Remember the old watch joke when a plain gent carrying a tumbler full of curd is asked the time and he ends up dropping it each time, one that you have heard a million times yet it never ceases to be funny? Well, try working it out today. There are better chances of finding someone who finds it funny than someone who actually wears a watch.
The excuse of an all-in-one mobile phone or that it doesn’t stand out with the outfit, the reasons for not wearing one are many. So, when luxury watchmaking company Hublot’s CEO Jean-Claude Biver recently said that Asians are better at appreciating and spending on watches, when compared to Americans, we were left scratching our heads. When most feel “why have a watch when your mobile phone/desktop/iPad is just as good and fuss-free”, then where are connoisseurs really and are wristwatches really worth being sentimental about?
Funnyman and stand-up comic Rajneesh Kapoor feels unemotional and detached to wristwatches, arguing that they replaced the more cumbersome pocket watches.
“I don’t have a calendar, a wrist watch or even a wall clock for that matter and I am doing just fine. And why should I, when my phone has just about everything? In fact, I wish for the day they put an umbrella in there too, so I don’t have to carry one when it rains,” he jokes. When not actions but accessories speak louder than words and touch prices which would easily get one a swanky gadget, perhaps it doesn’t sound like a sound investment anymore.
DJ Ashish Nagpal says that people buy watches as an accessory or a luxury item, rather than a necessity. “It’s not compulsory to wear a watch today and one can easily choose to skip it. So, when people enter a certain income bracket they look at something that reflects their status and the ones below usually choose to skip it entirely,” he says.
Crusading the cause still, there are some who feel ‘naked’ if they leave their treasured accessory at home. Like freelance writer Kuriakose Saju, who feels restless when he doesn’t wear one. “As much as it is about making a statement by spending an exorbitant sum on the item as it is about a device that exclusively does the job of keeping you on time,” he says. Brand Manager Piyush Kumar, agrees saying that he can never keep a watch away as it makes time tracking much easier. “It’s just an arm’s distance from you whereas a phone is always at a certain distance. Also, a man especially is never dressed fully unless he is wearing a watch. So, it completes the look,” he says.