# Anyone else that does not wear a watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787 "2026-11-10T18:54:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/1 "2026-11-10T18:54:33Z")
I never got used to wearing things on my hands. I was constantly fidgeting with a ring or watchband. I haven’t used a watch in over 50 years. Of course today with a phone at hand you don’t even need one. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/2 "2026-11-10T19:09:24Z")
My wife stopped wearing a watch about 35 years ago, and has an uncanny ability to approximate the time, usually within about 10 minutes of the actual time. The semi-annual time change messes her up for a day or two, but she’s close enough that I can count on it for most things. I, OTOH, feel practically naked if I’m not wearing a watch. The only time I go out without a watch intentionally is when I’m wearing my favorite sweatshirt, because I don’t want my watch to fray the end (cuff? hem?) of one sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/3 "2026-11-10T19:11:49Z")
I wore watches for 15 years or so? I felt naked without one. Then I stopped wearing one because I had to keep taking it off to play video games on my arcade stick, and I got used to not wearing one. I might go back to a cheap cloth band Timex so I don’t feel the need to check my phone as much. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/4 "2026-11-10T19:12:02Z")
I never liked wearing a watch. Before my phone became my timepiece, I’d put a cheap Casio on a belt loop. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/5 "2026-11-10T19:13:11Z")
My parents always wore watches. My mom always wears a faceless watch with a gold band and replaceable rings so you can have different colors. Dad has a pretty standard Seiko. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/6 "2026-11-10T19:37:50Z")
It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a watch. It occurred to me I never really needed it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/7 "2026-11-10T19:46:50Z")
I still wear a watch. It’s much faster than digging the phone out of my fanny pack where it lives with my checkbook (I’m all kinds of obsolete) and keys. The cyclecomputer also displays the time. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/8 "2026-11-10T19:51:28Z")
I liked wearing a watch, but 20 years or so ago the battery died and there it sits in my drawer. Accusingly. > [@hajario](#): > > I never liked wearing a watch. Before my phone became my timepiece, I’d put a cheap Casio on a belt loop. Next to an onion! ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/9 "2026-11-10T19:57:25Z")
I never wore a watch and, with our phones keeping track of the date and time, I certainly never will. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/10 "2026-11-10T20:01:13Z")
A couple days ago I made a comment… If I were given an expensive Rolex with the stipulation that I could not give it away or sell it, then I would throw it in the trash. Many years ago I needed to know what time it was. I had a watch and put it in my pocket. So, I tried wearing a watch over 45 years ago, and haven’t since. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/11 "2026-11-10T20:09:44Z")
I wore a watch for many years but after progressing from an old flip phone to the new(er) smart phones I decided the watch was redundant and stopped wearing it. Oddly enough, the hair on my arm where the watch used to be turned gray much earlier than the rest of the hair on that arm and the skin tone still doesn’t tan as deeply, leaving just the slightest hint of a tan line there. I do have a cheap sports watch attached to my fishing pack since I don’t take my phone with me while fishing, and another one to stick in my pocket when mowing or using other farm equipment after having my phone fall out of my pocket a time or two while so occupied. But nothing goes on my wrist any more. ---
**Author:** ![Mavis\_Topholese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mavis\_Topholese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavis_Topholese)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/12 "2026-11-10T20:15:27Z")
I tried to wear a watch, and either the internal workings broke, or the circuitry died, or the band failed, or they’d get scratched up and broken at work, or I’d lose the things. After a while I just gave up and got better at being where I needed to be when I needed to be there. Now I have a phone with me. No watch needed. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/13 "2026-11-10T20:30:02Z")
I’m on Team No-Watch too, for a variety of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/14 "2026-11-10T20:32:34Z")
I used to wear a watch all the time (no pun intended). I distinctly remember one occasion when I had my smart phone in my hand, looking at something on the screen, and a friend of mine asked me what time it was. I lowered my phone and looked at the time on my wristwatch. He chuckled and said, “I love you, man. You’re so old.” And I realized that I had been holding a timepiece in my hand, and lowered it in order to look at a different timepiece. That’s when it occurred to me that in my smart phone, I effectively have a pocket watch, which also does a lot of other useful stuff. My wrist watch is what Alton Brown would call a “unitasker”–a tool that does only one thing, whereas my phone does all sorts of things. I haven’t worn a wrist watch since then. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/15 "2026-11-10T20:49:46Z")
I don’t drive, but I do ride a bicycle as my main mode of transport; when I try to wear a watch, the way my hand bends at the wrist tends to depress the fob and change the time on the watch seemingly at random. So I don’t wear a watch, ever. Nowadays I have a phone that I can use to tell the time, so I don’t need to buy a specialised cycling watch that doesn’t randomise the time. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/16 "2026-11-10T20:57:33Z")
I used to wear a watch for years, but these days, I always have my phone so I just use that. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/17 "2026-11-10T21:01:32Z")
I used to wear one every day - felt naked without it, until about 10-12 years ago at work when someone mocked me for having one - she said something like “who wears a watch anymore?..” This was when smart phones were taking over the world. I took it off soon thereafter and have not worn it since. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/18 "2026-11-10T21:03:36Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > the way my hand bends at the wrist tends to depress the fob and change the time on the watch seemingly at random. I think you’re thinking of the crown of your watch. A watch fob is a fancy strip of fabric or leather that a pocket watch hangs off of. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/19 "2026-11-10T21:08:53Z")
Ah, yes. That’s the bit. [![](https://bespokeunit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Illustration-of-watch-parts-.jpg) ](https://bespokeunit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Illustration-of-watch-parts-.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787/20 "2026-11-10T21:16:51Z")
I only wear a watch as dress-up jewelry. I don’t have an “everyday” watch. As with many of you, my everyday timepiece is my smartphone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-that-does-not-wear-a-watch/1034787.md?page=2)