The memes of the week: Self-delusion and Groundhog Day

Luke Benedictus

She’s got your number via @youcanneverhaveenoughmemes

Watches can be expensive. Often very expensive indeed. Sadly, for those of us that don’t manage hedge funds or aren’t oligarchs’ sons, this can have a very real knock-on effect on other areas of life. Sacrifices have to be made. Fiendishly complex feats of mental gymnastics must be performed in order to justify your next buy. Outside the narrow confines of the watch world, such arguments can seem wilfully deranged.  In this meme, Trump, of course, provides a ready-made symbol for self-delusion and noisy bluster. But I love the piercing gaze of the “mum” in this photo. Her look conveys such a mix of withering fury yet resignation at her powerlessness to intervene.

Groundhog day for your wrist via @brodinkee

This shouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, while in office, Barack Obama used to wear virtually the same clothes every day. “You’ll see I wear only grey or blue suits,” he admitted. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” Other highly successful people like Mark Zuckerberg take the same streamlined approach to their wardrobes, too. The idea is that you save time and mental energy that could be invested in more fruitful areas of your life.

So why does it feel so wrong when you apply this policy to your watches? I think it’s probably the way that it highlights how unnecessary most of your watch collection actually is. And perhaps even that you’re addicted to the thrill of the chase rather than the final conquest.  After all, if you’re not wearing most of your watches, what is the point in amassing more of them? Yet I expect that most of us fall into this sorry trap unless we make a conscious effort to spread the love.

A question of perspective via @simonzzo

The advent of smartphones means that the purpose of a watch is increasingly a matter of self-expression. Most of us buy into that idea to some extent, too, with our choice of watches. You may live in an urban apartment but that no-nonsense tool watch reflects the fact that you still perceive yourself as a rugged, outdoorsy kind of guy. You wear a specific luxury brand because you feel it projects a certain image of status and success. What I like about @simonzzo’s brutally self-effacing post is that it offers a reminder that your watch is just one very marginal part of a bigger picture. Don’t forget to zoom out and consider the whole.