What are all of us watch people going to do in March when the WATCH launches?
In the past year or so, I have become increasingly interested in the novelty of wristwatches. Hodinkee had a great piece that got me started. Unfortunately for me, all of those watches cost more than a GT3, which is just crazy.
Still, that did not stop me from picking up a few interesting timepieces along the way. And through that process, I have come to the realization that watches are a lot like guitars. There are so many different types and brands of watches, just like there are so many different types and brands of guitars. ‘One for every occasion’ comes to mind here. And as bourgeois and extremist as that sounds, it is not that off. For the informed, amassing a collection comprised of individual pieces having their own strengths becomes a necessary part of the process. And rightly so. One would be hard pressed to bring a Jazz to a folk gig, just as much as they would be hard pressed to wear a Submariner on a hiking trip (when, obviously, a good field watch would surely be more fitting). Similarly, I would be remiss if I brought my Precision with me to a gig requiring slap, almost as much as I would be by taking a Timex Weekender diving instead of a divers watch. I dive all the time, so that last scenario is totally applicable and realistic for me to include.
But all that gets thrown out the window when, on a random morning sometime in March after the Apple Watch launches, I approach my watch case and decide which watch to take. I glance through the glass and spend approximately 0.01 seconds pondering my decision of which watch to bring. Of course I am immediately inclined to choose that lovely piece of Retina-ized sapphire to slap on my wrist.
How could any dumbwatch compete with the Apple Watch? Of course the older watches are special. Of course it means something that at least a few human beings had a part in putting together those wonderful pieces of equipment used to tell us what time of the day it is. Unlike my previous examples of variable utility for different types of guitars, the argument breaks down when applied to a situation in which the Apple Watch exists. When would it not be a good time to take the Apple Watch with me? When could I not benefit from its smartness (the iPhone’s smartness for version 1.0)?
I cannot seem to fathom any answers to those questions. I guess I have until March to figure it out.