Cool Watch, Wrong Time, Don't Care?
You could accuse the author of this piece of simply wanting to, ahem, wind people up; it certainly worked on me:
https://www.gq.com/story/do-you-need-to-set-the-time-on-your-watch
Is this some sort of hyper-privileged flex, almost akin to not having a cell phone (in which case, why bother with a watch at all)?
Yes, I know about how Andy Warhol loved his Cartier Tanks more as wearable objets d'art than timepieces and thus rarely bothered to wind and set them, and that's sorta okay because Andy. But among the would-be watch cognoscenti it starts to sound silly. Look, you paid for it (presumably), you do as you like with it. But to become A Thing? Whew.
Discuss.
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Barrett
Lifelong watch fankid/boy/dude
The Jersey Shore
Member since
Last active: 2 months ago
7.00” / 17.78 cm
Whoa,
That's crazy - I hadn't even considered that. although, sometimes I have wondered when I see a comedian with a submariner (they all have the same one) if they obsess over setting it exactly.
Somewhere along the line, I just started using the Hodinkee app's clock to set my watches, I'm very careful to set it as accurately as I can. it's part of the marvel of some of these watches, right?
Some of these watches would make for very expensive bracelets lol. wind it, ding it, set it, get it wet, scratch it. oh, and also, tell the time with it!
To be honest, there have been several days when wearing Perception (and others) that I've got half way through the day and noticed that I didn't set the time that morning. I've looked at and admired it several times during the day but possibly only wanted to know the time towards the end of the work day.
But those are pretty rare days.
I'm not shaming anyone for having privileged occupation or lifestyle, however, I find it amazing that articles and posts like this GQ get written. It is hyper-privileged because it lacks the understanding that there are those who life revolve around punctuality. Real "watch heads" don't call out watch wearers for using timepieces the way they are meant to be used.
I read this story and have met a few people that don't wind their watches or set the date. The two individuals that I came across with this bizarre habit were not watch enthusiasts. They definitely saw watches as jewelry only.
To each his/her own. I need to know the time. Being early was taught to me by my father, a military man for 25 years.
From what little I could stand to read it's an exercise in navel-gazing and confirmation bias. He started out with an opinion. He found quotes to agree with his opinion. He disregarded anything and anyone that might disprove his opinion. He drew a wildly unlikely or improbable conclusion which "proved" his opinion. My tolerance (and phone battery) is too low to indulge such.
I don't own any luxury watches, but my watches are for use. The two mechanical ones I set, I do my best to set them using my phone clock. I err on the side of 1-2 mins fast.
I like how he established the term "real watch heads" early on in the article. Ah, finally I have role models to look up to. 🥰