“Our phones tend to forcibly extract our attention through nefariously engineered compulsion - mechanical watches instead reward our focus using aesthetic pleasure and ritual satisfaction. To me, this difference feels morally significant i.e. voluntary versus involuntary attention engagement.”
Bro! What are you smoking!? …………seriously…kidding.
That you can wring semi-profound insight from the banality of daily life is just IDK….YOU!
Approximately half of my collection are manual wind and I have long appreciated the winding ritual but likely not to the extent or level of insight you have described.
I’m already looking at the experience in an expanded consciousness….. WORD!
We need more of these daily connections to “the moment”
I really like this substack, but unfortunately, my rule that anything that uses the word "authentic" is superficial and useless has proven its utility yet again. Perhaps I simply lack the intellectual abilities to understand, but the term "authentic" is in every way BS in my opinion, outside of describing ethnic food. I love watches, and I realize that many men buy a well-known brand to signal their wealth, but most guys simply like pretty machines. Outside of Rolex, and perhaps AP, no one knows any of the brand names outside of watch nerds. Even with the current price of gold, most people have no idea how expensive a gold chain is. and especially not the cost of a widely known brand such as Rolex, but I will qualify that with an acknowledgement that many men wear Rolex and gold jewelry in a desperate attempt to signal self-worth (the Prestige factor).
Boutique brands offer a special value proposition, and much of it is marketing (how much hand finishing is done on the movement), but most of it comes from offering aesthetically-pleasing machinery that one can view with pleasure. This is why Seiko puts a display caseback on a $200 watch, and why so many will pay painfully high prices for especially pretty movements. It starts with that initial love of the machine, and grows as one develops a sense of appreciation for both complications as well as decoration.
Watches are not the only mechanical object men desire, but they offer value on multiple fronts from jewelry to the enjoyment of watching machines. I know finance executives that own mini-machine shops full of equipment they never use, simply because the machines look cool. Watches offer this AND work as jewelry and for some, they signal status. I never properly understood the status aspect, but I have come to realize that matters considerably to those who feel they have no been awarded sufficient respect. I never realized how lucky I am to not suffer from that affliction.
I appreciate how this post starts (appreciating the watch), but the discussion of "authenticity" is a distraction at best, mostly because there is no such thing as an authentic life experience. The very concept is based on marketing BS imagined concepts developed to sell people crap they do not need. We all know that we do not need a watch, but we appreciate the machine and it is one of the few options for jewelry men have.
There have been many problems created by the collapse of religion in the modern world. It leaves many of us desperate for an alternative. "Authenticity" is one of the misguided concepts that gets thrown around in an attempt to grasp at what we have lost in abandoning a major part of the human experience. Watches are wonderful, but they cannot make up for a loss of culture and faith. We are dead as as a people if we cannot restore what we have lost in the development of modern Western culture. A grail watch is a fantastic thing, but it will never fill in the loss of the Western soul. We need to get that back, and then all the silly talk of authenticity can fade away.
You make a fair point about the word ‘authentic’ becoming somewhat meaningless through overuse. The wellness and lifestyle industries have certainly grabbed hold of it as a marketing tool. When I used it, I was trying to capture something specific about the difference between voluntary and involuntary attention - but yeah, maybe there’s a clearer way to express that distinction without falling into your “authenticity” bin.
I do agree that the collapse of traditional religious and cultural frameworks has left many people searching for meaning in unworthy places, and yeah, I’m also prepared to go as far as saying this whole piece might therefore be pointless (in that context, where we’re asking material objects to do work that culture, community, and faith traditionally provided.)
But, rather than dismiss the impulse entirely, we could reframe it… and see it as a symptom worth understanding. If people are drawn to manual processes and / or mechanical objects, what does that tell us about what we’re missing in our daily lives?
What if the solution isn’t to abandon these interests but to recognise them as stepping stones toward rebuilding the cultural foundations you mention?
To get more specific, what aspects of traditional Western culture do you think are most in need of recovery? And how might we go about that reconstruction in practical terms?
I’d be interested in your thoughts on whether there’s actually a way to appreciate mechanical objects while also working toward the larger cultural restoration you’re advocating for.
Upon re-reading I do not realize that I am jerk. You have valid points, and I clearly wandered past sane and a bit left of crazy. Your reframing makes perfect sense. I agree with the spirit of what you were writing, but I can get triggered by certain terms.
