Written by Audrey Orenstein
Art by Justin Bissonette
My first memory regarding a pocket watch dates back to Kindergarten. It was a bad day. I had just cracked my skull open on the outside wall of Nathan Clifford Elementary School during recess. There’s still a scar on my head. I was in the hospital. My mother was there. While I don’t remember any of the medical aspects of my stay, I do remember repeatedly checking my Thomas the Tank Engine pocket watch and complaining that I would be late for snack time. Yeah, single-digit-year-old me sure was something.
Following that, I can’t recall using a pocket watch to any comparable extent up until a year ago, when I dusted off another train themed one from my childhood and brought it to college to see what kinds of effects it would have on my life, both socially and generally. I’ve kept a pocket watch in all of my coats ever since. My social anxiety keeps telling me that I did this just to be quirky. Likewise, I feel like everyone thinks that I’m “trying too hard.” I’m writing this piece to try and dispel both of those self-accusations.
Granted, a pocket watch can’t do as much as a smartwatch. You could argue that they’re pretty much useless nowadays and I couldn’t really disagree with you. However, in the past year, I’ve gotten a lot out of having these archaic little timepieces on my person. Here’s how:
- They’re cool and unique
As much as I’d like to pretend this isn’t a reason, I know in my heart that it is. Yes, it’s really fun to whip out a pocket watch and have people comment positively on it. It’s a fun way to stand out, but not necessarily an obnoxious one. The only times I pull out one with the intention of showing off is when I’m already getting accused of being a time traveler (which happens a lot). Other than that, I only ever check it to see what time it is. If someone happens to compliment it, that’s gravy (but man, that gravy can be really tasty). Also, it pairs surprisingly well with a large number of outfits. Since pocket watches aren’t known as belonging to any one aesthetic, they can pretty much go with any look.
- They tell time without being my phone
In an age when phones can do pretty much anything, it’s worth noting how that’s not always a good thing, at least for me. In my experience, I find that I’m really bad at doing only one thing on my phone. If I check the time on my phone, then my phone is out and I might as well do something else on it. Sometimes, I think it’s just a little bit too convenient. Conversely, a pocket watch tells time and it does so really well. That’s it. I pull it out, check the time, and put it away. Ironically for a timepiece, it keeps me more in the moment. It doesn’t prompt me to do something else because “why not,” it just tells me what time it is. That level of specialization proves to be quite refreshing in my day-to-day existence.
- They can function well as a fidget
Despite all of what I said in the previous paragraph, a pocket watch can very much function as a distraction if you want it to. I can’t really describe it, but there’s something about watching the second hand move merrily along as the minute hand slowly transitions over the course of sixty seconds that can be strangely engrossing. This isn’t even to mention the consistent ticking noise, consistently satisfying in its own right. On top of all of that, there’s one other potential aspect to these things that is probably my favorite. One of my pocket watches (yes, I have several, I’ll get to that) allows you to open up the back and lets you see all of the little gears and gadgets and gizmos. I could watch that all day. It’s like having a little kaleidoscope in your pocket, except it also tells time.
- They’re satisfying to take care of
Here at college, I don’t have any plants or pets to attend to. My boyfriend/roommate has a furby named Timothy, but he doesn’t really count, no matter what he may tell you. In place of any of that, two of my pocket watches are mechanical, meaning they need to be wound. This is in opposition to battery powered ones, which just keep ticking until they die. I prefer the mechanical ones. A nice little addition to my morning routine has been winding and setting the time on whatever pocket watch I’ll be using that day. I don’t know, it’s just strangely fulfilling to keep a little machine going. With that in mind, however, it’s also nice that failing to do so won’t result in anything dying.
- They can be both really personally meaningful and functional on a daily basis
This might be the most important reason I can think of for why having a pocket watch or two can be so nice. Right now, I have five working pocket watches. The first one came from the attic in my childhood home, left over from when I was in elementary school. The second, third, and fourth were all gifts for my 20th birthday from my parents, my grandparents, and a good friend of mine, respectively. Finally, the fifth was a gift from my boyfriend when the battery in the first one died.
There’s a story behind each of these. The one from my grandparents has been in family storage since the 1880s. It still looks brand new. The one from my boyfriend is the one that has the openable back, as well as my name engraved on it. The friend that bought me one for my birthday was so (half-jokingly) annoyed that she was the third person to get me a pocket watch that week.
Similar stories can be told about rings or necklaces. What makes pocket watches unique is that they actually have a purpose besides looking pretty: they tell the time. Subconsciously, whenever I check one of them, I’m reminded of these personal connections I have to them. I never get tired of having a 150-year-old family heirloom in my big green winter coat. I’ll always love seeing a little encapsulation of my boyfriend’s kindness whenever I need the time or a distraction. And I’ll never stop laughing at getting three pocket watches for a single birthday.
To put it all very simply, I use pocket watches because I just plain like ‘em. Sure, I’ve identified specific reasons as to why, but that can be done to anything, no matter how “normal” it may or may not be. I try to live a life that’s motivated by joy. I do things that will either make me happy or allow me to do other things that will make me happy. But it’s not always as active as that. It’s in the way that I dress, the spring in my step, the music I listen to, and yes, the objects in my pocket. No matter how many times my brain tries to convince me that I’m only keeping watches in my pockets to be special, it’s never true. They make me happy and I love that for myself. I can only hope that everyone else has “pocket watches” of their own.