# It's your watch that tells most about who you are **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075 "2006-12-21T15:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/81 "2006-12-24T05:11:45Z")
My first reaction to this ad is disgust – how crass and materialistic to classify someone based upon their jewelry. However, it does occur to me that my watches do convey something about my personality. I have a bunch of watches – mostly Timex and Swatch. I guess that means I appreciate down to earth functionality. I have Mickey Mouse watch that plays _It’s a Small World_. I have three different self-winding Swatches. One stainless, one leather, one plastic. I have what must be one of the last Timexes that you have to manually wind. I have a Timex that looks like a fake Rolex. If I had the time and money, I would collect self-winding Timexes. What does that say about me? I don’t know. Seiko might just have convinced me that watch preference indicates character. But they haven’t made me want to buy one of their watches. I have one of the last Ti ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/82 "2006-12-24T17:54:01Z")
I use my mobile to tell time - it’s a Nokia V-360. Does this mean I’m well-connected? I do have a silver fobwatch that I use when LARPing in any 1800s setting, this says that I care too damn mutch about good LARP costume, clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/83 "2006-12-24T20:33:30Z")
Fossil watch my kids gave to me about 4 years ago. The face alternates color every second between a reddish maroon and a lovely dark blue. Metal snap-loc band. No clue what this means, but unless the battery is dead it is the only one I ever wear because it meant a lot to them to give it to me. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/84 "2006-12-24T20:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=Scribble] Fight my ignorance, here–what are half hunter and full hunter pocket watches? [/QUOTE] Hunter has a cover on it that protects the face, while the half hunter has a circular cut out that allows you to see the hands but still protects the face. [Half Hunter](http://www.pocketwatchwaistcoats.co.uk/shop/images/74.jpg) [Hunter](http://www.pocketwatchwaistcoats.co.uk/admin/image/72.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/85 "2006-12-24T21:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] Swatch Irony Freezing Rain. [/QUOTE] I also have a watch from the [Swatch Irony](http://www.legends-inc-watches.com/woodsvibe.html) collection. I bought it in Switzerland - it wasn’t any cheaper there but I bought it as a souvenir of my trip. Not sure what it says about me that I liked it so much that I took a one-hour train trip back up to the touristy city where I’d seen it, when I couldn’t find the same model in Berne. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/86 "2006-12-25T06:19:20Z")
My watches say that my dad needs to find another hobby. Among the gifts and hand me downs: Omega Speedmaster Reduced - Steel with a black face, 15 years old, has been overhauled once, and needs to be repaired again. Rolex Oyster Perpetual DateJust - Two-tone with a gold face. Don’t wear it because it’s a) not cool, b) runs fast, c) doesn’t match my wedding ring. Another one that needs to go in for service. Ulysse Nardin San Marco - Steel, with a white face, very thin for an automatic. Stopped wearing it because the band sticks out funny by the face. Oris TT1 Day Date - Steel with a blue face. Heavy, and about twice as thick as the San Marco above. My watch of choice currently, mainly because it keeps time, and it can stand up to a beating. Needs to be cleaned though. Also have a few other nondescript watches sitting in drawers, including a Tiffany, a Citizen (with a special NCAA/Ivy League Fencing champion face), another Omega and a faux antique pocketwatch (though if I wait long enough, it will become a real antique). Most of my collection are in some state of disrepair. It would cost a bundle to repair them all, and my dad always says not to bother, since the repair would cost more than the watches themselves, not that I really want to sell them. I think I’ll start to fix one a year, and save them for my son, not that we will have enough arms between the two of us for all these self-winding watches. So what does it say about me really? That I don’t know how to take care of a nice watch! ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/87 "2006-12-25T11:23:30Z")
I have a single watch. I don’t know the brand and I cant be bothered to get up and look. I think it might be Pulsar. It is a simple analog design, light gold with a off white face. It has three dials. One for time, one for date and one for day. I like it because it is simple, lays flat on my wrist, and isn’t very large. It might sound weird but sometimes I REALLY need the day dial. Sadly, at the moment, the battery is dead. I’ve not been able to find a replacement battery locally. I think I’ll have to order one. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/88 "2006-12-25T11:39:25Z")
Casio Quartz. Leather strap. Cost about $90, it replaced one I lost, which in turn replaced ones I was given. Reasonably large, easy to see Arabic numerals on the face. Apart from checking for public transport and meeting times, I don’t look at the watch much during the day – but I can’t stand not having one on my wrist. Drives me batty. Dunno what it would say about me, tho’. Probably I like larger-than-usual things for clarity, and I love leather. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/89 "2006-12-27T13:01:22Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Hunter has a cover on it that protects the face, while the half hunter has a circular cut out that allows you to see the hands but still protects the face. [Half Hunter](http://www.pocketwatchwaistcoats.co.uk/shop/images/74.jpg) [Hunter](http://www.pocketwatchwaistcoats.co.uk/admin/image/72.jpg) [/QUOTE] Ooh, that makes my fobwatch a half-hunter. Neat. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/90 "2006-12-27T14:38:13Z")
