Telling the Time vs. Wearing a Watch
 

It's been several years since I wore a watch. I'm not sure if that's normal. Almost everyone I know has them. I have them but they sit in a drawer in my house. They are pretty but I don't care for them much.

I'm pretty high strung, so the added pressure of a watch seemed to get on my nerves. One day I forgot my watch. I didn't miss it. Increasingly, I'd forget to wear one. Until I stopped entirely.

These days I don't wear one. Of course, I also have a mobile phone that I can look at to tell the time. Or my PC. Or someone else's watch.

I find that I check the time less and less though. Much of the time, I instinctively can say what time it probably is. I'm usually within 15 mins of the correct time.

Sometimes I'll forget to set my alarm in the morning but it's really only to make sure I don't forget. Most morning's I'll wake up a minute before it rings, or even earlier. I think because I don't wear a watch, my body has learned to tell the time somehow.

Last year during my masters I even forgot to wear a watch to an exam. For exams I'll usually take one with me.

But I really don't miss watches. I think if I wore a watch I'd be even more electric and speeded up than I already am.

Do you wear a watch? How do you feel about watches? Can you tell the time instinctively? What do watches do (or not do) for you?

No, I don't wear a watch. I own them, but never wear them anymore. I don't think I ever have really worn a watch except the antique looking one I have, and then only as jewelry.

I am not good at telling time instinctively. I always think it's later then it is.

I don't wear a watch. I dislike them. They are uncomfortable and somehow I always end up ripping paper I'm writing on or something.

I think they do dress up outfits occasionally, but I don't like having the ticking and the constant need to look at the time hanging out on my wrist. I hardly ever wear jewelry, even, so I tend to forget to take a watch off when I wash my hands.. essentially ruining it.

My favorite watch I ever owned was my first "real" watch - made of an old painted nickel. I still have it somewhere.

I went for years without a watch... then my wife bought me one for my birthday. I have been wearing it since.

One thing I do though, is when I am on vacation... I take it off. I don't need to be anywhere and don't want to be troubled with TIME.

I always have a watch on. When I worked, I always had to know what time it was, time was an important factor. Now, even though I can come and go as I please and I don't need to know what time it is, I still wear it out of habit. I suspect I will not care what time it is in three weeks or so, and the watch will not be that important to me. I'll probably still wear it out of habit.

I wore them as a kid because I wasn't allowed to be late for dinner. Dinner was at a precise time and we all sat together to have dinner.

When my batteries ran out on the watch I was wearing I wore the watch because I felt weird without it. I took it off in Maui at Byrnison's wedding. I never wore a daily watch ever again. My parents gave me a dress watch for my wedding day. I only wear it when I dress up for occassions. Otherwise it is in the drawer. Otherwise, I'm using my cellphone or PC for the time.

I don't wear a watch. I have a cell phone that tells me the time if I need to know it. Otherwise I rely on other methods.

I haven't worn a watch in years. Between my cellphone and my diad I always know what time it is when I'm working. I have a pretty nice dress watch, but rarely dress up so I rarely wear it. I used to wear one all the time but kept on breaking them at work, so I decided to stop wearing them all together.

Anything on my neck/wrist/etc drives me nuts. It took me months just to get used to wearing a ring. Don't need it in the office as I'm constantly in front of the computer, and don't need it out in the field because I have the cell phone. In fact, some of our jobs won't allow watches because of a shock hazard.

I don't wear a watch. My band broke about 4 years ago and I haven't had the will to send a letter to Denmark for a new one. I use my cell phone. I set an alarm every night (or my wife does), but I usually wake up about 5 minutes before it goes off.

I've never worn a wristwatch regularly. They usually made my skin irritated and sweaty. I hate the feeling of them. I don't wear any jewelry for that matter.

For a few years I wore a pocket watch. I love them. I would wear one today, except the only one I have right now is broken (the back won't stay on).

As for telling time, I'm constantly looking at the time, whether it's the computer clock, my cell phone, or parking meters as I walk by them on the sidewalk.

I don't always feel rushed; I just like to know what time it is or whether I'm on schedule. I don't like being late...for anything.

