With a significant birthday on the horizon I am looking to buy another watch for everyday use to celebrate. But what type of watch should I buy? There are so many brands that stretch from traditional to new technology based solutions with their digital visual interfaces to the rise of the smartwatch.
Personally, I have always been taken with simple design and clear function and purpose . Currently, I use a Seiko Kinetic for good wear and weekends, and a Casio HD for daily rough wear and gardening. Also, I have a Omega Seamaster in the drawer from my merchant navy days, but it is not one of the timepieces that could be worth thousands and would be sought after by a collector.
For a number of years I had an inclination that I would like a third watch/timepiece, an in-between model. I certainly cannot today afford a luxury timepiece, so price point is also key. Actually, for a number of years I have been taken with the simplicity and ruggedness of the Nite MX10 watch with its tritium luminous technology that enables extremely good night-time vision – I have a tendency to wake up in the ‘wee’ hours these days. Coincidentally, I pass the Nite offices in Christchurch on the way to Sainsburys when visiting my mother. I know there are other brands but the price point changes significantly upwards, as with the good-looking C60 Lmypstone from Christopher Ward.
So with a leaning towards traditional options and look, I have also been introduced to the increasing availability of smartwatches in the run-up to making a decision. My immediate neighbour and London friends all use Apple products. I have also taken a look at the Samsung Galaxy series. And it is also well documented that also even some of the niche brands have developed smartwatch variants. However, I start to think , even though you can recreate the visual look of a traditional watch and add a ticking sound, as to why? We all buy smartphones, then to have a device to interface between your pocket and wrist in everyday life seems a nonsense. For sure there are some specialist jobs where such technology I can see as being useful, ie a steeplejack when 200′ up a chimney. But really is there a need otherwise? The constant buzzing of notifications on your wrist and selection of data to absorb is to me a distraction. The continual need to recharge a smartwatch every 3-4 days is a hassle, when a traditional timepiece can go on forever, or until the next battery change between 5-10 years. All in the name of telling the time.
So much is down to personal choice and inclination. Personally, I want a watch to be able to give me the time foremost . Like cameras , the smartphone revolution has made it all to easy to capture images by the thousands on a daily basis, but do we ever review, like when we took a film to developers in the past, and shared our photographs and slides. Smartwatches have their place, but to me offer too many distractions, and very soon the technology/interface itself is out of date. So it is likely every 3-4 years you would need to re-purchase a new smartwatch which is not really environmentally friendly. A simple traditional watch can last a lifetime and seldom goes out of fashion, though fun, tactile and engaging smartwatches to me have their limitations, and maybe a fad of the decade yet to be replaced by a new unseen innovation.
In my case , though tempted, I have convinced myself that I just want a traditional looking timepiece that tells the time, and in the meantime, I will take my smartphone out of my pocket rather than insanely shout at my wrist!
The Grey Chameleon 