The timelessness of the wristwatch

The aspect of the timelessness of the wristwatch that has alwaysfascinated me is the transmission of savoir-faire from the maker into the future. It is one of the most interesting ways in which we can communicate with other generations. The idea that we can create something today to send a message to other human beings in centuries to come is mind-blowing when you stop and think about it. But it also goes the other way. For anyone who has visited a watch museum will know what I am talking about. To look at a timepiece made in the 1700s, for example, is like looking through a window into the past.

And for those watchmakers who restore historical watches, I imagine the electricity is tenfold as they open a caseback that has been closed for decades, or centuries even, to discover the work of someone who lived and worked in a whole different age.

But it isn’t only the artisans who create this magic around watches, the generations of people who wear them, enjoy them, live with them, care for them, and ultimately preserve them also makes them particularly intriguing.

Worn against the skin, a timepiece also records a life, ticks to the beat of its owner’s heart, and witnesses the good times and bad. It is a faithful, loyal, and reliable partner in life. And it doesn’t stop there, the day that life passes, it can start over on another wrist, almost in an eternal reincarnation that can be tracked and recorded.

With the arrival of blockchain, this magic will surely only intensify for future generations as they will have access to even more history and knowledge about a watch’s makers and its subsequent owners. When you think about it, perhaps the closest thing we will ever get to time travel will be via the wristwatch, which is rather appropriate really, as it is the one object that gives us the time!