FRIDAY WIND DOWN: Kids now struggle with analogue watches, could this be the answer?
Zach BlassA few years back I was very disheartened by the news that some British schools were beginning to replace analogue clocks with digital ones. The Times Educational Supplement reported that the reason behind this was that some pupils were now struggling to read traditional clocks and needed a digital clock to be able to tell the time.
In the era of smartphones and digital devices, it may not be such a surprise that younger generations are less familiar with analogue timekeeping. Nevertheless, it still seems a bit lazy for U.K. schools to deem a quick 15 minute lesson on how to read an analogue clock too laborious for kids, particularly as avoiding the “problem” will only exacerbate it. The irony of this is that the less capable British children are in telling the time, fewer will be able to fully appreciate one of Britiain’s most iconic timekeepers: Big Ben. Interestingly, the United States takes the opposite stance, mandating lessons on analogue time reading as a component of the Common Core curriculum standards by the first grade.
This US approach is good news for the recently launched watch brand Parchie, founded by Hodinkee alum Cara Barrett. Named after Cara’s imaginary friend as a child, the playful Parchie Pal collection was formulated to help kids (or even adults) learn how to tell time by wearing an analogue wristwatch. Designed in NYC, three colourful watches comprise the debut collection: the teal, yellow and dark green “School-Time”, hot pink, pale blue and navy “Party-Time”, and the soon to be released blue, pink and orange “Me-Time”. Each configuration leverages a dive watch inspired design to make reading or teaching time-telling an easy affair.
Available for $50, each variant incorporates three different coloured hands to make it easy to discern which corresponds to the hours, minutes, and seconds. The bezel displays 12 Arabic hour numerals that correspond to baton hour indices on the dial, familiarizing the wearer with both numerals and indexes. Each of the 32mm watches are 30 metres water and splash resistant, and are powered by a hassle-free Japanese quartz movement – operated by an oversized crown for further ease of use. The Parchie platform also provides guides and instruction tools for time telling to make the teaching process as streamlined as possible.
It will be interesting to see how Parchie develops, and we’re certainly behind any means of “starting them early” (for more info on the watches click here). Fingers crossed, initiatives like this will hopefully ensure that it’s never time up for the traditional watch face.
Wishing you all a great weekend,
Zach
Watch meme of the week: understanding need versus want with @therelentlesstime
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I know we all feel a strong need for new watches in our lives, each fresh novelty a test of temptation. But if we move past the undeniable emotional bond we develop with timepieces it’s fair to say that more often than not the next purchase falls into the “want” category – and that’s okay. But don’t be surprised if your less horologically inclined partner disputes your desire to add yet another watch to your large collection. It is a conversation many of us have to navigate, and there is a fair argument that brands should use discreet packaging boxes to enable us to feed our watch addictions more easily.
Wrist shot of the week: @timepeacer’s customized Tudor BB58
When we first caught wind of @timepeacer and his customized Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy Blue, we were taken aback by how he managed to put his modern diver in a time machine. The bleach faded bezel and aged relume job really evoke the aesthetics of earlier generation Tudor divers that have patinated over time. Whether or not you are a fan of modding or customizing a watch, I think it is fair to say the DIY result achieved here (DIY at least for the bezel) was done very well. When we shared this image on social media, some of you shared that you found the effort pointless and detracting – a “faux-pas” if you will. But the overwhelming majority of you found yourselves in the “go faux it” bracket, with Adam Craniotes of RedBar summing it up best: “If this is wrong I don’t wanna be right”.
Recommended listening of the week: Zach talks watch enthusiasm, sales, and journalism on the Scottish Watches podcast
Today I made my podcast debut with the gang over at Scottish Watches. A long time coming, the hour long podcast chronicles my journey from enthusiast, to salesmen, to journalist and tips on how to navigate joining the hobby or industry in its different forms. We also all touched upon our favourite and least favourite releases of the last year, and swapped our very own success stories with eBay as well. I don’t want to spoil it all, so I’ll leave this link here if you want to have a listen. For those of you who haven’t heard me on YouTube or Clubhouse, you’ll know which voice is mine as my American accent is the least in need of sub-titles (just teasing Rikki and David).
My favorite T&T coverage of the week
VIDEO: The Hublot Big Bang Integral Blue Ceramic shows the potential future of sports watches
Hublot are a brand who love to outdo themselves, as well as outdo everyone else. With the craze for blue-dialled steel sports watches fading slightly, there’s a chance to pounce on forging the new watch trends for decades to come, and the Big Bang Integral in blue ceramic is a real marker of what the future could look like for sports watches. Definitely grab a nice mug of coffee, glass of whisky, or pint of beer and watch the video above for Fergus’ review of this blue ceramic beaut.
Don’t Feed the Hype: 3 alternatives to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
For the third installment of the “Don’t Feed the Hype” series, I explored three alternatives to the Royal Oak. The last time I was at Audemars Piguet’s office in New York City I was desperate enough to offer a kidney on trade, but unfortunately they declined my offer. So, like many of you the Royal Oak is just not currently in the cards for me to grab one at retail. Perhaps these three alternatives can properly fill the void.
WATCHSPOTTING: The watches that F1 drivers wear on summer break
It’s the summer break for Formula 1, and as fans around the world patiently await its return, Ricardo decided to check in on some of his favourite drivers to see what they’re up to – and of course what watches they are wearing. You can click here to check out the full watchspot sesh.