# How do you wear your watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491 "2011-12-08T10:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/21 "2011-12-09T05:28:12Z")
Way up high on my left wrist. Almost 1/2 of the way from the wrist to the elbow. Much higher than anyone else does. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/22 "2011-12-09T11:23:23Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Way up high on my left wrist. Almost 1/2 of the way from the wrist to the elbow. Much higher than anyone else does. Why? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/23 "2011-12-09T12:07:12Z")
I haven’t worn a watch for a decade. But when I did, I always wore it on my right wrist. I’m left handed. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/24 "2011-12-09T12:44:01Z")
I’m right handed and my watch goes on the left. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/25 "2011-12-09T13:41:21Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I’m not sure why your “dominant hand” would dictate which wrist you wear a watch on… Because it’s like having a small weight on your dominant hand while you are trying to do fine detailed tasks like writing. Plus your more likely to bang or scrape it. I generally wear a giant gold Rolex with no hands or numbers. It tells people I’m so important I don’t need to know what time it is. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/26 "2011-12-09T13:59:13Z")
When I wore one, it was on my left hand (I’m right handed if that matters). But it’s been replaced by a cell phone since. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/27 "2011-12-09T15:36:23Z")
Right-handed, wear a watch on the left wrist, facing in. When I was in elementary school, I’d keep having to get the crystal replaced because of banging the watch going through a door or somesuch, so I started wearing watches facing in when I got to high school. For some reason, wearing a watch like that was considered pretentious at that time and place, so I did get some ribbing. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/28 "2011-12-09T15:42:30Z")
When I wore a wristwatch, I wore it on my left wrist, facing out so that people could see the pretty face. (I teach, and the watch I wore had the numbers as square roots - 12 was radical 144 and so on.) I’m right-handed. Unfortunately, I had a nasty reaction to the metal, so the stem gave me a sore on my wrist. Now I wear a pocket watch. Even if my jeans had watch pockets on both sides, I’d wear it on my right side because I can grab it more easily. Also, people look at me funny when I open the watch, so that’s a plus. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/29 "2011-12-09T15:53:51Z")
I’m left handed and normally wear the watch on the left. When I was a kid I had a watch with a stretchy metal band. When I would throw a ball I’d sometimes throw the watch off as well, so I’d switch it to the right. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/30 "2011-12-09T20:34:31Z")
Wear left, right dominant. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/31 "2011-12-09T21:08:35Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I wear my watch on my right hand, even though I’m right handed. My dad does it that way so that’s why I do too. I started wearing it around 12-13 like **jabiru**. > > I don’t wear my watch that often anymore since I spend most of my time at work or at the gym. I don’t wear it at work because it is annoying when I use a mouse, and I don’t wear it at the gym because it would interfere with weight lifting. > > When I do go elsewhere, tho - lookout! Analog time a-ho! Ditto. I used to do a lot of data entry and it was easier to tilt my right wrist a few degrees than to pick up my left hand and turn my wrist around a few more degrees. I just keep wearing it that way out of laziness and inertia. Of course, most people assume I’m left handed, so I learned to knit left-handed and I’m offered one of the left-handed corner seats if I eat with a group. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/32 "2011-12-09T21:35:14Z")
I’m right-handed but when I wear a watch, which is rare, I wear it on my right hand. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/33 "2011-12-09T21:54:45Z")
Left-handed, but I used to wear it on my left-hand anyway, because winding/setting a watch the other way round sucks. But I no longer wear a watch, since I always have my phone on me. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/34 "2011-12-09T22:09:19Z")
**Other**. I use my phone instead of a watch except for when I go running, in which case the watch is on the left wrist. (Right-handed, by the way.) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/35 "2011-12-09T22:16:16Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Way up high on my left wrist. Almost 1/2 of the way from the wrist to the elbow. Much higher than anyone else does. > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Why? Just feels right, I guess. I hate the feel of a watch band crushing down on the back of my hand. (A friend suffered nerve damage that way. He was bicycling, and his watch settled down on his hand.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/36 "2011-12-09T23:27:40Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I’m not sure why your “dominant hand” would dictate which wrist you wear a watch on; after all, one’s wedding ring is worn on the 4th finger of the left hand regardless of handiness, right? Though I’ve always had to put my watch in my pocket or something when playing sports that involve throwing as a result, throwing a baseball or frisbee while wearing a watch on my left hand feels strange. My current watch has a leather strap with a buckle. I’m right-handed, so I wear my watch on my left wrist so I can fasten and undo the buckle with my dominant hand. I’ve also had watches with metal bands that have needed to be fastened and unfastened. So, it’s been easier for me to wear them on my left wrist where my dominant hand can get at them. If I wore my watch on my right wrist, the fasteners are at an odd angle for my left hand to work them easily. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491/37 "2011-12-10T00:35:56Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > What I find more odd that people who wear their watches on the right wrist are people who wear the watch on the inside, rather than the outside of the wrist, and then pronate the wrist upwards to see what time it is. I used to think it was to hide the watch face from casual view, which could give away how nice the watch is - like people who turn their rings around (putting the stone towards the palm) to avoid flashing bling for fear of getting mugged. But that was NYC subway wisdom back in the 1970s and 1980s, I have no idea why people would do this nowadays or otherwise. My dad’s stated rationate for doing it that way was, if someone walked up to him during a cocktail party and asked him the time, they would get drenched with his Scotch, and not himself, when he checked the time. Then again my dad had a sly sense of humor… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wear-your-watch/605491.md?page=1)