“It’s your watch that tells most about who you are…” That’s one of those English sentences where the individual words make perfect sense, but the sentence as a whole is completely nonsensical. Anyways, about the ol’ armclock… I actually have one now. It’s a rather attractive analogue Swatch with a certain company’s logo stamped into the inside of the band. It was a gift from my cellphone company for being a loyal (that is, ‘bill-paying’) customer for ten years. I’ve only worn it once. I very quickly returned to my habit of using the clock in my cellphone to tell the time. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/91 "2006-12-27T15:13:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] “It’s your watch that tells most about who you are…” [/QUOTE] It’s true you can tell a lot about me from my watch, when I bother wearing it. It’s a Casio Sea Pathfinder thingy – fairly enormous with barometer, compass, tide computer, phase of moon and thermometer. So you could probably guess that I’m a geeky, vaguely outdoorsy person who likes to hike and sail. Which you could probably also tell from the car with the kayak racks and trailer hitch on the Subaru. So the watch is pretty much in harmony with the rest of the package. Really, the only reason I bought the watch is so I’d have some idea what the tides were doing when I want to go kayaking or sailing after work. Other than that, every electronic gadget I own seems to have a clock on it, so why bother? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/92 "2006-12-27T17:20:00Z")
I also find the commercial incredibly shallow and tacky. However, I have SEVERAL watches (so many I can’t keep good batteries in all of them) and at least two are the kind with swappable bands! I’d say that means I’m…uh…fickle? Creative? An impulse shopper? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/93 "2006-12-27T17:22:55Z")
My primary watch is a Lorus that I’ve had for probably close to 20 years. It has a silver case with gold buttons and face, and both an analog and a digital display. I usually keep the digital display set to show the date. It has a brown leather band that I replace about once a year after I’ve sufficiently sweated through the old one. My other watch is a cheap Armitron sport watch that I generally use for outdoor activities. It’s probably time to replace the band or maybe even the entire watch since the velcro on the strap barely works anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebecca_DiMwitter)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/94 "2006-12-27T17:49:52Z")
I mostly wear a Fossil stainless steel watch with a shiny stainless dial (the dial is what I liked about it when I bought it at the Salt Lake City airport several years ago) which is practical, and also somewhat striking in appearance—I am neither of those, but maybe someday? However, I have thick wrists for such a small person otherwise, and my sturdy Fossil is just too wide at times for the much daintier, more feminine look I prefer, so this year I invested in a sterling silver ladies watch from Argento, with a narrow bracelet strap of tiny linked silver oak leaves (appealed to the druid in me), which closes with a lobster clasp in the back and has chain links which dangle freely. Almost more a bracelet than a watch. Definitely satisfies the jewelry-lover (and big wristed person) in me. –Beck ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/95 "2006-12-27T17:52:14Z")
To actually comment on the assertion rather than babbling on about watches - to some people (like myself) your watch does say a lot about you, not the _most_, but a lot. Multi-function Casio and simple Timex wearers are in a similar group, but the Casio guy is slightly … um, more into gadgets. A Suunto person might have a job that pays a little more than one might expect by their hobbies. A non-flashy Rolex says one thing, a big ol’ ostentatious Rolex says something almost entirely different. Bands - Plastic, canvas, leather and the assorted metals frequently have some kind of meaning (sometimes it’s just that one material irritates the skin more than another). Some women of my acquaintance have dozens of cheap watches to match their mood or their outfit or nailpolish or something. Pocket watch people fall into a couple of groups (that can overlap). Some people just wear whatever watch they happen to have, or wear no watch at all, and that says something to me as well. Not good or bad, just _something_. I like watches, I’m fascinated by mechanical movements and the history of timekeeping, and just like a fashion conscious person could tell a lot by the way I dress, I think I can tell _something_ by your timekeeping choices. But the commercial is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/96 "2006-12-27T17:54:04Z")
And apparently _some_ Luminox wearers like to italicize _something_. _something_ _something_ _something_ ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075/97 "2006-12-27T18:35:55Z")
My watch is a pretty but inpractical DKNY watch. It says I like shiny things. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-watch-that-tells-most-about-who-you-are/385075.md?page=4)