You are correct in stating that we are increasingly drawn to manual processes THAT ARE EXECUTED BEAUTIFULLY, because we have become numb the the quality of so much around us, and we crave excellence, but we cannot find it so easily in a world where our expectations have been massively increased. I do believe that we need some kind of grounding and shared culture, and it must be universally seen as high-quality (no expert word salad about subverting symmetry and style, or queering beauty). Watches are a great example in that we have these beautiful objects that have a function, and executed it well. Where my back muscles harden and flex is when beauty is sneered at because the hands executing it were attached to a non-white person or, cue scary sound, machines. I am no denigrating hand-made as much as intentionally declaring it superior. I dream of someday owning an FP Journe, or more realistically, a Czapek. That said, I was trying on Artelier Wen watches a week or so ago, and they were fantastic. These tantalum watches were not on par with Journe, but there were very good. I want to celebrate both.
We can appreciate our watches, along with a good pair of boots (I like Redwing) or a quality knife. Object we pay more for because they were built to last. We re-sole or sharpen these instead of replacing them, and we appreciate their style. I am 100% behind you enjoying your grail watch. I get it, but an alternative with some machine-assistance can be good as well. For example, I have come from hating skeletonized watches to loving them. After resisting the urge to buy a Chronograph Swiss that was such a good deal, but not the right watch for me, I find myself looking, hunting for the right watch. I am in no position to buy any boutique Swiss brand, but I could swing a used Zenith Defy, or the occasional used GP/UN/Mont Blanc for the right price. That said, I tried on a Chris Ward steel Twelve X (the one with blue accents), and it is really nice. I mean REALLY NICE. I am not an expert on this. The best watch I have come across was a Mont Blanc that was already sold, but I could not afford it new anyway. It was not special enough to get any reviews (other models had though), but it looked like a million bucks. I would buy a used example for the right price. Yet, that Chris Ward keeps calling me. I could see buying it an having the same joy you have winding it, but without the hand-finished, stroked by Swiss virgins branding, and I would feel the same if that watch had been made in China. I want to appreciate the excellence in design and manufacturing. I want to own and pass on a luxury watch build to outlive me. I do not want to internalize the marketing dreamed up by sleazy men in London and New York who have been front and center in the Swiss luxury watch revival, as best displayed by Jean-Claude Biver with his anti-quartz zealotry and reliance on over-the-top marketing.
Perhaps that is what truly triggers me. I do not want to internalize the marketing. I see it everywhere, and it is sickening. I love a good quality watch, but I do not care about its story. I can make up my own mind with regards to its importance. I love my quartz Aqua Terra. My quartz Seiko Astron is the best travel watch ever. There is a place for luxury quartz. I can love that and you can love your watch and both feelings are great.
I think we would all be happier with less stuff that is better made. I own only a few pans, but they are very good. I own a few kitchen knives, but they are good. I own a modest car so I can have extra money for watches, travel and other random hobbies my wife and I enjoy. I like reading about your wonderful watch and how it makes life better for you. I hate the implication that such feelings must pass a test of authenticity.
We both enjoy our watches. You have found your grail, and that is awe4some. I am still messing around with different watches in different styles, but I like to think that I am working my way on to my inevitable grail. We can both try to bring back meaning and an elevated sense of community through better behavior, sharing our hobbies with young men who do not know of them nor have a man to introduce him to such things, and be open and welcoming to all who maintain the required level of decorum. I think we can get there without exclusivity and without the sneering sense of derision that benefits no once.
Now I know you did not have any sneering in your writing, but that word "authenticity" is used so often today as a cover for sneering derision. That is why I had a hissy fit over it. I am not sure any of this makes any sense outside of my rather thick head. Perhaps I need to repress the urge to clutch my pearls so tightly and often, but they are really nice pearls, and they feel great in the hand.
Our cultural restoration is possible, and probably happening. I only hope that we can achieve it without a war against China and Russia. Our cultural weakness has not gone unnoticed. If we are going to pull the mass of Western young men out of our collective basement, we most likely need to do so using the interesting stuff, life getting watch nerd boys into mechanical entginer
Could be many angles - an example: To actually be mindful about what you experience (as opposed to letting these be things which happen to you or around you).
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets - At the *Still Point* of the Turning World
“At the *still point *of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the *still point,* there _the dance is_,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, *the still point*,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.”
