It had a black strap, white face with a picture of Mickey Mouse, his arms the hands to tell time. I was still trying to figure out the whole time thing but had practically begged my father to pick me up a Mickey Mouse watch on his travels. I was more into Disney characters than actually telling time but that was my first watch.
Later, the in-thing was a watch with the calculator. It had tiny little rubber buttons, was a bit of a mission to work with and wasn’t allowed in tests or exams, but it was straight out of the future. It was also the last watch my father would buy me because I was never really good at maintaining a functioning watch.
First time I was given one that was ‘waterproof’, I left it in the sink for an hour to see what would happen. It wasn’t that waterproof.
I eventually hustled what I considered, and still consider, one of the coolest watches to get – a pocket watch. Had it for 2 years and a friend – no longer – dropped it while looking at it. After that, I gave up on the fancy stuff and, through my years in university, would buy a very cheap watch at the beginning of the academic year and by December it would have fallen apart. January I would just pick up another one. A simple approach. My focus was on functionality. This strategy worked for the student but not in later years. A watch has become much more than merely a timepiece.
I have, very slowly, been building a decent watch collection. In a recent conversation with a friend on twitter, I was introduced to the Flüd watch brand. Ironically, we were chatting about brands we would happily endorse and, as if on cue, two days later, I receive a Flüd catalogue via email from the group who have secured exclusive rights to distribute in South Africa.
Happy days. A week after, I picked up a Flüd Turntable. Creative and versatile, the Flüd range is diverse enough to work as an accessory with most looks.
And the price isn’t too bad either.