Last year I was copied into a series of emails between Public Service Broadcasting & management team and the folks at the Marloe watch company regarding a limited PSB edition of one of their custom designed and hand-assembled watches.
They were planning to use the record cover as part of the packaging as well as the logo I designed on the watch itself, and just wanted to check I was happy for the artwork to be used as such – and as a courtesy, they’d send me a watch.
I love to see things I’ve designed appear in print or otherwise ‘on’ something other than a screen, so I was more than happy to give my blessing and quite excited to see the end result.
Of course, the reality is, for quite a few years now I haven’t worn a day-to-day watch, at least for the purposes of keeping time. I have a GPS running watch but I only really wear it when running or hiking.
The rest of the time, I’m either at home, where a clock is never too far away, or I have my phone on me – that most helpful of addictive devices.
So I must confess I didn’t plan for it to be something I’d actually wear, just a cool item to keep on my shelf.
But when the box arrived I was really struck by how nicely designed the whole package was. Lots of little details that had clearly been thought about.
And the watch itself – very elegantly put together and quite understated really. Exactly my sort of nice-but-not-showy thing.
While I enjoyed the experience of opening the case and admiring the watch, I still didn’t actually put it on. It stayed on my desk for a couple of days. Certainly appreciated – but distinctly unworn.
Then I used the QR code in the box to visit the reference page for the watch.
I enjoyed the inspiration and thought process behind the design but was especially interested in the actual mechanism, the Japanese Miyota 9015. I ended up going down a rabbit hole of how self-winding movements work and when I emerged it was with greater appreciation for this collection of tiny cogs and springs.
I wore the watch for a few days and I noticed some things.
Firstly you can feel (and even very-faintly hear) the weighted rotor – the self-winding mechanism – spin inside the watch. This is something I find oddly satisfying.
There’s a pleasing sort of mindset that comes from a device that, while not needing to be charged, still requires a small amount of care to function. It needs to be worn. I found myself actually enjoying putting the watch on each morning and appreciating anew each time the engineering that went into it.
This might sound daft but I can understand how a good watch can give the wearer a sense of pride. There’s value in putting the energy into making things. Even just moving about helps keep you going.
The other thing I happily note is that wearing a mechanical watch means I check my phone a little less. Not only does it tell me the time but it’s undoubtedly saved me time which would have otherwise been lost to phone-related distraction.
So there we have it. I’m a convert. I really appreciate my Aerodyne (number 05/50) and I’ve been wearing it every day since.
A big thank you to Gordon, Oliver and the team at Marloe for sending this out to me.
