You might have only one watch, or you really love a particular watch in your collection. So you wear it everyday, all the time. But is it a great idea to wear the same watch everyday?
It is not a good idea to wear the same watch everyday. You might be wearing your watch on the wrong occasions, and your watch is not getting enough time to rest. Plus, you cannot send it away for servicing. These factors, when combined, wear down your watch much faster.
Now that we have answered the question, let’s also try to see if having more than one watch is a good idea, and if so, what are the potential combinations of watches to collect.
Why You Should Not Wear The Same Watch Everyday
It is better to have multiple watches to wear. This avoids you not having the right watch for the right occasions and also to allow time for your watch to rest and service.
You Might Be Wearing The Wrong Watch For The Wrong Occasions
You do not want to wear the same watch everyday because different situations demand a different type of watch.
Say you only wear a Tissot Visodate for work, play, and casual weekends. That sounds about right. The watch can fit into these occasions.
But when you wear that watch to go to the gym, to do garage work, or go hiking, that is the wrong watch.
Tissot Visodates usually have leather straps on them, and when you do things like gym or hiking, you will sweat, and the leather strap will absorb them.
The leather will get dirty from dirt and grime and smell bad because it absorbs all your sweat.
It is better to wear a beater watch or go naked on the wrist on occasions like sport and hiking
That means having more than one watch.
Your Watch Strap Needs A Rest
This is particularly important if your watch has a leather strap or a bracelet band.
If you wear the same watch everyday, you might not give the leather straps or the bracelet enough rest.
Leather, in general, keeps their original shape better if they are not constantly stretched. When you wear a watch, you are indirectly stretching them.
If you wear your watch tight, you will be stretching your leather even more.
If you do not wear the same watch everyday, you allow the leather to rest and recover back to its original shape. This means your watch strap might just last longer.
The same effect could be said on bracelets too. They do not stretch like leather straps, but by not wearing your watch everyday, the pins that connect the bracelet links could rest and not be under stress all the time.
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Your Watch Might Not Match Your Outfit
Since we might be wearing different clothing for different occasions, if you wear the same watch everyday, you might be mismatching your outfit with your watch.
For example, you have a G-Shock DW5600 as your everyday, all-day watch.
The watch would work fine for the gym, daily activities, and even work if you are working in non-office settings.
But there might be times when you have to dress up in a suit – to attend weddings, wakes, or meetings. A G-shock with a suit is very out of place and is not a good match generally.
This is why it might be a good idea to not wear the same watch everyday. You might want to consider having multiple watches and to rotate them when the right occasion calls for it.
Why You Should Have More Than One Watch
When you have more than one watch, you can ensure you have the right watch for the right occasions. You also allow your watch straps and movements to rest.
You also get to have some of your watches sent away for servicing while still wearing other watches.
Wear the Right Watch For The Right Occasions
When you have multiple watches of different types, you get to ensure you have the right watch to wear to the right occasions.
Gym? Hiking trip? Slap on a beater watch and let it take the dirt, sweat, and physical torture.
Formal occasions with a suit? Time to bring out your dress watch.
Casual dinners with friends? Time to slap on your favorite dive or pilot watches then.
This avoids you looking out of place wearing the wrong kind of watch. And don’t need to wear the same watch everyday.
Allow Watches To Rest
When you have multiple watches, you do not need to wear the same watch everyday. Your watches will have time to rest. Watches that have rest time and are not worn too frequently can last longer.
Your leather straps get time to rest and recover back to their original shape. The pins in your bracelet links also get some time to destress after working hard to keep your bracelets in place while you wear them.
If your watch runs on automatic movement, the movements inside also get to rest.
Mechanical movements are supported by oil and jewels to run. By resting your watch more, the oils and jewels are not constantly required to perform under stress.
Allow Watches To Be Serviced
When you have multiple watches, you will not be in constant need to wear the same watch everyday.
That means you can send your watch away for servicing and still have a few more watches in your collection to turn to.
Having your watch serviced regularly allows it to last longer and perform better.
Now that we have looked at the benefits of having multiple watches let’s look at how many watches a man should have.
How Many Watches Should A Man Have?
A man should have a few watches that he can rotate and wear depending on the occasion – formal, professional, casual, and sport.
If you can allocate at least a watch for each occasion, you should be well-covered.
However, you can have less than four watches, with some watches covering up for more than one occasion.
1 Formal, 1 Professional, 1 Casual, 1 Beater
This combination would work best for a professional that works out of an office.
A formal watch goes with suits for a gala, or formal parties, while the professional watch stays on the wrist during times in the office.
The casual watch is for times outside of the office. For example, weekend trips, hanging out in the bar, etc. The beater is reserved for sports and when it’s time to get down and dirty fixing things in the garage.
This combination allows you to address all possible occasions with the right watch, and you get to rest watches when they are not worn.
1 Formal/Professional, 1 Casual, 1 Beater
This combination would suit someone who works in a less professional setting. That means a casual watch could be worn to work.
A less dressy watch would fit any formal or professional setting – you can wear it to weddings, meetings, or places requiring a suit.
The casual watch could be worn during work and off-work hours, while the beater is for sports and harder work that gets your hands dirty.
This combination would see the casual watch being worn a lot. So perhaps having two casual watches might help split the workload and allow more rest time.
1 Formal/Professional/Casual, 1 Beater
This combination would suit someone who does jobs that require physical labor – electrician, plumber, bricklayers, for example.
Jobs like this are demanding, so it would be better to wear a beater watch for work.
A single casual watch could fit into formal, professional, and casual settings.
This collection, however, can be hard to achieve. It is pretty hard to find a watch that can fit into all three occasions. A lot of compromises need to be made.
This combination will also see the beater watch being worn a lot. But beaters are supposed to be cheap and sturdy, so feel free to go get another if they break down.
We explored the topic of watch combinations in much detail in a separate article. Feel free to check it out if you are interested in diving deeper into this subject.
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