“What time is it?” might be one of the oldest questions in humanity. For thousands of years people have mapped the passage of the Sun across the sky to mark time. Sunrise, sunset, and noon are easily marked and noted—we’ll skip timezones for now—when you’re in one place. But how do you tell someone when to meet you or when something is happening. To have to have an agreed upon way to mark off the day so you can say, “meet me when the Sun is at this spot in the sky” and everyone knows how to figure it out.
From the first sundials to today’s smart watches people have used an amazing variety of tools and technologies to figure out and standardize time. What we think of as the modern wrist watch was invented in the late nineteenth century (though Queen Elizabeth I had a watch which was essentially a pocket watch strapped to your arm), but wristwatches were mostly women’s fashion until the 20th century. The drive for a men’s wristwatch came from soldiers needing to keep track of time and not have to fumble for a pocket watch in the heat of battle.
While pocket watches will always have their place, and smart watches are so very cool, the analog wristwatch stands the test of time for style and function. Smart watches could just show the time. They could look like extra powerful digital watches, but they don’t. Almost all smartwatches have an analog face with the classic hands for the seconds, minutes, and hours. Maybe other things like timers or a calendar, but it’s the look of those hands on a clock face are watch make a watch, a watch.
Maybe your first watch had a cartoon mouse on it—some of us still wear them as adults—or maybe a cool, sleek, plastic piece of fashion, but I don’t think people forget getting their first watch. Being able to tell the time yourself. Something cool to show your friends. There is nothing like a classic analog watch. And when you look for a “grownup” watch, a fine watch, there really isn’t a choice—analog is the only way to go.
When you think of a fine watch, as Esquire puts it there are watches and then there are watches, something that is more about telling time, I’d bet you see something on your wrist with hands. It might be sleek or chunky. It might have a lot of features or it just hands on an otherwise blank face. No matter the style, the watch has hands and it has style.
It’s a big deal picking out a fine, luxury watch or buying a special gift for a special occasion which makes choosing an analog watch for is timeless beauty a safe choice.
Do you remember your first watch? Your favorite watch? When you are getting a luxury watch, either to wear or as an investment, I think that first watch is what you look as the inspiration. You’ve probably seen hundreds of watches in your life. Consider all the ones that stood out to you.
When you have that picture in your head. That’s the luxury watch you’re looking for. And that’s the watch you’ll start building new memories with.
