This weekend I looked down at my watch and stared for a while and I thought to myself, what is it about this watch that I love? The immediate answer was: I connect to it. Then I asked, what about my watch do I connect with? Is it just the style (“the looks”) or is it the complication (chronograph), or is it a combination of both? Is it more important that a watch have perfect form or perfect function? Which one makes a “great “watch truly great? Which one makes a watch relevant in our everyday lives?

Asking the right question

Let’s think about this statement for a moment – Form vs. Function. Why not: Form AND Function. How can you really pit form against function? I think that without a balance of the two, a watch is not a “great” watch. In my eyes, form and function are directly tied to innovation.

What do you think?

A watch can possess all FORM

A jewelry watch that is a work of art, lots of diamonds.

A watch that pushes the bounds of what is a wristwatch.

A watch can possess all FUNCTION

It does a whole lot of things but might not actually be made for humans to wear.

However, I believe both are equally misguided Either extreme is just a whole lot of misguided innovation, it takes a lot of effort to go to this extreme in any one direction. But it takes true brilliance to walk to the delicate line between the two extremes and master them both. There is innovation for innovation sake, academic if you will. There is also innovation to an end and with a goal in mind. The balance of form, function, and innovation are what make a watch useful and relevant. This begs the question, how does one define useful and relevant?

Eye of the beholder

I do understand there are times when might be going to an event and you want a dress watch. Other times you are going to do an activity and need a tool watch. Even other times when you want something functional AND pretty, like the concept of the 3 series sedan, a sporty family car So when thinking of form vs. function, it all comes down to what a watch means to you.

If a watch worn primarily for its looks, and the goal is to be seen with the watch on, it is pretty much the same as jewelry or art – and form is king. The watch just simply being on your wrist looking awesome and you staring at it is its use, and it is therefore relevant to you.

If you couldn’t care less about wearing a watch most of the time and would rather use a cell phone to tell the time, and you only use a sport/tool watch for its specific functions, then form is king. “Usefulness” has a very different and literal meaning, the watch must be able to work as a precision instrument and have certain attributes to complete the task at hand. If it can’t give the reading or information you need at the moment you need it, it isn’t relevant to you.

Yet, for most of us, I will assume, we are in the middle. We like a blend of both usefulness (as we define it) and style, so this is why I say you can’t separate the two. Which one are you?

Personal connection

I hear many people say they love their watch because it is “insert brand name here.” I hear them say they love the history/heritage behind the watch, some famous racer wore it while winning a race. Others say they love the “the look” or “the style” of that brand and how it has always looked the same forever and ever. Sometimes people say it is all about the movements, the complications, the mechanics of the watch – they have to have a watch with a power reserve, or must have a fly back chronograph.

What do you connect with?

The good ‘ol days, were they good or just old?

Sometimes I cringe when I hear the word “classic” before a watch or a car. Usually, that is a fancy way of saying an outdated and uninspired, that we are too lazy to do anything with. That is often the case. Most sport watches used to, back in the good ‘ol days, be useful. Pilot watches and diving watches for example, were actually used to fly planes and to dive. Chronographs were actually used to measure lap times. And a timepiece was the only real source for telling the time! They were often times the primary tool for such activities and they made sense.

But I dare to ask the question, “who cares?” So what if a watch has heritage or is 100000 meters water resistant?! When was the last time you needed to go race and time yourself using your watch?! or when was the last time you went deep sea diving with your watch on and used it to tell the time or amount of oxygen in your tank. Probably…never. Now we have atomic clocks, we have GPS, we have the Internet. Without all of these things watches made a whole lot of sense, but do they now? All watch makers had to innovate or at least keep up with the fashion of the day to some extent. This is why I have such a beef with Rolex. Their watches are out of date, last century’s news! Only a few short years ago did they update their “classic” models like the Datejust with slightly larger sizes to keep up with the trends, and they improved overall quality because companies like Tag Heuer were selling watches of higher build quality for lower prices (with, oh I don’t know- sold steel links!!) So Rolex had to up their game, finally!

Let’s get real

So in the end of the day, aren’t all these watches just jewelry? We don’t really USE them for anything, they just sit there and we think about them, polish them, talk about them, maybe even blow them kisses when no one is looking, ok maybe I do that to my car…but I digress . Why CAN’T we connect with our watches on a more “real” level? Not just on an academic one. Why don’t more watch companies innovate and bring watches into the 21st century? Tie them into our lives, make them relevant again!

Paving the way

I have to give props here to Seiko here for not only bringing us the modern automatic quartz watch, and the spring drive., two innovations that have launched wristwatches into the modern day, in my opinion. Here is awesome website I found that lists major innovations in horology, such as the first digital display by Pulsar, the first GPS watch by Seiko, and the first Bluetooth enabled watch by Citizen, these watches could all stand to look a little LESS hideous though:) , not enough form. So, are there watches we can really connect to? Yes, I have found some .

I feel the connection – the AMVOX2 DBS Transponder Watch

This brought to me by one of our readers, Jason, the owner of professional.com is the AMVOX2 DBS Transponder Watch by Jaeger Le-Coultre and Aston Martin. Here is an article about it on his site. Basically, it is an Aston Martin lifestyle watch that possess both form and function.  The watch has

..a discrete Aston Martin emblem on the movement operating indicator and ruthenium grey bridges, satin finish and a black dial that all evoke the DBS’s instrument panel. The outer dial ring also has an opening that reveals the internal mechanisms of the chronograph and transponder functions, an allusion to the exposed brake calipers visible behind the sporting wheel rims of the DBS car.”

So basically, whenever you look at your watch you know it was made just for YOUR car and even when you aren’t in the car, you can look down at your watch and feel just that much closer to it .The overall for of this watch is very human-friendly and there is nothing unnecessary about it. It has a subtle and elegant “classic” exterior that I can get excited about. With only subtle design cues of Aston Martin on a simple case design, they have made “classic” relevant again!!!! But, the real innovation is on the inside!

AMVOX – love the idea, not so sure about the implementation

The AMVOX2 watch is itself is a new take on the traditional chronograph by Jaeger. It is a pushpiece-free chronograph, meaning you push on the whole crystal, in the very center, to stop and start the chrono instead of using any buttons on the side. This particular innovation (the pushpiece-free aspect) of the chronograph is a great effort to update an out of date complication (the traditional chronograph) but I am not sure if the implementation of this idea what all that…useful? They were almost there, so close… BUT, Jaeger took it to the next level, and totally redeemed themselves in my eyes by partnering with Aston Martin on the DBS Transponder Watch. I am glad they chose the AMVOX for this partnership.

A relevant complication

Jaeger has made the wrist watch useful again!! Hallelujah!

“The AMVOX2 DBS Transponder incorporates a miniature transmitter system serving to lock and unlock Aston Martin DBS sports car, while maintaining the functions of the now famous vertical-trigger mechanism – the pushpiece-free chronograph. As the driver nears the car, all he need do is press the OPEN position on the watch glass (between 8 and 9 o’clock) in order to activate the door opening system, whereas doing the same thing on the CLOSE position between 3 and 4 o’clock will close the vehicle. The miniaturisation of the transponder module, housed on the base, its wiring and its transmitter antenna have been completely redesigned from a watchmaking perspective, combining technical inventiveness with a subtle and elegant integration within the overall design.”

Now that is a useful innovation and a complication that people today can actually use!, It is also very fun too and has a totally personal connection! When there is the option for a watch like the AMVOX2 DBS Transponder Watch in the world (ok, you have to get the car too) why would you pick an old fashioned Rolex Datejust, it just seems wrong to me .Please, tell me what you think.

 Share your thoughts below.