Keeping watch

When I was in middle school, Swatches were all the rage.

I think I had two, but honestly, who can remember back that far?!

Over the years, I've had a smattering of other watches, mostly cheap numbers with plastic bands and various clock faces, both digital and analog.

While living in Boston, I had what I thought at the time was a cool analog watch, but I consistently couldn't tell time on it. That was a giant failure of technology, combined with my eyesight and kindergarten skill set while reading a clock.

I temporarily switched to digital, tired of missing trains and buses. Upon visiting home in 2001, I found the watch I'd received as a bat mitzvah gift from my parents and one of my great grandmothers (mother's father's mother: maternal-paternal great grand?). It is a delicate Movado with a simple, blank face and a dot of gold at 12. I decided it was time to dress things up and started wearing it to my office job.

That resulted in my catching the crystal on my keyboard tray, prying it off and sending it and all the other parts that kept the crystal attached careening across the room. I took it to a watchmaker in Harvard Square for repairs, and while there found the watch I've been wearing nearly every day since. It was a gift to myself, a not outrageously expense Skagen with a stainless steel band and rose-colored brushed metal face. The hours are represented by raised dots for each number, 1-12.

This watch is a workhorse. It is scarred and scratched. At least one pin falls out of the band each year. The crystal fogs up if I wear it while washing dishes.

A Nashville watchmaker told me it would be more expensive to fix it than to buy a new one. How can I let an old friend fall apart or get tossed aside? Do I stop wearing a watch like so many others and start carrying my cell phone with me constantly? I don't think so.

I'd rather get distracted by glancing at my wrist than get distracted by checking email  or social media 24/7. I'll add watch to my growing list (HVAC unit, car, home repairs, vacation). For now, I will hold onto the Skagen, gaining pleasure from the fact that it still runs, and gets me where I need to go on time.