At the still point of the turning world” suggests a paradox: the world is constantly moving and changing (“turning”), yet there is a “still point” — a moment or place of perfect calm, balance, or timelessness.
The interesting thing about the experience of winding one's watch, and discovering that its functioning is loud enough to be easily audible, is I think distinct from the questions tied up in the price point of the watch. I'm wearing my RGM, which, while cheaper than a RG is still absolutely expensive and coincidentally very loud, so everything you wrote resonated with my own experience.
But even $200 Seikos can have loud AF rotors, and lots of watches at all price points can offer the sublime experience of a deep connection to the lived experience of time.
Still applies, no? I just think it’s much less likely to be a justification in those instances, that’s all. But it can absolutely work regardless of price
Principally there's no distinction no matter where you sit on the price ladder in the tactile experience it is possible to have, but no one buying a $200 watch is probably over-analyzing the luxury aspect of it (specifically) was my point.
I am just here to state that the winding experience is special, it helps me stop, focus and forget about everything around me… also, you don’t need a manual wind to wind, I do this even when I am wearing an automatic, just winding as I gaze at the movement.. nothing quite comes close to that experience in watch ownership..
This does read like “I’m a guy who is the master of skepticism about rationalizing expensive watch purchases but he’s my rationalization of MY expensive watch purchase”
Great read! Perhaps the question of attention is also why many of us enjoy rotating through a collection: the act of choosing a watch to wear allows us some time to wind, set, and appreciate a watch anew.
Really enjoyed this read brother. Some spot on points made here. I was literally experiencing something like this yesterday. I had just got done talking to my cousin’s friend showing him the MAD2, describing the details of it because he is a DJ, so it really matched his vibe. I got done talking about the stroboscopic rotor, how it winds the watch, and explained the jump hour - then 5 minutes later someone asked for the time and I looked at my iPhone 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
In a distracted world, the few moments when you can truly tune everything out - save the rhythmical ticking of your clock - are priceless.
💯
Few and far between, sadly 🥲
“Our phones tend to forcibly extract our attention through nefariously engineered compulsion - mechanical watches instead reward our focus using aesthetic pleasure and ritual satisfaction. To me, this difference feels morally significant i.e. voluntary versus involuntary attention engagement.”
Bro! What are you smoking!? …………seriously…kidding.
That you can wring semi-profound insight from the banality of daily life is just IDK….YOU!
Approximately half of my collection are manual wind and I have long appreciated the winding ritual but likely not to the extent or level of insight you have described.
I’m already looking at the experience in an expanded consciousness….. WORD!
We need more of these daily connections to “the moment”
Hey, you asked for this. No numbers, he said 😂
🤣
I really like this substack, but unfortunately, my rule that anything that uses the word "authentic" is superficial and useless has proven its utility yet again. Perhaps I simply lack the intellectual abilities to understand, but the term "authentic" is in every way BS in my opinion, outside of describing ethnic food. I love watches, and I realize that many men buy a well-known brand to signal their wealth, but most guys simply like pretty machines. Outside of Rolex, and perhaps AP, no one knows any of the brand names outside of watch nerds. Even with the current price of gold, most people have no idea how expensive a gold chain is. and especially not the cost of a widely known brand such as Rolex, but I will qualify that with an acknowledgement that many men wear Rolex and gold jewelry in a desperate attempt to signal self-worth (the Prestige factor).
Boutique brands offer a special value proposition, and much of it is marketing (how much hand finishing is done on the movement), but most of it comes from offering aesthetically-pleasing machinery that one can view with pleasure. This is why Seiko puts a display caseback on a $200 watch, and why so many will pay painfully high prices for especially pretty movements. It starts with that initial love of the machine, and grows as one develops a sense of appreciation for both complications as well as decoration.
Watches are not the only mechanical object men desire, but they offer value on multiple fronts from jewelry to the enjoyment of watching machines. I know finance executives that own mini-machine shops full of equipment they never use, simply because the machines look cool. Watches offer this AND work as jewelry and for some, they signal status. I never properly understood the status aspect, but I have come to realize that matters considerably to those who feel they have no been awarded sufficient respect. I never realized how lucky I am to not suffer from that affliction.
