# Watch List **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971 "2018-06-12T15:49:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/1 "2018-06-12T15:49:27Z")
What is your personal timepiece of choice-wrist watch, pocket watch, other or none at all? Poll to follow. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/2 "2018-06-12T15:54:28Z")
I have a bunch of watches, but I generally wear one of three: a stainless steel Rolex GMT Master II (red/black bezel) with a Jubilee bracelet I bought new, a stainless steel 1979(?) vintage Rolex non-date Submariner I bought used, or a 1974 blue-face, stainless steel Seiko Bell-Matic (duplicates of dad’s, which I’ve put away). ETA: Posted before the poll was in place. I answered ‘Wristwatch - wind-up’. The watches I mentioned are automatic. . ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/3 "2018-06-12T16:00:33Z")
I picked “other” rather than “none.” I haven’t worn a watch since phones started including a clock. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/4 "2018-06-12T16:02:29Z")
Other: Phone. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/5 "2018-06-12T16:17:53Z")
Other: phone. (Although I do have a Rolex on my left wrist. It permanently reads 4:20. It is a tattoo.) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/6 "2018-06-12T16:20:22Z")
For wrist watches you left out self-winding and solar. I don’t know if those exist for pocket watches. Mine is solar. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/7 "2018-06-12T16:23:06Z")
People still wear watches now that we have cell phones? I haven’t worn a watch in 15 years because of this. Has there been a sharp decline in the use of watches since cell phones became everpresent? ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/8 "2018-06-12T16:26:44Z")
My phone has replaced all of the watches and clocks in my life. I have my phone and the clock in my car - what more do I need? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/9 "2018-06-12T16:29:34Z")
There is a simplicity and elegance to pulling a pocket watch out by a silver chain and glancing at it, then giving it a couple of winds and putting it away that can never be matched by jerking a cell phone out of your back pocket and wiping your finger across the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/10 "2018-06-12T16:35:09Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > People still wear watches now that we have cell phones? Sure we do. For your cell phone to tell you what time it is, you have to pull it out, turn it on, and look at it. For your wristwatch to tell you what time it is, you just have to glance at your wrist. That’s easy to do while your hands are full, or while you’re doing something else, like driving or talking. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/11 "2018-06-12T16:36:04Z")
I posted “other” since I mostly wear watches that are wound automatically. ---
**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:** [June 12, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/12 "2018-06-12T16:38:10Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Sure we do. For your cell phone to tell you what time it is, you have to pull it out, turn it on, and look at it. > > For your wristwatch to tell you what time it is, you just have to glance at your wrist. That’s easy to do while your hands are full, or while you’re doing something else, like driving or talking. Or you’re running/cycling/other activity that makes getting at a phone awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/13 "2018-06-12T16:41:15Z")
The fact that Universal Time LLC does not issue constant updates that will eventually make my mechanical timepiece obsolete and inoperable is a big plus. A bit of bad coding cannot brick my timepiece of choice. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/14 "2018-06-12T16:45:23Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > I posted “other” since I mostly wear watches that are wound automatically. I chose ‘wind-up’ because automatic winding is technically winding. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/15 "2018-06-12T16:50:33Z")
I’m an engineer who regularly thrusts his arm inside machines, so I don’t wear a watch at all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/16 "2018-06-12T16:54:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I chose ‘wind-up’ because automatic winding is technically winding. 😉 I agree with you. Solar powered on the other hand I would put in the “other” category. Or maybe “toy”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/17 "2018-06-12T17:00:51Z")
I gave up wearing a watch for many years because I have a phone. Now I wear one as a piece of jewelry that happens to make telling time slightly easier than pulling my phone out of my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/18 "2018-06-12T17:11:06Z")
All y’all who are talking about solar and self-winding, you realize that the options are wind-up and _quartz_ - the latter of which is not a power source but rather a method of keeping time. The options are “precision of time is kept mechanically” and “precision of time is kept electrically.” My watch is quartz but actually resets itself nightly from the WWVB radio signal, so _it_ may be a third category - but at a minute-to-minute level it’s a quartz watch, so that’s what I picked. As for why a person would keep wearing a watch in this age of cell phones, why on earth would I want a cell phone? I have a wristwatch. It tells time, and even has alarms! What more could I possibly need? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/19 "2018-06-12T17:26:55Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I gave up wearing a watch for many years because I have a phone. > > Now I wear one as a piece of jewelry that happens to make telling time slightly easier than pulling my phone out of my pocket. This. Other than a wedding ring, a watch is the one piece of jewely men can wear without being criticized. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971/20 "2018-06-12T17:31:03Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Or you’re running/cycling/other activity that makes getting at a phone awkward. That’s why I chose “other” rather than “none”. I only wear a watch when running, otherwise I make do with my phone because the inconvenience of having to fish my phone out from my pocket is overshadowed by the inconvenience of remembering to wear a watch and keep it correctly set. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-list/815971.md?page=2)