Sitting down with my daily coffee placed right in front of me, I’m wondering when the first time I got introduced to the concept of watches was. Looking back, I think I might still have been in primary school when my parents bought me my first watch ever – a kid-friendly Swatch with a flat dial. I don’t know what’s happened to it since (probably got lost among all the other toys and children’s stuff we used to have), but only now do I appreciate the fact that they actually got me, a kid, a Swatch.
The second time they got me a watch was a basic, classic Seiko with a black strap that I’d picked at the store, and that was when I was leaving the country to Canada for half a year. And for every exam that I sat for, I’d borrow a small gold watch from my mother to help me keep track of time (oh God forbid, you sit behind a pillar that blocks your view of the clock on the wall). Of course, I do get my own watch every now and then in between those times, but they were just for fun, something to accessorise with.
Now, my relationship with watches has grown deeper. It’s not just how I feel about wearing a watch that has changed, but also how I look at others who wear one (or not).