Why you should wear a broken watch

Buffy Acacia

While I can accept that wristwatches are useful items, I will always have a hard time believing any description of a watch as a “tool watch” unless you’re using it to hammer in nails, or if it has something like an altimeter built in. In fact, I don’t think any watches can really be considered objects of utility. First and foremost, they’re accessories and jewellery like any other bracelet, albeit with way more specifics, engineering and history to obsess over. In that light, does it really matter if your watch is actually working? It doesn’t, and here’s why you should wear broken watches.

The time doesn’t really matter anyway

How many times have you thrown a watch on your wrist while leaving in a hurry, not bothering to synchronise the time or give it a wind? Maybe you find the time to adjust it later on in the day, but for that period where it’s displaying the wrong time, nothing bad will have happened. You won’t have checked your watch and been late for an appointment, and nobody will have laughed at you for wearing it unadjusted. Well, hopefully not. The worst-case scenario is that you will have had to check your phone to see the time, if seeing the time was at all essential. It’s incredibly difficult to become so disoriented that you have no idea what the time is within the nearest half hour at least, which goes to show that a wristwatch’s primary function isn’t essential. It may have been at one time in history, but it’s not anymore. With that in mind, is a broken watch actually a failing of the object, or just a slight inconvenience?

Watches as accessories

It’s no secret that watches make wonderful accessories, but it’s rarely discussed why. It could be attributed to anything, but I think the secret is how much detail they have and how much character they impart. Even a minimalist watch will have multiple elements worth staring at, as each component contributes to an overall aesthetic. Chains, bangles or cuffs are usually more homogenous than that, and don’t draw the eye as much. Normal jewellery can’t really get away with having as much detail and intrigue as a watch design – watches, however, are normalised enough that they can get incredibly wild before eyebrows get raised. It’s not so much that watches need to work, but they should look like they could work.

Broken watches are much easier to buy

If you ever want to browse eBay for bargains, just try searching for “parts or repair” and you’ll be greeted by hundreds, if not thousands of watches. Sure, the vast majority of them are destined for landfill, but there are still many diamonds in the rough waiting to be found. Omega, Tudor, Seiko, and Longines are just some of the brands I see popping up a lot, especially models from the 1970s. I understand that those luxury watches aren’t actually worth anything near their full value were they fully functional, but that doesn’t kill the excitement that builds when I see a funky reference from a brand I love for only around US$100. Who says you can’t enjoy a luxury brand’s build quality just because the movement doesn’t work? Vintage Seiko case shapes in particular have incredible diversity and longevity.

Last year I became a bit of a gold hunter, and I spent countless hours trawling the internet in search of solid gold watch cases that had been misidentified. Admittedly, I was trying to recreate the high of finding an 18k Universal Genève at an op shop for $7, but my success rate was surprisingly high. Along that journey, I ended up owning quite a few watches which didn’t run. I had bought them for their cases, and if their cases didn’t turn out to be gold, then I couldn’t be bothered trying to sell them again. Instead, I got in the habit of wearing them. My little Art Deco Lavina is a beautiful watch that could probably run again with a service, but there aren’t many watchmakers who take on the task of servicing vintage women’s watches because of the lack of spare parts. And that brings me to my final point…

You can always fix it later

Not all watches are broken forever: they just exist in a stasis, ready to awaken with a proper service. Vintage watches that have been neglected usually end up with their oils getting gummed up with age, and all they need is a clean and re-oiling to get running again. Although ladies’ watches generally won’t be handled by an average watchmaker, there is always an option to turn to. When you buy a watch for $100 or less, it’s almost never going to be worth spending hundreds more on servicing. But, after potential years of wear, who’s to say? It’s similar to cryogenics. There’s no point in being frozen right now, but it’s a bet that at some point in the future, you’ll be able to fix the watch. You may even become so attached to the watch that fixing it would be a crime in your eyes. So go on, give that piece of junk a try, and pick up a broken watch to wear.