Watch and Learn

In my last watch post, I gave an overview of the three kinds of watches essential to a butch wardrobe: black, brown, silver.  But what if you want to go above and beyond the confines of classic fashion? Here are some ideas.

#1: The White Watch

Grand for slaving away at your desk or grinding away on the dance floor, white watches are fun, fashion-forward, and increasingly popular.  I scored the one on the left on eBay, slightly used, for $36 (normally in the $80-$90 range new).  Other hot white watches include this one from D&G and the Nixon Graduate (which I mentioned in the last post, but *love* in white!).

---

#2: Color Splash!

Though you shouldn't wear it more than once a week or so (or it will become a little tiresome), a big ol' shock of color on your wrist is a really fun way to smack some style into an otherwise dull outfit.  For example, I might wear my lime green Nixon Time Teller (pictured left) on a day when I'm wearing jeans, sneakers, and a plain black button-up shirt.  Nixon Time Tellers (pic below) have been ridiculously

---

 

---

popular for the last year or two, and are still going pretty strong--probably due to their simple style and relatively affordable price tag.  The Swatch New Gent (which I discovered on the Sartorial Butch's blog a while ago) is along the same lines, but a little less ubiquitous.  (I am presently coveting the Petrol Rebel--just an FYI for those of you who are trying to decide what to buy me for July 4.)  Look around for a cool watch in your favorite color.  The Noon Watch, pictured at right, is kinda snazzy.  If you want to be extra retro, go digital, like this Freestyle.

---

#3: Vintage Virtuosity

Ah, "vintage..."  This widespread term can mean anything from "used" to "antique" to "hipsterrific."  But basically, anything before 1980 is going to be something most people don't have.  For a brief time, I was obsessed with Russian watches from the 1960s and 1970s, three of which are pictured here.  I bought them on eBay for between $15-$20 each.  The catch?  They all stopped working within a month of their arrival.  And according to the rather rude watch guy at my local drug store, one of them can't even be fixed.  So go vintage, but understand that it can be a gamble.  Still...  so cool, right?  "Oh, this old thing?  It's, like, a Russian watch from the 1960s.  Yeah, that's Cyrillic alphabet.  Beautiful, isn't it?  ...Oh sure, I'd love to go out with you sometime."  Watchismo, which I mentioned in the last post, also has a small, pricey collection of really cool vintage watches. 

---

#4: The Nerdbucket

Nerdy is IN.  And one way to fly your nerd flag fly high is by sporting a dorktastic watch.  These can feature calculators (a la 1986), or simply be plain ol' digital throwbacks, like my personal favorite, pictured left.  I got it on Amazon for $13.48, and love to wear it with a plain white shirt and jeans, or with a nerdly-cool T-shirt (e.g., my Ninja on a Bicycle shirt), or even with a sweater vest if I'm feeling extra awesome.  I put many digital watches, even relatively cool ones, into this category.  I do not, however, include watches designed specifically as "sports" watches.  These fall into the next category.

---

#5: Sports/Jock/Survivalist Watches

It is only reluctantly, and at the urging of my DGF, that I include today's final category.  It's not that I don't like or appreciate these watches--indeed, I'm rather fond of my own Timex Ironman (which I wear to the gym, or to the grocery store, or other overtly sporty or casual contexts).  It's simply that I've found that most butches are already well-acquainted with this  category of timepiece--so much so, in fact, that unless they're especially faggy and/or fashion-forward, this may be the only watch they own.  Case in point: my DGF's watch, pictured here, is a Casio that gives the time, altitude, barometric pressure, and God knows what else--probably tide tables, the phases of the moon, and the Federal Rules of Evidence.  As my DGF is fond of pointing out, it is made of titanium, which makes it lighter than other watches of this stripe.  And as I am fond of pointing out, it is solar-powered, which means that it's excellent on sunny days and less useful on cloudy ones.  Like many butches, my DGF finds her sporty survivalist watch appropriate for every occasion from snorkeling to parties to weddings.  Note to butches: #5, while wonderful, is not, in fact, appropriate for every setting.  See my previous watch post, as well as #'s 1-4 on this post, for some inspiration!

---