doing my wash).
Having worn it for two or so years, I can say the display isn't so "blurred", nor are the fragments of the digits that close together. It's more like... a calculator or a digital clock in that regard.
The last watch I had was bought more than 20 years ago. It worked for almost 15 years before the battery died, and I was told it would cost more to replace the battery than to buy a new one. I kept it in my pocket for ten or more years of that time since the band broke. It was Timex brand and digital. It was thoroughly waterproof and was washed numerous times. It had a backlight that lit up the whole thing greenish blue. It cost $20 when it was purchased. By the time the battery died, the same general design watch cost easily double that. But I am a Diabetic and always have a blood glucose meter with me. That keeps time well enough for the few situations I need to know the time. I fully expect never buying another timepiece of any sort again in my lifetime.
I didn't find one I liked this afternoon, so I'll be doing more shopping later this week, I HATE shopping this time of year. I'm more of an on-line shopper, myself, but for a watch, I think I will need to go somewhere I can try it on, get the band fit properly, etc. I nearly bought a $15.00 watch this afternoon, but for the fact that I couldn't try it on. The watch actually looked really decent, and it was at Target, of all places. But they lost a sale because the watch was tied into the box with plastic ties and the random employee that I grabbed from the floor to assist me said that I couldn't try it on to see if the band fit. It was a cheap watch that didn't look cheap. For $15.00, you don't care how flimsy it might be, and you don't cry if you have to replace it after a year or however long the warrantee is..
I have a <$10 watch that I wear any time I'm not in the shower or wearing a tie. Digital, velcro strap, last one I had lasted over a decade. If I'm wearing a tie, I have a $50+ non-digital watch with a metal band that rips the hair out of my arm every time it moves. Hence I wear it about once a year, and swap it for my cheap good one while in the car to and from whatever event is forcing me to wear a tie and a non-velcro watch. Also have a cell phone, but that's harder to inconspicuously check.
Well, you do change your clothes every so often (or at least you are supposed to; I know there are people who don't but they tend to be the sort of people ignoring existence of whose is often the best course of action) while a watch is something you tend to wear pretty much constantly. Thus, you don't get used to clothes but do get used to watches. And the watch I have right now is a simple silver watch (and it does have some genuine silver in it). It's pretty old and it has a small crack on the bottom of its glass but I'm not replacing it because it was a gift. Before I got it, I was using my cell phone as a substitute (and I only did that because I was too busy and/or poor to get a watch for myself back then, with me having moved out of my mother's home when I was really young and the cell phone being something I needed to take on paid projects).
I just use my phone to check the time now... But my last watch was a cheap chinese waterproof that broke after about a year of scuba diving with it(which it wasn't designed for), actually it still works, it's just the plastic holding the glass in place that came unglued and droped off, and I lost it(the outer cover) in the jungle somewhere in thailand. It had both digital and analogue displays, I forget the brand(I'll check when I get home and edit this post). Lots of features, including a good backlight. It was a good watch for the ~$15 I payed for it. The closest I've seen in function that isn't chinese are casio watches around $80-120+ range(though if I'm getting a watch in that pricerange I'm making sure it's a 200m waterproof!): Example: Casio Protek AQW-101D-1
I guess if I spent a lot of time in the water, I'd get myself one of those LCD diving watches -- practicality trumps looks most of the time. But I still think I'd want to have a dress watch for the rest of the time. I never wear any other form of jewelery. Just my watch.
I finally bought a watch this evening -- here's the same watch at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Skagen-Steel-...7184991&sr=1-1&keywords=watches+33xlss+skagen Unfortunately, I paid a little more for it (only got a 10% discount). But at least I know that the band fits comfortably.
