Something is happening to the simple wristwatch. Some folks don’t bother to wear one, choosing to depend on their handheld devices’ clocks to be right. Others buy $10 cheapies and pitch them when they conk out. I have a collection.
Sure, they’re just middle-of-the-road Timexes at about $20 a pop, but I like to switch watches to suit the day, outfit and conditions. The water resistant ones come out when it’s rainy outside, the slim one for work, the big backlit one for a night at the theatre.
The problem with watches is that the batteries die. In the middle of one’s day, it’s not good to have a battery breathe its last. The whole watch suddenly loses meaning. If you take it off, though, you’re left with a pale mark from that spot on your wrist that gets no sun.
The other thing that breaks on watches is the band. Until a few years ago, watches came in dependable sizes for which there was always a replacement band. You could get one put on by a happy customer service person at the jewelry counter. Nowadays, places like Boscov’s, who are easygoing with just about anything else they sell like other department stores, won’t replace a band on a watch they didn’t sell. I have a Timex that’s a good 20 years old or more, but Boscov’s won’t sell me a band for it. Yeah, I bought it at a K-Mart long defunct, but that’s beside the point.
Also, I needed a longer band for this watch. I visited one of those small kiosks that specialize in watches, situated in the middle of the mall, to ask about a band. “Long ones’ll cost you extra,” the bored to tears fellow pontificated, not nicely. I left, since that was the way he felt about it.
One band I actually have to send away for, because it is not the usual “one hole and a pole” type. The folks at Timex recommend I send just the band, but I can’t seem to get it separated from the watch, and none of the jewelers will do it if they can’t sell me a new band.
I refuse to part with the watch. It’s a nice watch. It runs. Of course I’ll find a compromise eventually, if I have to send the whole timepiece away by insured mail. Naturally, by the time I manage to get a new band, it will probably need a new battery.
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