Some still depend on convenient wristwatches

It has been reported that sales of wristwatches are down because younger consumers who spend much of their days staring at their smartphones don't feel a need for another device that will tell them what time it is — that will ONLY tell them the time.

I obviously am not a member of that generation. Since I retired from daily work in an office, I had put aside the dressy analog watch with hour and minute hands and even a day and date window and a metal wristband. These days, I strap on a digital watch with a stopwatch function (to time my running and other occasional needs). The watch would be on my wrist before I went downstairs for breakfast every morning.

Two days ago, I picked up my watch to strap it on my wrist and realized the view screen on the watch was blank. After thinking for a moment that the watch must be broken, I realized it was probably only a dead battery. There was no point in keeping on my wrist a useless watch with no numerals on its face. I put the watch aside and went about my business.

Within minutes, I found myself turning my left wrist clockwise to see what time it was. I continued working outside for another half hour or so before looking at my bare wrist again. In the next 10 hours, I probably glanced at my bare wrist another dozen times. I wanted to know how long I had been outside, how long before I could break for lunch, how long before a basketball game I was interested in would be on television. I wanted to be on top of time.

Yes, I could do as the millennials do and look at my phone, which always displays the correct time on its screen. But I found that action — digging the phone out of my pocket, "waking up" the phone and seeing the time — was much less efficient that merely turning my wrist 45 degrees to show the digital watch's face.

This problem became more acute when I decided to go for a short run. I could not switch my watch to stopwatch function and could not press the button that starts the timer with a simple turn of the wrist. My intention was to run four minutes, walk two minutes, run four, walk two, etc. as a way of working my way back into some near-septuagenerian physical condition. Keeping track of those running/walking times was easy on my wristwatch, a little more complicated with a phone in my pocket.

As I write this, I am wearing my "formal" watch with its analog face and metal band, and I am frequently glancing at it to see how much time I've spent on this task. I could glance instead at the corner of my computer screen to see the time, but the habit of turning my left wrist is deeply embedded, and I am more likely to look at my watch than to glance at the computer screen.

It's hard to believe that wristwatches will go away, replaced by smart phones, but I've found it hard to believe GPS devices have replaced paper maps, email has largely replaced letters and faxes, and websites have replaced encyclopedia and phone books. The wristwatch was a 20th century advancement, which gradually replaced pocket watches. My father carried a pocket watch most of his life but did begin wearing a wristwatch (a gift) occasionally in his elder years. (That pocket watch, which I remember his holding to my ear to hear its ticking, is now one of my most cherished possessions, displayed in a glass case on my mantel.)

Getting my first wristwatch (a Christmas gift) was a milestone of my development. The cheap mechanical watches of 60 years ago were not very durable or reliable. I must have worn and discarded several over a few years. The invention of battery-driven wristwatches was a huge leap forward and soon evolved into digital watches with multiple functions.

Today, I will replace the battery on my digital watch, and I will wear it most of my waking hours because lifelong habits die hard.