This is Not A Watch
Watches can be seen through many different spheres. It is an object that has many different uses, relations, and designs. Pulling from Hodder “Entangled”, “human dependence on things leads to an entanglement between humans and things that has implications for the ways in which we have evolved and for the ways in which we live in societies today” (Hodder 10). Objects and people are always intertwined with each other just like the relationship between watches and people. These spheres allow people to see the relationship between watches and humans through different lenses.
Before watches were invented, people used to use the sun, the moon, and the stars to tell time. Watches are history. People used the passage of the sun to determine the time of the day and also the time of the year, to make it easier people used instruments such as the cross staff and quadrant to calculate latitude and longitude when sailing or making journeys. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west which was very helpful to letting people know when the day was coming to an end or just beginning. The moon has many different phases that it goes through over the courses of months. These phases give people the ability to keep track of the time of year and the time of day when looking at what phase the moon is in. On top of that, the phases that the moon is in determines the tide and whether it is low or high, this is another way of showing the time of year or day when the tide is either in or out.The stars and the position that they are in have the ability to display what time of day it is. There are many different ways to use the stars as a way to keep track of time but the most common ways are using the north star and choosing a reference star which reads the time, the location/position of the big dipper can tell time time since it moves counterclockwise around the north pole, so if one were to compare it to a normal clock, you could read it as a clock. All three of these natural occurrences show how clocks don’t need to be man made, they are found in nature and discovered. In a time where technology wasn’t advanced or even a thing, people used their resources to keep track of time and build calendars.
A watch is a way of expression and fashion. Watches can be worn to match different outfits and go above and beyond just telling time. They can be the focal point of an outfit, telling a story. Watches can be dressed up or dressed down. Watches can be a symbol of status. What year of watch, what brand, what you wear it with can all display status and class. Watches are investments and they can be heirlooms. Watches over time have been becoming less about functionality and use and are now becoming pieces to match with outfits and to show off luxury. People don’t really wear watches to tell the time or to know how much time is left in something, they are worn for expression and as a way to make a statement. They are to show class and luxury, complete an outfit, represent a brand. There are so many different reasons to wear certain watches with certain outfits. When looking at how a watch is fashion, I thought about the reading by Grimes “Crafting a Ritual”. When people go to put on a watch every morning, they might always choose the same watch with the same outfit. Or, someone might put on a watch always after putting on their coat or their earrings. There is a ritual to how people put on articles of clothing, for me I always go right sock, left sock, right shoe, left shoe. The order never changes. I do this with my jewelry and watch too. Oftentimes, when putting on clothing and getting ready, people do it in pretty much the same way every day.
Watches are art. Through the different styles, types, ways it tells time, symbols, everything that goes into making a watch is considered art. Through craftsmanship, the watch needs skill and attention to be created in high quality. Through design, there are small details and different designs that go into watches, this includes; the face, the dial, the shape of the hand, what size the numbers are, are they roman numerals, what material is it, gold, silver. Time is a key concept in art, art takes time to be created, it takes precision, near perfectionism, and trials to create art and to create a watch. Proportions are key to creating art, if proportions are off, things will not function or look proper, causing the art to be faulty. Techniques are the last part of art. There are techniques to creating a watch, there are settings like snow settings and prong settings that are specific to watches and help watches to live out their full beauty and function. All these different aspects and meticulous crafting skills reminded me of the video we watched on “Intro to Iconography” by Amy Heyse. There is a similarity between the creation of art and the creation of watches. They each take time, use specific materials, have certain rules for creation, each artist has their own way of doing things. Watches are art. Researching the way that watches are made versus how the icons are made, there were a lot of similarities. There is less functional value in a watch now. Watches tell stories by seeing how worn they are, who created them, when they were made, the different small designs that differ for each watch.
Watches are anthropology. As mentioned previously in fashion. Watches are a way to show status and class, they are a form of expression for humans and allow us to analyze a person just by what they're wearing. Anthropology is the study of human culture and societies over time. Watches used to be huge and timeless devices that people relied on to know the time of day, this has changed substantially, people now have smart watches and phones that don’t require a watch on their wrist to tell them the time. There have been so many technological advancements in society that watches just don’t have the same impact. People are able to read others just by the type of watch that they’re wearing. For example, if you see a man with a Rolex on, one might think that the man is rich and powerful, probably a businessman. Or if you see someone wearing an Apple Watch, people might see them as athletic and love to workout since its major use is to track workouts and steps. This development of technology throughout history shows the change of what is deemed important through culture. People nowadays care more about making profit and reselling these timeless watches than actually wearing them and appreciating all the time, work, and effort that went into making them
Amy Heyse. Intro to Iconography Interview with Elizabeth Zelasko - What Is an Icon and How Is It Made? YouTube, 2023, https://youtu.be/nv7ViQkL6h0?feature=shared.
Blake, Doug. “Time Keeping in the 17th Century.” General Society of Mayflower Descendants, March 11, 2022. https://themayflowersociety.org/news-events/time-keeping-in-the-17th-century/.
Grimes, Ronald. Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, Excerpts. 2014.
Hodder, Ian. Hodder, Entangled, 1-14. Entangled.
Rao, Joe. “For Stargazers, the Big Dipper Is a Celestial Compass, Clock, Calendar and Ruler. Here’s How to Use It.” Space.com, February 11, 2020. https://www.space.com/big-dipper-swiss-army-knife-for-skywatchers.html#:~:text=With%20a%20little%20practice%2C%20the,of%20this%20stellar%20hour%20hand.%22&text=The%20only%20thing%20that%20makes,of%20the%20night%20it%20is.
Richard, Pete D. Jim V. “Are Watches Really Art?” The Open Caseback, July 17, 2020. https://theopencaseback.com/articles/are-watches-art/.
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Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YrXbldgBdFrf3W0QFPX-0iRVluo8SB3aS9mNo-Rgr9g/edit#slide=id.p