# Do you wear a wristwatch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503 "2012-03-22T14:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/21 "2012-03-22T16:27:02Z")
Always - I started to in basic training and never stopped. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/22 "2012-03-22T16:29:35Z")
I used to, but haven’t in about 20 years. They don’t last. I had one Timex that worked for a few years, then the battery died and after I replaced it, it stopped working a month later. Replaced it again and a month later it stopped again. And that’s how it’s gone whenever I wear a watch. As I got older I was able to afford more expensive watches, but it’s always the same story- it works for about 6 months, then I replace the battery or get it fixed, and a month or two later it stops again. I think my body just causes them to break. I actually prefer it to pulling my phone out of my pocket, but I don’t waste my money on them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/23 "2012-03-22T16:30:05Z")
Female - 21 to 30 - Sometimes I wore a watch every day as a teenager. In college my friends deemed my trusty Timex too ugly and gave me a nice watch. I never got used to the new watch though so I just stopped wearing one altogether. I wear a watch when I fly as a backup to the clock on the instrument panel and my cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/24 "2012-03-22T16:36:47Z")
Always when I am out. That is to say, when I come home I take it off right away, but it I go out again or on the weekends, I always wear it. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/25 "2012-03-22T16:43:31Z")
I have no reason to know what time it is any more, so never. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/26 "2012-03-22T16:45:25Z")
Always. I had a period of not wearing one last time the strap broke; I thought I’d get by on just the mobile. That didn’t work for me at all. 1. It is actually quicker, if you just want to know the time, to glance at your wrist rather than fish your mobile out your pocket. 2. Analogue dials have the advantage of making time physical. The change from one set of digits to another (say :00 to :05) is purely abstract. By contrast, the steady movement of a hand from vertical to 30 deg. seems to me much more tangible. The upshot was that having put a watch back on, I found myself much more punctual again; looking at my watch I could measure time in a way that I wasn’t doing with sets of digits. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/27 "2012-03-22T17:21:13Z")
I do when I’m working, sometimes when I’m out socially but never around the house. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/28 "2012-03-22T17:33:09Z")
I’m over 50 and I said Always, altho the qualifier is “if I remember.” I’ve been known to take my watch off and put it down, then forget where it is. It’s supposed to go on my dresser at the end of the day, but if I’ve taken it off while cooking or doing a messy chore, it could end up on a counter, a table, in a pocket, who knows where. Still, I like having it on, and I try to put it on every day. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/29 "2012-03-22T17:40:05Z")
Male over 50. I would say always if my watch wasn’t broken and I’m too lazy to buy a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/30 "2012-03-22T18:14:58Z")
Always. Since I’ll frequently time the pulse or respirations of patients, or the duration of the freeze in cryosurgery, having it on my wrist is far better than having it on another device. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/31 "2012-03-22T18:21:43Z")
Two actually (although not at the same time). ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/32 "2012-03-22T18:23:57Z")
Male, just turned 50, and I have worn one pretty much every day since I turned 16. Not only that, but every watch I have owned has been an LCD digital, and, except for my first one (which didn’t have this feature), they have always been on 24-hour time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/33 "2012-03-22T18:26:45Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I used to, but haven’t in about 20 years. They don’t last. I had one Timex that worked for a few years, then the battery died and after I replaced it, it stopped working a month later. Replaced it again and a month later it stopped again. > > And that’s how it’s gone whenever I wear a watch. As I got older I was able to afford more expensive watches, but it’s always the same story- it works for about 6 months, then I replace the battery or get it fixed, and a month or two later it stops again. I had that problem, and eventually switched to a self-winding watch, which worked for quite a while (until I just stopped wearing a watch at all). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/34 "2012-03-22T18:27:04Z")
Male over 50. No. I don’t need one, I have a cell phone. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/35 "2012-03-22T18:31:18Z")
Over 50. I always wear one outside the house. Quicker than a cell phone to check the time. I also need the stopwatch function for work. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/36 "2012-03-22T18:35:45Z")
Male, 64, with a cellphone. What exactly would wearing a watch do that my cellphone doesn’t already do? (My wife, aged 60, has never worn a watch because of her allergic reactions to nickle.) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/37 "2012-03-22T18:39:38Z")
Female over 50, never. However, that has more to do with the fact that it’s darned near impossible around here to get a watch battery installed. No store will replace a battery in watch not purchased there. I have a drawer full of moribund watches that I would happily wear. I guess I could do it myself, but it’s a PITA and I always end up stabbing myself with the teeny screwdriver you need to open the back. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/38 "2012-03-22T18:48:33Z")
Female, 50, and unless I’m doing something that involves immersing my arms in water I have my watch on, including sleeping. I’m ridiculously nearsighted and so if I wake up at night I much prefer to bring my (backlit) watch within an inch of my nose and squint at the time, than to roll over and wiggle myself close enough to the bedside clock to be able to see it. I hate carrying my phone with me everywhere, and the watch is small and light and unobtrusive. It’s also a lot easier to take a quick peek at the time with a watch - I hate fishing around in my purse or pocket for the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/39 "2012-03-22T18:50:41Z")
Daily wearer since high school; I am much attached to my vintage plain analog Seiko with twelve actual numbers on it. I too am hard on my watches and have replaced the crystal a number of times in the past thirty years. It is the analogosity plus the illustration of the circular nature of the day that I cherish in my watch. Small well-made items in daily use develop a patina of personality and even loyalty, like faithful retainers. I am also a daily user of vintage fountain pens; same qualities. I don’t use mobile devices including a cell phone, so a watch is useful. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503/40 "2012-03-22T18:53:17Z")
I got a somewhat beat up Rolex as the fee for handling my uncle’s estate, so I feel kind of obliged to wear it. Before getting it a couple of years back, I never wore a watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-a-wristwatch/616503.md?page=3)