Are Wristwatches Still Relevant?

With so many people throughout the world owning and carrying cell phones that have the accurate time, it's a wonder anyone still wears wristwatches.  But people do and wristwatches are as popular as ever!

Wristwatches have only been around for nearly a century now.  In the grand scheme of things, that's not a very long time.  Prior to that, there were clocks or larger pocket watches.  Wearing a watch on the wrist, hence the name wristwatches, started in the early 1900's.

But today an increasing number of individuals carry a smart phone.  Most of these devices have the exact time and date at one's fingertips.  Choices are even available for digital or analog, 12 or 24 hour formats.  It can be argued that the emergence and popularity of cellphones has made wristwatches obsolete.  If the only reason people wore wristwatches was to tell time, then you'd probably win that debate.  But obsolete, wristwatches are not.  Do a quick Google search for the word wristwatches and you will get over 14 million results.  That's an awful lot of interest in something that could be deemed irrelevant, wouldn't you agree?

My Wristwatches

I own two wristwatches.  Both were gifts from my wife.  These are not just any wristwatches.  They are Tiffany & Co. wristwatches.  One is for dress, the other sport or casual.  For me, these wristwatches are in the category of fine jewelry.   But they also have a practical side -- the tell time.  And there's a sentimental or emotional side, too.  My wristwatches are keepsakes because of who gave them to me and what they signify.

They are also fashion statements and symbols of success.  Each are pricey wristwatches, at least by my standards.  The dress watch is a thin solid gold timepiece that has a sapphire cabochon on the crown.  It is designed to wear with French cuff shirts, which I prefer with a business suit.  Without this, I don't feel completely dressed.  The other is gold and silver, much thicker, and has a light brown crocodile band.  I truly love my two wristwatches.

Practical Side of Wristwatches

Besides the fashion and success statements as well as pieces of jewelry aspects of wristwatches, quite a few professions and sports require the accurate measure of time.  For instance, recall the mental image of your last doctor office or emergency room visit.  Chances are you had someone or several someones with wristwatches looking at their wrists to tell the time while counting out your pulse.  They still do this manual check to validate the modern equipment so I'm told.

Scuba divers have some amazing options in wristwatches.  These are specialized instruments designed to handle water and depth pressures.  Some do all sorts of other things like measure depth and length of time underwater.

There's a military application to wristwatches, too.  These are typically chronometers which are certified for a degree of accuracy.  You  have probably seen movies where everyone synchronizes their wristwatches.  That points to the practical side of these.

With the improvement of digital just about everything, wristwatches can be found that are almost like James Bond pieces.  They not only tell time, but they offer GPS, cellular, games, and more.

All in all, I'm convinced wristwatches are going to continue to be around for the foreseeable future.  Sure, they're going to evolve and change as the times and technology progresses.  But, they're here to stay.

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To learn more and access additional links, Wikipedia has a good resource article.  To open that page, click on the link WRISTWATCHES.