I went back to a classic wrist watch

Sep 2014

In September 2014, we were building support for Android Wear and got a few Android watches for testing at work. I tried on one of them and instantly fell in love. The watch didn't look great per se, but it was smart and was geekiness taken to the next level.

That evening I saw my ‘time to home’ change in real time as I drove. I glanced through the feed to see notifications and Google Now cards. Whenever my phone pinged, I looked at the watch instead of pulling out my phone. I just looked at my wrist for my shopping list when in supermarkets. I tried different watch faces. I was a super-user and that helped me fine tune our Android Wear experience. I never touched my Swatch again and after a couple of months gave it off to my dad to use. I was only going to use smartwatches there on.

Around April 2015, Apple Watch came out and I was so clear about what to design for the best emailing experience on a smartwatch. I liked Android Wear more than WatchOS though as it just did a few things really damn well. Apple Watch tried doing too many things, I thought.

Oct 2016

By October 2016, the LG Watch had started to become very buggy. It missed notifications, wouldn't charge properly and started behaving weird. I was appalled that in 2 years the smartwatch had become quite unusable compared to the Swatch that I used for years and was still in good condition with my dad.

A new smartwatch every 2 years?

I checked for other Android watches to buy but was not happy with anything on the market. I decided to not wear a watch till I find the right one.

In February 2017, Google released the LG Watch Sport and Style which I was eagerly waiting for. Unfortunately they also fell short of my expectations. The smaller watch Style looked cheap and Sport looked huge.

By this time, I had realised a few things

• I didn't miss the smartwatch at all. It’s nice to have it, but not something I can’t live without. Also one less thing to charge daily.
• A watch is more of an accessory than its function. Most smartwatches didn't have the appeal to be an accessory of my taste for the price I’m paying for.
• Previously I had watches for different occasions. So does that mean I should have multiple smartwatches? Basically I think I was getting bored of wearing the same thing all the time.

By the end of 2017, I was mostly convinced that I’ll buy a nice classic wrist watch and I had almost zeroed in on the Shinola Runwell.

Dec 2017

In December 2017, I saw the Brathwait Classic Slim watch ad on Instagram and I fell in love again. I just couldn't take my eyes off the minimal and elegant design. I clicked on the ad and visited their website, drooled over more pictures and read their story…

BRATHWAIT eliminates industry shortcuts and cheap solutions with its focus on quality manufacturing and honest pricing.

This commitment doesn’t make us the biggest, nor does it make us the fastest growing company, quite the contrary. But we believe that qualities like honesty and altruism are desperately needed these days.

Needless to say I was impressed. And, thanks to Google Adsense, I started seeing Brathwait ads wherever I went. It finally became too irresistible for me and I took the plunge.

I get a lot of compliments for my watch now. I’m glad I waited.