I appreciate how this post starts (appreciating the watch), but the discussion of "authenticity" is a distraction at best, mostly because there is no such thing as an authentic life experience. The very concept is based on marketing BS imagined concepts developed to sell people crap they do not need. We all know that we do not need a watch, but we appreciate the machine and it is one of the few options for jewelry men have.
There have been many problems created by the collapse of religion in the modern world. It leaves many of us desperate for an alternative. "Authenticity" is one of the misguided concepts that gets thrown around in an attempt to grasp at what we have lost in abandoning a major part of the human experience. Watches are wonderful, but they cannot make up for a loss of culture and faith. We are dead as as a people if we cannot restore what we have lost in the development of modern Western culture. A grail watch is a fantastic thing, but it will never fill in the loss of the Western soul. We need to get that back, and then all the silly talk of authenticity can fade away.
You make a fair point about the word ‘authentic’ becoming somewhat meaningless through overuse. The wellness and lifestyle industries have certainly grabbed hold of it as a marketing tool. When I used it, I was trying to capture something specific about the difference between voluntary and involuntary attention - but yeah, maybe there’s a clearer way to express that distinction without falling into your “authenticity” bin.
On status - agree fully. See here for more: https://www.screwdowncrown.com/p/social-status-and-watch-collecting-1
I do agree that the collapse of traditional religious and cultural frameworks has left many people searching for meaning in unworthy places, and yeah, I’m also prepared to go as far as saying this whole piece might therefore be pointless (in that context, where we’re asking material objects to do work that culture, community, and faith traditionally provided.)
But, rather than dismiss the impulse entirely, we could reframe it… and see it as a symptom worth understanding. If people are drawn to manual processes and / or mechanical objects, what does that tell us about what we’re missing in our daily lives?
What if the solution isn’t to abandon these interests but to recognise them as stepping stones toward rebuilding the cultural foundations you mention?
To get more specific, what aspects of traditional Western culture do you think are most in need of recovery? And how might we go about that reconstruction in practical terms?
I’d be interested in your thoughts on whether there’s actually a way to appreciate mechanical objects while also working toward the larger cultural restoration you’re advocating for.
Or are we just screwed?
Upon re-reading I do not realize that I am jerk. You have valid points, and I clearly wandered past sane and a bit left of crazy. Your reframing makes perfect sense. I agree with the spirit of what you were writing, but I can get triggered by certain terms.
You are correct in stating that we are increasingly drawn to manual processes THAT ARE EXECUTED BEAUTIFULLY, because we have become numb the the quality of so much around us, and we crave excellence, but we cannot find it so easily in a world where our expectations have been massively increased. I do believe that we need some kind of grounding and shared culture, and it must be universally seen as high-quality (no expert word salad about subverting symmetry and style, or queering beauty). Watches are a great example in that we have these beautiful objects that have a function, and executed it well. Where my back muscles harden and flex is when beauty is sneered at because the hands executing it were attached to a non-white person or, cue scary sound, machines. I am no denigrating hand-made as much as intentionally declaring it superior. I dream of someday owning an FP Journe, or more realistically, a Czapek. That said, I was trying on Artelier Wen watches a week or so ago, and they were fantastic. These tantalum watches were not on par with Journe, but there were very good. I want to celebrate both.
We can appreciate our watches, along with a good pair of boots (I like Redwing) or a quality knife. Object we pay more for because they were built to last. We re-sole or sharpen these instead of replacing them, and we appreciate their style. I am 100% behind you enjoying your grail watch. I get it, but an alternative with some machine-assistance can be good as well. For example, I have come from hating skeletonized watches to loving them. After resisting the urge to buy a Chronograph Swiss that was such a good deal, but not the right watch for me, I find myself looking, hunting for the right watch. I am in no position to buy any boutique Swiss brand, but I could swing a used Zenith Defy, or the occasional used GP/UN/Mont Blanc for the right price. That said, I tried on a Chris Ward steel Twelve X (the one with blue accents), and it is really nice. I mean REALLY NICE. I am not an expert on this. The best watch I have come across was a Mont Blanc that was already sold, but I could not afford it new anyway. It was not special enough to get any reviews (other models had though), but it looked like a million bucks. I would buy a used example for the right price. Yet, that Chris Ward keeps calling me. I could see buying it an having the same joy you have winding it, but without the hand-finished, stroked by Swiss virgins branding, and I would feel the same if that watch had been made in China. I want to appreciate the excellence in design and manufacturing. I want to own and pass on a luxury watch build to outlive me. I do not want to internalize the marketing dreamed up by sleazy men in London and New York who have been front and center in the Swiss luxury watch revival, as best displayed by Jean-Claude Biver with his anti-quartz zealotry and reliance on over-the-top marketing.
