I'm sure there are dozens of reasons to still wear a watch today. For me, there is little point in a Casio or indeed a quartz watch at all, but mechanical watches are a different thing. I can't look at a mechanical watch for long without thinking again of John Harrison and his preposterous method to "discover the Longitude"; a problem so urgent in 1714 that the British Parliament offered a heady prize of £20,000 for its solution.
Years ago I spent many days studying Rupert Gould's
The Marine Chronometer, Its History and Development in my university library, since the book — long out of print — cost far more than I could afford. Then I visited the National Maritime Museum at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to see Harrison's chronometers for myself, and promptly wept. (I later read that Dava Sobel, author of the snappy little book
Longitude, did the same when she first saw the H4 chronometer. Harrison himself described the H4 as the result of "fifty years of self denial, unremitting toil, and ceaseless concentration. I think I may make bold to say that there is neither any other Mechanism or Mathematical thing in the World that is more beautiful or curious in texture than this my watch or timekeeper for the Longitude.")
The importance of accurate timekeeping to the 18th-century world can't be overstated. It was as important as solving today's energy problem or curing cancer, but infinitely sexier. It allowed ships to ply the oceans, and enabled great navigators like James Cook to map the world with phenomenal accuracy.
Mechanical watches are supreme examples of human ingenuity. With that in mind, it's impossible to wear a fine mechanical watch without feeling grateful for the privilege.
NOMOS offer other reasons to own a mechanical watch,
on their website:
Every watch requires patience and time: plenty of handcrafting and high-tech, highly qualified staff and the best materials. That’s why there can be no two-buck NOMOS watch. Nor for 500 euros anymore, it wouldn’t be reliable. But NOMOS watches are affordable—comparable to a short vacation, a well-made coat, a computer, a good bicycle. And even if there are a few additional complexities that make it somewhat more expensive: a NOMOS watch is something worth saving for, something you can one day bequeath to someone, something you can sell if you have to, because they hold their value. And something that brings joy: with every glance at the time, surely 78 times a day. And those who sit beside you in the train, your competitors at the office, the chance acquaintance in a café—they can all share your joy.
This joy is certainly something I derive from other people's watches, especially on public transport where it's possible to stare without attracting attention. Paris is a good place for watch lovers, though I'm sure somewhere like Hong Kong is even better. A couple of days ago I saw a man under thirty wearing a Longines, and I frequently see impressive watches on both men and women. I've even seen tourbillons worn in public.