Mechanical Watches in a Digital Age
A Tribute to the Past and a Bridge to the Future
A friend recently asked me why it is that I love watches. I was surprised by this question, it’s not one I often get. I responded that I love watches because they are an allegory for humanity: watches are made by humans, striving for perfection, but are themselves fallible. I love that watches are mechanical works of art, made by hand, and can be repaired over time. They feel like a permanent object in a world of planned obsolescence.
Old Town Geneva
We live in a digital age, and nothing has made that more clear than the last few years. Mechanical watches might seem like an anomaly in the world of smartphones, smart watches, and atomic clocks. We understand that technology is shaping the future, and in order to connect with each other, by choice or necessity, we are moving towards digital experiences.
With so much of our lives being driven towards digital experiences, we are a society that is interested in analog experiences. We crave a dinner with friends, a fantastic wine, seeing art in person, feeling the mechanical click of the shutter on a film camera, or shifting gears in a classic sportscar.
I love this dichotomy — the juxtaposition of both digital and analog technologies has led to a hybrid era, with an opportunity to use existing and future technologies to innovate using the best of traditional watchmaking from the master watchmakers of the 19th century.
A Lathe in an Atelier
We live in a digital age, and nothing has made that more clear than the last few years. Mechanical watches might seem like an anomaly in the world of smartphones, smart watches, and atomic clocks. We understand that technology is shaping the future, and in order to connect with each other, by choice or necessity, we are moving towards digital experiences.
With so much of our lives being driven towards digital experiences, we are a society that is interested in analog experiences. We crave a dinner with friends, a fantastic wine, seeing art in person, feeling the mechanical click of the shutter on a film camera, or shifting gears in a classic sportscar.
I love this dichotomy — the juxtaposition of both digital and analog technologies has led to a hybrid era, with an opportunity to use existing and future technologies to innovate using the best of traditional watchmaking from the master watchmakers of the 19th century.