Perhaps that is what truly triggers me. I do not want to internalize the marketing. I see it everywhere, and it is sickening. I love a good quality watch, but I do not care about its story. I can make up my own mind with regards to its importance. I love my quartz Aqua Terra. My quartz Seiko Astron is the best travel watch ever. There is a place for luxury quartz. I can love that and you can love your watch and both feelings are great.
I think we would all be happier with less stuff that is better made. I own only a few pans, but they are very good. I own a few kitchen knives, but they are good. I own a modest car so I can have extra money for watches, travel and other random hobbies my wife and I enjoy. I like reading about your wonderful watch and how it makes life better for you. I hate the implication that such feelings must pass a test of authenticity.
We both enjoy our watches. You have found your grail, and that is awe4some. I am still messing around with different watches in different styles, but I like to think that I am working my way on to my inevitable grail. We can both try to bring back meaning and an elevated sense of community through better behavior, sharing our hobbies with young men who do not know of them nor have a man to introduce him to such things, and be open and welcoming to all who maintain the required level of decorum. I think we can get there without exclusivity and without the sneering sense of derision that benefits no once.
Now I know you did not have any sneering in your writing, but that word "authenticity" is used so often today as a cover for sneering derision. That is why I had a hissy fit over it. I am not sure any of this makes any sense outside of my rather thick head. Perhaps I need to repress the urge to clutch my pearls so tightly and often, but they are really nice pearls, and they feel great in the hand.
Our cultural restoration is possible, and probably happening. I only hope that we can achieve it without a war against China and Russia. Our cultural weakness has not gone unnoticed. If we are going to pull the mass of Western young men out of our collective basement, we most likely need to do so using the interesting stuff, life getting watch nerd boys into mechanical entginer
You should do more "weird"... enjoyed this very much.
What is that “different approach”?
Could be many angles - an example: To actually be mindful about what you experience (as opposed to letting these be things which happen to you or around you).
Reminds me of this TS Elliot poem
“Still Point”
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets - At the *Still Point* of the Turning World
“At the *still point *of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the *still point,* there _the dance is_,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, *the still point*,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.”
At the still point of the turning world” suggests a paradox: the world is constantly moving and changing (“turning”), yet there is a “still point” — a moment or place of perfect calm, balance, or timelessness.
TOP NOTCH!!
nice title
The interesting thing about the experience of winding one's watch, and discovering that its functioning is loud enough to be easily audible, is I think distinct from the questions tied up in the price point of the watch. I'm wearing my RGM, which, while cheaper than a RG is still absolutely expensive and coincidentally very loud, so everything you wrote resonated with my own experience.
But even $200 Seikos can have loud AF rotors, and lots of watches at all price points can offer the sublime experience of a deep connection to the lived experience of time.
Still applies, no? I just think it’s much less likely to be a justification in those instances, that’s all. But it can absolutely work regardless of price
Principally there's no distinction no matter where you sit on the price ladder in the tactile experience it is possible to have, but no one buying a $200 watch is probably over-analyzing the luxury aspect of it (specifically) was my point.
I am just here to state that the winding experience is special, it helps me stop, focus and forget about everything around me… also, you don’t need a manual wind to wind, I do this even when I am wearing an automatic, just winding as I gaze at the movement.. nothing quite comes close to that experience in watch ownership..
This does read like “I’m a guy who is the master of skepticism about rationalizing expensive watch purchases but he’s my rationalization of MY expensive watch purchase”
I agree about the tactile thing. I bought an old cassette tape player with giant click-ey buttons recently for ten bucks and I love it
Great read! Perhaps the question of attention is also why many of us enjoy rotating through a collection: the act of choosing a watch to wear allows us some time to wind, set, and appreciate a watch anew.
Really enjoyed this read brother. Some spot on points made here. I was literally experiencing something like this yesterday. I had just got done talking to my cousin’s friend showing him the MAD2, describing the details of it because he is a DJ, so it really matched his vibe. I got done talking about the stroboscopic rotor, how it winds the watch, and explained the jump hour - then 5 minutes later someone asked for the time and I looked at my iPhone 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