dNg’s Shower Thoughts: The Relationship Between Watches, Watchmaking, and Music (Part 2)

QOTD: Think of your favourite watch/watches. What musical genre, piece, or artist do you think best encapsulates the spirit of that model, and why?

Summary

Watches and watchmaking have had an interesting and complex relationship over the last few centuries. In Part 1, I contemplated if the emotional investment one has in purchasing or owning of a luxury wristwatch is like the connection one has when listening to music. As both are forms of creative expression as proof of unique technical prowess, In Part 2 I discuss how watches and music act as an artificial extension of one’s personality traits.

Part 2: Watches and Music as an Extension of Personality

Though luxury watches and music bear similarities in terms of emotional investment, they differ in how that investment is conveyed.

A luxury watch evokes a tangible, longer-lasting emotional investment, rather than the inward, ephemeral psychological investment more often found in music, as people’s tastes and preferences change over time based on their own experiences. I would argue, however, that these changes brought about by experience also allow one to consume music or purchase luxury watches as an artificial extension of their own personality, fantasised or literal.

https://www.watchfinder.com.au/articles/feature-which-watch-suits-your-personality-type-

Enjoying the returning trend of “stealth wealth?” Consider a JLC or Lange. Looking to make a statement? Rolex has you covered. Want to show the world you have no idea what you’re talking about? Grab a Hublot. Sorry, Hublot.

I’m not prejudiced, I swear - I love the Orlinski.

The purchasing of a luxury watch is regularly seen as a fashion accessory, and as a result, one may choose a watch that reflects not only their personal style but also their personal image, as it can also work as a projection of one’s social or financial status.

Similarly, music also serves as an extension of the consumer’s personality, albeit in a different way. The type of music that one listens to can reflect their interests, values and worldview at their current point in life.

Punk Rock, for instance, has often been associated with anti-establishment or rebellious tendencies, whilst sophistication may be more evident in those that listen to Classical, or an adventurous spirit may tend towards Rock.

https://research.atspotify.com/2020/12/just-the-way-you-are-music-listening-and-personality/#:~:text=Music%20is%20such%20a%20core,affects%20mood%2C%20and%20spurs%20creativity.

The music you listen to, as a result, can be a projection of your own psyche, evoking an emotional reaction within yourself as the purchasing/owning of a luxury timepiece does.

This is where music and watches tend to differ, however. Luxury watches are a physical, tangible and outward extension of the consumer’s personality – a driving force that reinforces their own public perception. Music, conversely, provides an inward, abstract and subjective perception of ourselves, our desires, values and ultimate worldview and philosophy.