It's funny, I've got an absurdly priced timepiece that's so busy and gaudy that I can't even read the time with it. On occasion I'll sport a watch I got from my parents a few years ago but I'm just not a watch guy.

Even with it on, I'll sooner check the time with my cellphone.

is it me or is everyone here a non watch wearer?

maybe ist just the non watch wearers posting?

up until 3 months ago i never used to wear a watch. took me 30 years to get me to wear a watch. i dislike jewellery. period.

but i bought one and i dont love it, but im not hating wearing one.


i remember cadre started a thread similar to this a few months back.

I always wear a watch. I set my alarm to wake in the morning, not because I will sleep in, but just 'in case'. I hate having to ask other people for the time when my watch is broken. I couldn't live without it. I always think the time is later than it is, so it's no good my not wearing one!

I don't regularly wear a watch.... got one as a gift years ago and wore it on and off... but haven't worn it for a few years now... I don't like to be constantly reminded of time ticking by. I wear a digital watch for about 6 weeks out of the year during harvest (winemaker - so always need to be timing things) and for running, but that's it.

got a heartrate monitor that has a watch function. I only wear it when exercising, and then its on my heartrate function and not the time. Reason I dont wear it all the time, is that it gets sweaty and icky so its strictly part of my gym stuff

The only time that I am NOT wearing a watch is in the shower, and that's only because the watch is not waterproof. :lol: I wear it all the time, even to bed, because when I wake up in the middle of the night I need to know what time it is (it has glowing numbers/hands)--and we don't currently have an alarm clock with LED numbers that both ktsp and I can see. If we did, I *might* take off my watch at night, but we'll see when it happens. I like being able to know what time it is, anytime... even though I am often late for everything. :)

This is also the first watch of mine that I have really loved and wanted to wear all the time... my dad let me pick it out as a master's degree graduation present in 2005, and it was the first time that I got to pick my own watch instead of someone else giving me something I didn't like. There are two times that I have not worn it since then: when I went to Zambia and lived in the bush for 2 months, because I didn't want to have anything valuable on me at the time; and when I was working at the fish factory in Iceland for 3 months, where we were not allowed to wear jewelry in case it got caught in the machinery or fell off into the fish. :lol:

oops...I should know better right? But I don't remember the thread and I did a search first...slap my wrist? heh.

Edit: here it is, it's not about the exact same thing:

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...-make-man.html

I'm surprised by all the non-watch wearers!

I'll confess: I've been a wearer for many years. Sometimes I resent that I feel naked without it, but it's become such a habit, although time makes itself known in so many other places these days (computer, phone, TV). Maybe one day I'll quit.

At least I don't sleep with it on.

Hey! Are you implying something about those who do, hmm??? ;)

I don't see why it's such a bad thing to wear a watch. I mean... who cares, really?

Personally, I really just love my watch, particularly because it was a gift from my dad, and it is the first nice watch (Swiss!) that I was asked to pick for myself, instead of being given some flashy thing that was not in my taste at all. Here is mine (sorry for the large pic, that is all they had)... the hands and hour dots glow in the dark as well.
http://shop.tissot.ch/mm5/graphics/0...1/34128113.jpg

of course I wear one. I have a job and I make plans. I don't want to be late for them! Plus, my watch is awesome. I have 2 of them. 1 casual and 1 formal. they're nice to look at! the people I know that don't wear watches are the ones that are late or forget shit. I don't want to be like that.

Time is irrelevant. I have a watch that doesn't work right now, but I don't wear one 99% of the time. I live my life on my schedule.

I stopped wearing a watch years ago. The ones with the metal bands never fit right and the leather straps kept falling apart from all the hand washing.
There are plenty of other clocks around where I don't miss wearing one at all.

I wear a watch, but not on my wrist. I keep it on my belt and have for years. I started years ago when I was sailing cause I was always catching it on lines and sails and ripping the band off, so one day I put it on my belt and have never looked back. Most people seem to think it's weird to wear it there, but I love it.

Laptop, VCR, various clocks, cellphone, PDA

I never need to take more than 2 steps to even see the time, why would I want to wear a watch anymore.

We've had a discussion about this some time ago. A lengthy one at that.

