A major current topic in our little world of ticks and tocks is how to get the next generation interested in our old-fashioned way of telling the time. It has been widely publicized that electronics, and particularly mobile phones, are taking over where mechanical – and even quartz – wristwatches have left off in the modern age.
A surprising thing happened to our family this month. We welcomed a visitor to our home…and I couldn’t have been more amazed when this fifteen-year-old popped a pocket watch out of her bag to look at the time. After my slackened jaw managed to close again, I began a long conversation with my son about fashion and timekeeping. He has graciously put a few thoughts down on our favorite topic. Now, I will admit that Alexander has probably had more exposure to the idea of wearing watches than the average teenager thanks to his mother’s profession. However, he does not wear one himself. Naturally, he is intensely interested in mobile phones and other gadgetry available to his generation. Please read on to see what sixteen-year-old Alexander Doerr has recently observed.
About a year ago, Amanda visited an antiques market in Washington, D.C. Many things there caught her eye. “I like older stuff, objects that carry tradition and culture, something modern technology doesn’t capture,” she said to me when I asked about her pocket watch. At the market just this one item in particular captured her attention enough for her to buy it. Though it may seem relatively unspectacular to some, particularly dyed-in-the-wool watch nerds – and, obviously, it isn’t really antique at an asking price of $25, but rather made to look so – this object means a great deal to Amanda. She considers it to be a part of her; she’s very emotionally connected to the watch. This does set her apart from other teenagers.
Personally, I have never considered a timepiece to be necessary. Like most of my peers, I check the time on my cell phone. Rarely has it ever crossed my mind to actually go out and buy a watch. However, if I were given the right one, I would almost certainly wear it. It’s one of those things you don’t really know you want until you have it, and suddenly you can’t imagine living without it anymore.
Wakaba, a 16-year-old high school student, desperately wanted nothing more than a Fossil watch. “I’ve always wanted a watch because it’s easy to check time and stuff. Fossil watches are so pretty; I don’t know why people are obsessed with Ice Watch, I find them ugly because they are just plastic,” she says of her choice. “I thought it would be better to buy a proper one so I can use it when I’m older too,” she adds. So, for Wakaba the Fossil is apparently a fashion item as well as a practical instrument.
Fossil watches have proven surprisingly popular among the younger crowd, with many females I know feeling the need to wear a timepiece by this brand. Possibly, this could be put down to the fact that females are further away from their cell phones than males as their pockets are either non-existent or too small.
Another big player in the industry at large – and particularly in the youth market – is Swatch. Sabrina was eleven years old when she made the first “big” purchase of her life, taking her own accumulated savings at that point to buy a Swatch. Now she’s 14 and can’t go out without her watch. When asked why she felt the need to buy a timepiece at such a young age, she said, “Looking at my phone was too complicated, I wanted to be able to look at my wrist and always know the time.”
In my opinion, watches are slowly but surely becoming trendy again with the younger crowd, with many teenagers seeing them as just as much a fashion statement as a practical timepiece. The fashion statement part has been brilliantly marketed by Ice Watch, for example, particularly here in Germany. This brand’s brightly colored plastic wristwatch is instantly recognizable to any teenager today and an object of desire among many. I personally know many girls (in particular) who wear Ice Watches. These highly contemporary watches act as a great bridge to developing more sophisticated taste for watches as luxury items later in life.
(Well, one can certainly hope!)
