Manly Men's Fashion For Men (And Boys): Timepieces

Hey there, internet! I've returned from a glorious coffee-and-cookies-and-pork-roasts filled Christmas in Haliburton, Ontario with my family and Erin (check out her blog for some very fetching Christmas pics, by the by). I wasn't away from the internet, technically, but I was away from a computer with a comfortable keyboard and photoshop, so the blargh went on an accidental hiatus. I promise there will be more regularly updated useless tripe from me in this space from now on. 

I don't know if this is gonna be a regular feature, but I'm a proponent of personal style. Nowhere near as professionally as my lovely girlfriend, but a proponent none the less. I like to dress well and in a way that makes me feel good and have fun. So, I figure that's as good a topic to blog about occaisonally. Thus, today I'mma talk about one of my favourite things, fashion-wise... watches.

You don't need a watch anymore, much less a pocket-watch like I like wearing. You've got a phone. It's got a clock on it. It's in your pocket. It successfully serves the same purpose (and can make phone calls)! Despite this, I love wearing a pocket watch. It's an accent, a fashionable anachronism. I admit that and love them for it. Though my phone can and does often serve the same purpose as a pocket watch, I still wear one for the same reason I'd wear a tie. It's classy and it's fun. And, maybe if I check the time on my watch instead of my phone I'll be less inclined to refresh twitter every five minutes.

This silver-plated pocket watch was a gift I got from my mom for my 25th birthday. I love it to pieces - the hands are super ornate and despite the tiny slim font it's imminently readable. My parents are both silversmiths/jewellers (please check out their work at Paradigm Designs if you're so inclined) and they keep promising to monogram that little shield on the front of it. One day! The chain was hand-made by my mother as well, and was originally a necklace of my grandmother's. I love that little bit of sentimental history behind the chain, even if it could probably stand to be shortened a little as I usually wear this watch with jeans (it's got a sweet lobster-claw clasp on the other end I attach to my belt-loop).

Fun fact! That itty-bitty pocket just above the right-hand front pocket on most pairs of jeans is traditionally meant to hold a pocket watch. I get a big kick out of using it for it's 'real' purpose, even if it's out of a grossly misplaced sense of utilitarianism (especially since I've just established that pocket watches are mostly decidedly non-utilitarian jewellery pieces... shut up...).

This watch I only bust out for weddings and funerals and sometimes New Years parties. It was my paternal great-grandfather's and was gifted to me on my 21st birthday by my father (along with complete sets of Marvel Comics trading cards I collected when I was 5 that he'd been saving, for that birthday, for 16 years. My father is the Machiavelli of gift-giving). This watch is very, very small (about two-thirds the diameter of my silver watch), but I adore it. It keeps time very quite well! As I mostly keep it as a display piece on my desk under glass, I often forget to wind it. I really should, though - I really don't want this action to get atrophied.

And speaking of anachronism, I just picked up my first wristwatch. As much as I hate to say it this probably has something to do with the fact that with the continuing ubiquitousness of smartphones, even wristwatches have become mostly pointless and vestigial - I never would've wanted one to wear one when most people wore them. I recognize that this is obnoxiously contrarian and perhaps the most blatantly rank hipsterism, but, again, I'm having fun. Deal with it, society! 

I got this wristwatch for 10 bucks at a flea market in St. Catherines with Erin and was very disappointed to discover it didn't work when I replaced the batteries at home. Even if it's a crappy old Timex, I really loved how it had the look of a watch my granddad or Roger Moore (who was essentially a sexy granddad for most of his tenure as 007) would've worn. My wristwatch doesn't have a laser or grappling hook, but, again, I do have an iPhone and I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before those are standard features of Apple products. Until then, I'm satisfied that it tells the time and lets the world know that even though it's monofunctional, it looks cool, and that's good enough for me.

Aesthetics!