A watch is an accessory. Depending on who you ask, it can mean a difference between a good and excellent first impression. It is a status symbol. It's an icon of style. A watch is a piece of jewelry that is more than just a timepiece. I've worn a watch since I got my first digital red one at the age of 6. There was a brief pause for a year and a half where all the watches I've had were broken and I didn't have the money to buy one. However, I wear one everyday, even if I just run out of the house around the corner to buy chips.

My uncle hasn't taken his watch off in about 2 years. He sleeps, eats, showers with it. It becomes a part of you. In the end, different strokes. I think a watch is necessary.

Yup. I would never take mine off, if it were waterproof (and if the sulfur in the Icelandic water didn't tarnish everything it touched). With my gold earrings and wedding ring, I really don't take them off, ever... they don't tarnish, and there is no reason to remove them... they are a part of me, as you said.

I wear a stainless steel watch all the time...take it off in the shower to wash under it, but other than that, it stays on. Half the time I sleep with it on.

This reminds me of the Mitch Hedberg joke:

I don't have a microwave oven. I have a clock that occasionally cooks shit.

The only time I'm typically not wearing my watch is when I'm at the computer or playing the violin.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/...707eb22729.jpg

I'm still late for things even though it's set about a minute and a half fast. I've grown too accustomed to wearing one to go without.

I've never worn a watch or any jewelry for any real period of time. Anything against my skin bugs the shit out of me. I also have a fairly good internal clock, that, plus my cellphone that's usually on me has gotten me by. I've been thinking of carrying a pocket watch though.

I'm currently saving up for this one:

http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/L10804561.jpg

I tried having a watch with those arms on it, but I stopped wearing cause when someone asked for the time I would get nervous and not be able to read it. I now have a digital watch with the numbers on it.

I wear a watch. It beeps every half-hour during a certain time-span during the day, so that I remember to check the online schedule to see if I have any sessions at work.

I was hoping to get more responses on whether it's important to you to know the time constantly, and whether anyone else experiences this weird time telling ability. How does wearing a watch or not wearing one affect you? Would you be better without it? I feel I am better without one. I didn't want to start a discussion about watches specifically...I hate the things!

How do I feel without it? Naked.

I'm pretty good at estimating the time, and have been since I was young. Whether I have a timekeeping device with me or not, I pretty much always know what time it is to the nearest half hour.

A watch is an accessory. A good watch can say a lot about a person. No watch doesn't really imply anything in my mind, though.

I'm not often late for important things. Occasionally I'm 5 or 10 minutes late meeting Magpie or something like that, but social events aren't really that urgent in my mind anyway. She's learned to accept my eccentricity.

I usually wake up shortly before my alarm goes off (but some days I can sleep right through it if I'm really tired or out of whack). I am usually pretty good at telling what general time of day it is.. and usually that ability is influenced by my current level of hunger. ;)

I have a Tag I wear at work. It makes in convenient to tell the time when I'm wandering around or in other people's offices. I often consult my PC when I'm at my desk or the clock on my desk. My phone also has a clock. I do take off my watch and wedding band when I get home and rarely wear either unless I go out for something more than a Home Depot run.

For me, I like knowing what time it is, but I do have kind of an "inner" sense of what time it is throughout the day... this developed more when I was teaching high school and had to internalize 50-minute blocks of time, so from that I developed a sense of half an hour, couple of hours, etc. So I pretty much know what time it is during the day, as long as I wake up at the same time. Days when I sleep in, not so good... but then I don't have many appointments, so it doesn't matter. But watches help me know EXACTLY what time it is, to the minute... which is important when I have people to meet, classes to attend, shops to go to (I delay grocery shopping, the post office, etc usually until the last 5 minutes when they are closing--so yes, every minute is important!), etc.

In the middle of the night, I *must* know what time it is, for some odd reason... which is why I sleep with my watch on, and why I like having it with glowing numbers/hands. One feature that I use my watch for even more often is the date, since that appears on my watch... and it was a specific feature that I wanted, when I bought it. I often lose track of the date, so I have to check my watch for that every few days.

