Jay (Eire)
9148
Finally....and some thoughts on a more casual world.
Finally wearing a watch, outside, for the first time since mid March. It was brief, maybe two hours, but nice to have something on the wrist again.
It got me thinking.
I’m not the first person to observe that the world has gotten more casual, but with the current situation and the widespread adoption of work from home policies this move towards casual would seem to be accelerating.
In the last few years at a corporate level we’ve seen much more relaxed dress codes become the norm. For me it was a move from business casual (essentially meaning no tie or jacket required) to smart casual (which was interpreted as jeans, no collar, smart sneakers).
This had a pretty material impact on the watches I wore day to day. For example my Urwerk got a lot of wrist time.
Fortunately I did regularly see clients, and travel to cities / counties where the dress code was not as relaxed and so for that I would dress up, and with that my wrist choices were more formal, dressy too.
But now? Work for home is new normal (for me it’s working pretty well), Zoom and WebEx and phone calls taking over in person meetings and with all that dress codes being even more relaxed I wonder where does that leave our more formal watches?
I’ve got a good mix of formal and casual. But if the more formal pieces begin to sit longer and longer without an appropriate opportunity to be worn what does one do then?
(Clearly the watch buying world is far ahead of me on this thought given the ascendancy of the steel sports watch in recent years).
More posts:
Finally....and some thoughts on a more casual world.
Finally wearing a watch, outside, for the first time since mid March. It was brief, maybe two hours, but nice to have something on the wrist again. It got me thinking. I’m not the first person to observe that the world has gotten more casual, but with the...
When the Brits and New York businessmen start dressing in jeans...
Maybe then, I surmise, you may start to see the end of the dress watch in general. I love dress watches, but, the times are the times, I don’t know what else to say.
A world of possibilities?
Working from home means you don't have to wear anything that fits into any social concept of fashion and style! Gold tourbillon with no pants? Perpetual calender so you don't lose track of what day it is? Why wear a GMT watch when you can double fist and ...
Gold Tourby no pants! Funny, but you know someone is doing that right now somewhere.
You are right of course, there are no “requirements” or expectations to conform but I would guess for many more casual, less opportunities or reason to dress up does mean less wrist time for the more formal pieces.
Have fun with your newly found freedom.
I myself like wearing dress watches to casual outfits aswell. That way you can „dress up“ jeans and such things. I don‘t see dress watches dying, except for maybe the most formal dress watches. They might not come back to old strength, but they‘ll find th...
I generally did mix things up, and for my collection even what I would deem the dressier pieces can be more casual with a quick strap change.
But, I would likely not be wearing my Resonance with shorts and a t-shirt, or jeans and a t-shirt.
I wear my Resonance in shorts/t-shirt all the time.
In fact, I’m generally pretty casual and always pair my outfit with any Journe. Even in gold cases.
I’d agree with the sentiments above.
I think it’s been a “whatever you want to wear whenever “ world for quite some time. It certainly has been for me. You’ll wear what you have. You might not add anymore dress watches to your collection; but you might. In the meantime congratulations on str...
It has, you are correct in that “whatever..whenever” comment.
Part of the appeal of Journe has always been it’s more contemporary or even casual design. They are generally versatile watches. It was good to get something on the wrist again, and it was a nice day with great light. The CTS looked good.
And that’s the other thing.
As you say: Journes fall somewhere in between dress and casual to start with. You can never go wrong with a Journe.
Good subject for discussion...
None of us technically need a watch for telling the time due to smart devices. A wrist watch is a beautiful display of the micro mechanical art and can be paired with any style of clothing.
I do very much agree with the “micro mechanical art”, for me this has been a large element of collecting,
I’ve found myself drawn more and more towards the more overt expressions of this in recent years, MB&F, Urwerk, UN’s Freak etc. The commonality among those is that they are all rather informal pieces. A more casual world perhaps opens up a bigger market f...
Its an good topic with an interesting perspective
While I completely follow your logic, it is important to remember that Fashion nowadays is driving the concept of mixing casual and non-casual styles together. It is quite common to see affluent people dressing down while still wearing expensive statement...
All-rounders, that’s a good observation and is what we have been seeing.
For me, I’ve stated several times here that the CB (and the 5711) is such a great watch in part because of its versatility. It’s an all rounder. Both the CB and 5711 have been my go to travel watches for years as they easily blend into any situation be it...
I do, there isn’t a mark on my CB in several years of ownership / regular wear.
It also helps that the CB has a slim profile, it’s not a watch that will find things to bump off.
I guess it depends on the definition of “casual wear”.
For example, I was for several years “business casual” light. Think loafers, slacks, shirt, maybe sweater. For that some of the more formal pieces worked well. But about 12 months ago we moved to casual, generally no shirts or collars required. With this ...
Great post, Jay.
I think there is some truth in what you say. However I think it is a much more complex matter than just one answer. I have been my own boss for many years and have many days of working alone without meeting clients, going to the bank ect. I started with s...
The CTS or Linesport fits very well in this casual aesthetic.
I wore my Centigraphe several days when I was a little more dressed up, because I couldn’t take it off my wrist for about a month, and it definitely didn’t work. Far too casual, way more so than a Sub or Nautilus for certain. Popularity in general is as y...
Interesting thoughts.
My reactions: 1. I agree with you that, no matter what, we’re in a more casual world. Even if we go back to more formal business meetings, they won’t be anywhere near as frequent as they were before, and the natural shift to at-home-casual may actually sh...
The CB as I’ve noted above is so versatile, and Journe in general has a more contemporary and informal aesthetic.
This was a big attraction of Journe to me originally. For the CB The ACM picture highlights it’s versatility; the strap being the switch that can flip this watch to extremely casual.
