Year In Review: Finding My Place In The Watch World

The watch world was, for the most part, quiet this year. Often, what we get from Swiss watch brands in our modern/contemporary watchmaking age are nicely crafted, wearable models that lack fantasy. The all-American concept of easy dressing, or athleisure, has swept the globe, and with that comes the impossible predilection for sports watches. They are “comfort” and “convenience”, dressed up nicely. Which, in my mind’s eye, is not that far (spiritually) from high-end activewear. This is why many of us go down the vintage rabbit hole for old ideas that might look right today. Alas, we are swept up in nostalgia. My hope is that watch brands soon realize that they have the power to set the agenda, andthey don’t have to live in perpetual servitude to consumer demand. Build, and they will come. Like my literary idol, former publisher, editor in chief of Women’s Wear Daily, and founding editor of W magazine, John Fairchild, once said in his acerbic and gossipy tome Chic Savages, “The shape of all fashion begins with the silhouette, but there are only a few designers capable of creating a new silhouette. And it is these designers – the giants – whose moods we follow… They are our heroes and sometimes our nightmares.”