I don't think I would be "better" or worse without a watch... I would function okay, but would most likely be even more late than I already am WITH a watch on. I don't have a lot of electronic devices in the house (or if I do, all the clock settings are off), so unless the computer is on, I don't know what time it is. I like having the ease of everything I need being on my wrist, not having to dig out a cell phone (which is always buried somewhere, and takes too long to find) or search around for a clock or calendar... I can just pull up my wrist and bam, I get the info I need, when I need it. It's just part of me.

I'm pretty good at estimating the time. I usually wake up a few minutes before my alarm goes off and if I put something in the microwave for let's say 8 minutes or something, I can screw around cleaning up and stuff and I almost always make it back into the kitchen and open the microwave right as the timer reaches zero. It's kind of gotten to be a challenge to myself. I don't remember the last time I went to get something from the microwave and it had more than 5 or 6 seconds left. Funny thing, I'm good at knowing how much time has passed since my last reference point, but I suck at distances and angles.. I swear none of the pictures in my room are straight and I couldn't tell you dimensions of a 2x4.

I can instinctively know what time it is-it weirds out my friends all the time. I'm usually no more than 10 minutes off. Even my eyes tell me what time it is-they start to dry out about 4pm. Otherwise, time is a sense to me-if I think it's 5pm, it probably is, without any outside markers.
I own several watches-all with dead batteries. I don't miss wearing them at all, but if I wanted to spend the money to get them fixed, I would start wearing them again, I'm just too cheap and too forgetful to do it.

I used to be able to get up seconds before my alarm went off, but nowadays I have some sleep issues so I definitely need the alarm. During the day, if I'm in a routine I'd probably have a sense of the time but definitely have no sense of time without it. Sometimes an hour has passed in 20 minutes :orly: and sometimes it can take two (hours).

Most likely, I'd survive without it since my Blackberry and I are joined at the hip, but I'm so used to it.

Time gets in the way a lot of times. I only need it if there's a class I need to be at or something happens at a specific time, don't want to miss my plane! :D

I used to wear one, a few years ago, I'll agree to that 'becomes part of you' thing, as much as I'd hate to admit, lol. I wore one for yearssss, and now I haven't worn one for a few years, and I stillllllll look at my stupid wrist whenever anyone asks me a question. Any question, did the same thing when I was wearing the dumb thing, rofl. And even if they'd ask for the time, and I looked at my watch, it would take a little while for me to notice I was looking at the watch for the time. -.-

I'm awful at telling time without my phone, or a nearby clock. ;) I'm always late for things, though that might be because that's how I grew up, family's always late for stuff. I could live without knowing the time, but sometimes it's just nice to know. :)

I think I'm better without it also, everyoneeeee would be better without them. Schedules are blech. Grr's time. ;)

I do have the ability to estimate the time within 5 minutes, provided I've seen a clock in the last hour. You might notice your that your ability to predict lessons the further you get from a reference point. I think it does from from incessant time watching, but I do feel like I get the time right on most times. Like above, I can set the microwave and get back within 15 seconds of the end time.

It's just like the laws of estimation when you're talking about engineers. If you ask them to estimate the time to complete a project in months, they'll generally be right to the nearest week. If you ask them in weeks, they'll generally be right to the nearest day. If you ask them in days, they might be right to the nearest half day.

If I've seen a clock within an hour or two, I can get the minute of the current hour damn near dead-on. If I've seen a clock only once or twice that day, I can get the hour, but usually not the minutes.

Likewise, I noticed that there are a great many things that we subconciously use for that prediction. I just spent half a week in Vegas, and when you're inside the Casinos, its incredibly difficult to predict the time. There is a steady flow of people in and now, so you can't guess whether it's late or early by people leaving or entering, there are no natural light references so you can't even really tell if it's night or day, and there is enough noise and artificial light that you can't really predict the hour either. It's quite amazing. Likewise, they deliberately don't hang clocks, because they know this and they want you to say there as long as possible spending all your monies.

Also, I don't wear a watch. I don't consider it a fashion statement, and none of my professional superiors (or role models) wear watches daily. Their attire is nice, and very businesslike, but they aren't wearing watches. I honestly think it is on the way out, particularly among those in high technology. During my day I walk from my bedroom, to my kitchen which has a clock, get in my car which has a clock, walk from my car to work with a clock on my phone, get to my computer and phone, which each have clocks on them.

