Will Wearing Watches Go Out Of Style?

It is argued that watches are obsolete and they are not needed in today’s world, especially mechanical watches, that are basically an ancient technology when we compare to the digital technology that we now have access too.

We also need to accept that watches are effectively a fashion accessory, even if a lot of us disagree with this statement; there is still some truth to it and as we all know, things can very easily go in and out of fashion.

However, I don’t think this will happen with watches, as they still serve the function of telling us the time and the love for them goes far beyond this.

Pocket Watches

One of the arguments that wearing watches will gout of style is that it’s already happened before.

For a long time pocket watches where the most popular and fashionable things to own and as I am sure you are well aware, these are not really used anymore.

During the start of the World Wars people where still using pocket watches, but soldiers where finding them difficult to use in the battlefield and started to strap them to their wrist so they could check them with less effort. After this the pocket watches popularity was replaced with wrist watches.

You can still get pocket watches, but they are mostly reserved for pairing with formal attire.

It also must be noted that pocket watches did not really become obsolete, their core function of telling the time still remained necessary, it just happened that how that function was fulfilled was better suited to wrist watches, which leads me on to phones.

(You can read more about – Should You Buy A Pocket Watch?)

Everyone Uses Their Phone

A large proportion of society is glued to their phone almost 24/7. Phones are great, they are really clever little machines are effectively tiny computers in our pocket.

When we take a step back and think what they do it’s incredible. Think back to the late 90s, it’s not that long ago, but just think of some of the things you needed to own in your daily life…you had a phone for phone calls, a camera for photos, a calculator for maths, a torch for light, a TV to watch things, a walkman to listen to things, a computer for internet and emails, bank cards for money… and the list goes on. All these separate items that you had to own and carry around are now all merged into one little device, a phone. Pretty incredible!

You also need to remember that a phone can tell the time, it gives you the day, the date, has alarms, countdown timers, stopwatches and even world timers. Basically a phone can do anything and everything a watch does and it does it does it extremely accurately with little to no maintence, such as having to set the time every few days.

Phones can very easily replace the need for watches. I personally have fallen for this. When I was younger and my watch broke, I couldn’t afford a new one and I told myself it was fine, I could just use my phone and that is exactly what I did for a number of years.

This could mean that wrist watches are going to suffer the same fate as pocket watches. We still need to know the time, and potentially phones fulfil this need in an easier fashion.

We also need to realise that if people are faced with the dilemma of a watch or a phone, like I was, a phone is always going to win due its huge list of other functions that a watch can just never rival.

Smart Watches

Smart watches are the beacon of hope for wrist watches; ironically they are often produced by the same companies who make the phones that are destroying the need for a watch.

However, the fact that these exist and seem to very popular is a very good sign for watches. While they maybe some sort of hybrid between watches and phones, the basic principle of wearing them on your wrist stays the same.

This shows that while some people may enjoy the ease of using a phone, there are still a lot of people who like the concept of having something on their wrist. These watches are also getting a lot of people back into wearing a watch again and are also quite often a gateway into getting people to look at other more traditional watches.  

(you can read more about – Are Smart Watches Worth Buying?)

Watch Collecting Is Still Very Popular

The number of people who still enjoy wrist watches is still really high. I could have easily stayed with just using my phone, but I like the feeling of having a watch, I like that even if my phone dies, the watch will keep working and I especially like how they look. They are just wonderful to look at.

I know this view is shared by many other people and while my perception of how popular this might be could be slightly skewed, since I am in the watch collecting community and surrounded by like minded individuals, I do still think there still a large number of people around the world who will always love wearing a watch.

(You can read more about – Why Are People Obsessed With Watches?)

Sales Are Still Strong

A more tangible way to see that wrist watches are still very popular and are not dying out is to look at sales.

I would say that in general sales are slowly declining over the long term, but they are not dying.

If you look a little deeper into this you will see that luxury watch sales are staying very steady. If you look at the supply and demand issue of Rolex, I would argue, that given the chance, this market would actually grow.

This says to me that the average person is maybe less interested in buying watches and opting to just use their phones instead. However, it also shows that watches collecting, where there is usually more interest in luxury watches is actually growing.

New Realises

I also think it is important to look at how watch companies are always bringing out new watches as well as lots of new mirco brands starting all the time.

This shows there must be a market for these products and while wearing wrist watches may not be as popular as it once was, it still has a very strong following.

Vintage and Second Hand Watches

While the vintage and second hand watch market is not the biggest, it is still very strong. These will of course mainly be mechanical watches, which you could argue are obsolete. People are still fascinated with them and love them dearly, even if they are not the most accurate ways to measure time.

The fact that people are still willing to purchase these old and used watches with outdated technology shows they are still very popular products and they are not disappearing from people wrists any time soon.

Timeless Pieces

I think it is quite interesting that a number of watches seem to never go out of style. The clothes we have worn over the last 100 years has changed style every few years, but the watches really have not.

While there can be small changes, such as the watches getting bigger, overall, they still look the same. A Rolex submariner from 1954, 1994 and 2024 are all going to look fairly similar, the style is just timeless, while the popular clothes from these years may not be.

This tells me that it is very unlikely for these watches to suddenly become unpopular and are probably going to be sought after for many more years to come.

They Can Have Meaning

Watches are one of the few items, let alone fashion items that can have a significant meaning. They can often be gifted or bought to celebrate or remember a significant point in someone’s life and they also one of the few material objects that get handed down as heirlooms, allowing you to remember the previous generations.

These strong bonds we form with watches is why it will be very hard for us to totally allow watches to go out of style.

Conclusion

While a lot of people may have stopped using a wrist watch in favour of just using their phone, the demand and love of wearing a watch is not going away. People love mechanical watches, even if new technology is overwhelming better, people just love looking at them and they enjoy how they look and feel on the wrist.

I think wearing a watch is much more than a simple trend and is more of a functional necessity, like wearing shoes. They may change over time, but the basic principle is always going to remain.

(You can read more about – When Should You Buy A New Watch?)