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past the point of utility!

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#1 ·
Posted this as a reply in the Citizen thread but figured it would be better for public discussion.

The question: Why do we collect watches or more aptly: What causes us to go beyond the point of utility in watches (i.e. why do we buy a Sinn when a Casio does just fine). My reasoning:

I've thought about this a lot. What happens when you surpass the point of utility in an item (i.e. I have one watch that tells time, why do I need 3 or 4 other watches or 10 watches, etc)? I think there are two primary reasons:

1) We get bored easily nowadays. Think about how much excess time we have to surf the internet, watch tv, etc. 100 years ago, you did not have this ultra easy access to knowledge/information/consumerism/etc. So, we get bored and we start looking into things, say watches, and one thing leads to another and you find yourself all of a sudden with 10 watches because they are an extension of the massive amount of time and thought you spent while bored! "It's something to do"

2) Watches, or any other "refined niche" hobby is a symbol of our choices. For instance, if you have $5k and you plan to spend it on a watch, you have freedom to choose from thousands of watches within in your budget. And your own personal goal is to maximize it's personal value to yourself (i.e. I want a watch that is both flashy and mechanical or I want a watch that can withstand a nuclear apocolypse!). In the end the watch is not something merely on your wrist that tells time, but a symbol of the refined choice you've made that's taken you countless hours to whittle down!
 
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#4 ·
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#8 ·
1) We get bored easily nowadays. Think about how much excess time we have to surf the internet, watch tv, etc. 100 years ago, you did not have this ultra easy access to knowledge/information/consumerism/etc. So, we get bored and we start looking into things, say watches, and one thing leads to another and you find yourself all of a sudden with 10 watches because they are an extension of the massive amount of time and thought you spent while bored! "It's something to do"

2) Watches, or any other "refined niche" hobby is a symbol of our choices. For instance, if you have $5k and you plan to spend it on a watch, you have freedom to choose from thousands of watches within in your budget. And your own personal goal is to maximize it's personal value to yourself (i.e. I want a watch that is both flashy and mechanical or I want a watch that can withstand a nuclear apocolypse!). In the end the watch is not something merely on your wrist that tells time, but a symbol of the refined choice you've made that's taken you countless hours to whittle down!
I agree to both points, but that's nothing new. In all ages people spent time and efforts on artwork that didn't fulfill any technical purpose. Look at all the wood carvings on viking ships, the stone masonry in medieval cathedrals, etc. Even in prehistoric times, people found the time to created artwork. If archeologists dig up such a piece now, they often call it a "cultic artifact".. ;-) ..what will they say if someone in 1000 years finds a wrist watch with a visible tourbillon?

Watches, just like jewelry and clothing, serve more a social function than a technical one. We don't need 20 different t-shirts either, still we have them. We hunt for objects that will express our personality. Some are very apparent (clothing), some are more subtle (watches), others are hidden in our modern "caves", reserved for the people we trust. What I wrote may sound a bit dismissive*, but that's not how I mean it at all. It's just perfectly normal human behavior. :-!

*or disdainful, or contemptuous, which would be the correct word? Sometimes posting in a foreign language isn't easy..
 
#10 · (Edited)
Because the reason we buy mechanical watches has almost nothing to do with utility. I buy them for both their aesthetic appeal and my appreciation of the beauty and simultaneous simplicity and complexity of the mechanical watch movement (one reason why most of my watches have a sapphire case back). For others, I suspect it's the enjoyment they get out of finding and collecting watches, learning about them and their history, trading them, talking about them -- somewhat like those who collect and trade baseball cards and enjoy talking stats and the history of the game (i.e., the hobby aspect). Still others simply see fine mechanical watches as a status symbol. Regardless, functional utility rarely has anything to do with a watch purchase.
 
#11 ·
I was just pondering this the other day, what is it about watches? Looking back I was nuts about watches in the 80's and back then it was getting the next digital watch with even more buttons or functions. Then during the 90's I admired watches from afar simply because I could not afford anything "decent". So fast forward to now, I am 45 and have built up a good life and so I can now afford things. So looking back at this all, my watch obsession falls in to 3 categories. Firstly, aesthetic. I am attracted to simple but good looking watches. 2, mechanical qualities step in next be it the movement or some other function. Lastly, because i am now in a position to indulge my hobby. And of course you can carry your hobby wherever you go and admire it as often as liked.

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#14 ·
Could it also be that its typically the only piece of jewelry a man can wear and accessorize with??

Could it be the fact mechanical watches are an outdated but once revolutionary engineering feat??
Absolutely.

Just that parts like Girard-Perregaux's or Ulysse Nardin's silicone escapements, Hublot's ceramic "magic gold", etc. etc. are still top notch engineering and at the very forefront of material development.
 
#16 ·
Because the reason we buy mechanical watches has almost nothing to do with utility.
This.

We buy divers that are waterproof to hundreds of meters below world diving records. We buy tourbillons that rotate the escapement of a watch on a constantly-moving wrist. Moon phases, when most of us are neither druids nor werewolves. Week-long power reserves to avoid spending five seconds winding a watch. And all of them tell time worse than a $10 mall watch.

People buy nice watches for many reasons, but utility is rarely one of them.
 
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