I own seven watches. You might assume I wear a different one each day of the week but it’s more complicated than that. You see, depending on what I am doing and where I am going, there is an “appropriate” and an “inappropriate” watch. Over the course of a day, I may wear three different watches. My wife, who gave me the idea for this blog post, likes to tease me about this. She, like most people, has just a couple of watches and doesn’t mix things up much. I used to be like that a LONG time ago but now I know better. 
My collection of watches varies in age from 60 years old to 5 months, with an average age of 24. Watches, especially good ones, last a LONG time if you take care of them. Each watch has its own purpose and story. The photo shows my seven watches, arranged from youngest to oldest with the newest one being #1. Now it’s time (no pun intended) to tell you about each one, starting with watch #1.
1. This Seiko 5 automatic (self-winding, 21 jewels) is my newest watch and has to be worn to keep it running. I like the idea of getting away from the battery operated quartz watches and going back to the type of watch that used to be common when I was young. I use this watch around the house and going to the store.
2. This Casio digital is the most inexpensive one I own. I use it only when I’m kayaking or doing some rough, dirty jobs like cutting the lawn. If something happens to it , no big deal. It is water-resistant which I put to the test when I fall out of my kayak occasionally! I might add that my wife thinks this is quite funny when it happens. I think digital watches should be worn in only very casual settings – like falling out of kayaks.
3. This Tissot quartz watch was a gift from my wife for our tenth anniversary. I like this watch because it’s a mix between sporty and dressy with its titanium case and band that is accented with gold tone features. I like to wear it to the office and sometimes when I go out for the evening. Because it’s all titanium it’s very light and comfortable. It’s also very water proof.
4. This Tourneau dress watch was a gift from my future wife for our first Christmas together. I love this watch because it is so simple and elegant with its clean dial which has Roman numerals marking the hours. I wear this watch to church, out to dinner or to the office. This is the watch to wear if I have a suit and tie on. It’s also very thin and light and I don’t even know it’s on my wrist.
5. This Seiko Sports 100 was my treat when I got my first job out of college. It was one of Seiko’s first quartz sport watches and is very tough and heavy. I wore it everywhere for many years but now just wear it mostly when I go out to lunch with my mother-in-law on weekends. She thinks this is pretty funny.
6. This 17 jewel manual wind diver’s watch was what I wore in high school and college. I ordered it directly from Switzerland from an advertisement in the back of a Popular Science magazine. It’s been through lots of hard use but still runs fine. Now I wind it up and wear it infrequently just to remind me of my younger years.
7. This gold filled Benrus dress watch was my dad’s. I think he got it from his mom about 1950. This style was very popular then and I like wearing it once in a while because it’s so different. Plus it reminds me of my dad.
I find owning seven watches just about right. With a little thought, I can manage to wear each one of them and have some fun doing so. There are some people who are serious watch collectors with 20, 30, or even 50 of them! I MAY add one more watch to my small collection some day. A nice Swiss automatic (self-winding) might be a great final touch. How many watches do you own? Do any of them have interesting stories? I’d love to hear about them!