I wear a watch.
This one, in fact.
http://i14.ebayimg.com/04/c/000/77/73/5af7_7.JPG
I wear my watch at all times, except for when I am sleeping. Yes, I wear it swimming, hiking, anything. It's a sturdy watch. I am less inclined to carry a cell phone, rarely leave it on when I do. I don't consider looking at my cell phone for the time, though I will consult it for the date.

I am not good at estimating time. I do wake up before my alarm most mornings, out of habit more than anything.

I feel just the opposite. Ticking of seconds is soothing. Sometimes my mind speeds up to an unhealthy rate, I feel like I can't keep up with my thoughts. For a few brief moments, I will put my ear to my watch, focus on the ticks. Life moves at this pace, not that - and I breathe.

I can honestly say that I would not be better without my watch. I'm more centered and happy with my ticking friend on hand.

I generally know about what time it is without a clock around. I get thrown off at work frequently because there are no windows to judge the time by the amount of sunlight.
I typically don't use an alarm clock either. I can usually wake myself within 5-10 minutes of when I want to get up. Since it doesn't work 100% of the time, I do set an alarm for those times when oversleeping is not an option.
When I wore a watch, I was late frequently and would need an alarm to wake up.
I think i am better off without one.

I sometimes find it interesting (because I sometimes think about random things like this) that the pocket watch was replaced by the wrist watch, which seems to be in the throes of being replaced by the cell phone, which as far as a timepiece is functionally very similar to a pocket watch.

It's damn near impossible to guess the time in the middle of the Icelandic winter, when it's dark from 3pm to 11am every day. You just live in pitch darkness, and might know that it's lunch time when the sun makes it above the horizon.

I wore a watch and couldn't live without it for years I found myself looking at it to much so I decided a couple of years ago not to worry about what time it was and ditched it. I have your typical office job so between my computer's clock and clocks all around the office there is no chance I'd be late for anything. My cell phone is my back up, but often enough I turn that off as well or don't have it with me. I've really mellowed as I've gotten older and part of that is to enjoy life outside work without having to be constrained to time.

I don't wear a watch only 'cause the strap of my favorite one fell to pieces. I'm a very punctual guy when I have a watch, but since I ditched it, I'm actually sorta loose with time. I use my cell phone to tell the time now and that requires taking it out of my pocket. Thus, I only check the time when I have something lingering over me.

I have more watches than fingers, and generally wear one. Being a schoolteacher, I could likely cope without one since we have big clocks in every classroom - but I do like having one on and being able to check it when I need to, although like several others in this thread I'm normally pretty good at guessing what time it is.

Incidentally, my watch's battery ran out a couple of weeks ago, so I had to ditch wearing it until I had time (ha!) to go get a new battery and have it installed. :( I have really missed having it on my wrist at all times, but it's interesting giving my wrist a break and having to depend on my computer and cell phone more often. I dislike waking up in the middle of the night and not knowing what time it is, though.

Own more than one watch... perhaps a handwind? :)

While I can guess the time decently I think, I feel naked without a watch on when I am out.

Eh, or just stop being lazy and go buy a new watch battery! :shy:

Yes, I wear a watch.
It's an old Swiss made Waltham, circa 1958...1959, that I picked up in a shop several years ago. No batteries. I have to wind it every day. It is attractive, it is functional, and I'd frankly be lost without it. It's only 17 jewels...nothing fancy. But, it has kept excellent time for about 50 years now. It goes to the watchmaker's shop every two years for a cleaning and oiling. I have owned, and used, several watches over the years. Usually analog. I have only ever owned one digital watch. This one seems more a "part of me" than any of the others.

weird... for some reason today I put on a watch.

Wednesdays at golf would be fun without watches - tee offs are 7 minutes apart - don't be late! My tee off is almost exactly 1.5 hours away - my watch will help me get there on time :)

I can't stand watches or any jewelry. I don't care to modify my behavior or avoid activities due to the fact that I have a delicate piece of metal on my wrist which could be damaged. They're uncomfortable, and for the most part, unnecessary.

I run 4 times a week and teach a running class - a watch is pretty well mandatory for me.