It's 2026. Do you still wear a wrist watch or smart watch to tell time?

[ZLoth]

I know, this is quite a simplistic question, but do you still wear a wrist watch or smart watch for the purposes of finding out the time.

From me, the answer has been a long-time "nope". For starters, wearing a watch in a previous job (industrial machine shop) was considered a safety hazard. Secondly, there was the issue of time drift that, unless your watch was synchronized to a time source, it would either lose or gain time. Also, with the smart phones, I already was carrying a time piece that I could refer to for the time.

As for a smart watch, again, nope. Too expensive to lose.

[kphoger]

I haven't worn a watch since 2000.  While on a music tour, I bought a fake Rolex in Tijuana, and the hands fell off several weeks later.  I didn't have the money at the time to buy a new watch, so I just never did.

[Beltway]

No -- not since I got my first cell phone in 2002. It has the time and it is server synchronized. It is important to know the time, so I went from a watch to a phone.

[kphoger]

My mom can't stand to be without a watch, probably from having to wear one all those years as a career nurse.

One time it would be nice to have a watch is when your cell phone can't figure out which time zone it's in, such as near a border or in a place that doesn't observe DST or whatever.

[Max Rockatansky]

I wear a Fitbit.  I don't think that really qualifies as a smart anything or a conventional watch.  It does show the time though.

[ZLoth]

I wear a Fitbit.  I don't think that really qualifies as a smart anything or a conventional watch.  It does show the time though.

For purposes of this poll, the answer is "yes" as it serves the function of telling time on your wrist.

[formulanone]

I've had a watch on my arm since I was 8. I'd bought $15-30 watches in the past, beat them up for about 3-5 years, disposing them when the battery died or the band fell apart. After the last one stopped, I went watch-less for about 18 months, just checking my phone, since I was most likely to get alarms and such through the device.

My wife bought me an Apple Watch (series 3, 38mm) mostly so I could detect the notifications and phone rings when in noisy environments; the watch buzzes slightly and you feel it (I only have it notify phone calls, texts, and things like airline notifications). One upside is the fitness tracker, so that's helped prod me a little to "close the rings" every day. There's also weather which is nice to see at a glance. Most of its other features go unused...

It's lasted over four years so far and the battery still lasts all day. I was concerned that a $99 special wouldn't last very long, but so far that hasn't been the case.

[Bobby5280]

I haven't worn a wrist watch in a long time. I have a couple that were given to me as gifts; one from my civic club. Still I don't wear them. I can see the time on my phone or my computer screen.

Fitness tracking is the only reason why I've considered buying a smart watch. Samsung Galaxy phones previously had a heart rate monitor built into them; then Samsung got the bright idea of removing the feature and putting it into their watches. I work out quite a lot, but the times where I might track my heart rate are when I'm walking on a treadmill or stair climber. Those machines have handles that will check your heart rate. So, basically, I don't really need to spend money on a smart watch.

[Rothman]

Nope.

[The_Ginger]

Yes, for 5 years now. I actually wear it so much that I have a tan line where the watch goes. I've gone through several watches, from a Fitbit to currently, and Apple Watch SE 2.

[1995hoo]

I have 12 or 13 watches (six of them inherited from my father when he died), although I most often wear an Apple Watch. My wife got me my first Apple Watch back in 2015 as a way of circumventing restrictions on mobile-phone usage at the job where I was working at the time—they didn't have a rule against smartwatches, so I could keep my phone out of sight while still receiving messages on my watch. She eventually got me a newer model some years later when the old one was having trouble holding a charge. I very much like using it for Apple Pay, among other things (although when I ride the subway in New York I use my phone instead due to the turnstiles' design).

I've always gotten a kick out of a statement I saw somewhere online once: "When he wants to know what time it is, a boy looks at his phone. A man looks at his watch."

[gonealookin]

I've worn a wrist watch since I was a kid.  The current one is a Casio Pathfinder.  The solar-powered battery eliminates the battery replacement issue.  Aside from the time, the main feature I use is the altimeter, which is nice to have on a hike.

Never felt a need for a "smart watch", Fitbit or anything like that.

[hbelkins]

Currently wearing a Timex Indiglo analog watch. I feel naked without a watch.

[formulanone]

My wife got me my first Apple Watch back in 2015 as a way of circumventing restrictions on mobile-phone usage at the job where I was working at the time—they didn't have a rule against smartwatches, so I could keep my phone out of sight while still receiving messages on my watch.

My wife has the same restrictions at her work which got the ball rolling on an otherwise unnecessary item. I endure some harsh noise environments so hearing my phone is difficult or almost impossible.

I have to admit the band is perfect. No slipping, no snagging, the watch face doesn't weigh down on one side, the clasp is unobtrusive, and it still fits perfectly. I see no reason to buy a "custom" band.

(I'm starting to sound like a shill.)

[DandyDan]

I wear a Fitbit, so I guess technically, I do. I last remember wearing a wristwatch about 2008 or so, because I got one for a Christmas gift, so I felt obligated to wear it. I have no idea where it is today.

[GaryV]

Yesterday I didn't wear my watch at all; I didn't go out except for yard work. Usually I wear it all the time.

[JayhawkCO]

Yep. I have a Coros Vertix 2. Love this watch.

[SSOWorld]

Apple watch.

[vdeane]

I wore a watch through high school and college, but stopped after I was no longer in an environment where neither checking my phone nor computer would be possible/desirable.  I'm perfectly content to not have something on my wrist.

[Big John]

Apple watch.

 

[epzik8]

I don't, I lost mine a number of years ago and never got around to buying a new one, and eventually I declared my watch-wearing days over.

[NWI_Irish96]

I've just never been comfortable wearing watches/rings. Not a modesty thing, just not physically comfortable.

Last time I wore a watch regularly was high school.

[kphoger]

I've just never been comfortable wearing watches/rings. Not a modesty thing, just not physically comfortable.

Last time I wore a watch regularly was high school.

I took me a while to get used to wearing my wedding ring.

Shortly after we were married, I had a job driving a delivery route of around 300 miles or so.  My truck had no a/c, so I used to drive with the windows down and my arm sticking out the window.  Sometimes I'd play with my wedding ring too, because it still felt like a foreign object to me.  One day, while I was playing with it at 60 mph down the highway, the ring slipped over my first knuckle and I barely caught it with my thumb in time.  Good save!  But, note to self, do not play with your wedding ring while it's hanging over the highway anymore.

(Go figure, I lost it anyway a few years later, at a different job.  I suspected it had ended up in the dumpster, so I spent quite a while digging through the dumpster.  Never did find it, had to get a replacement.)

[NWI_Irish96]

I've just never been comfortable wearing watches/rings. Not a modesty thing, just not physically comfortable.

Last time I wore a watch regularly was high school.

I took me a while to get used to wearing my wedding ring.

Shortly after we were married, I had a job driving a delivery route of around 300 miles or so.  My truck had no a/c, so I used to drive with the windows down and my arm sticking out the window.  Sometimes I'd play with my wedding ring too, because it still felt like a foreign object to me.  One day, while I was playing with it at 60 mph down the highway, the ring slipped over my first knuckle and I barely caught it with my thumb in time.  Good save!  But, note to self, do not play with your wedding ring while it's hanging over the highway anymore.

(Go figure, I lost it anyway a few years later, at a different job.  I suspected it had ended up in the dumpster, so I spent quite a while digging through the dumpster.  Never did find it, had to get a replacement.)

I stopped wearing mine after a few years. No woman (or man, for that matter) is making a move on me based on the absence of a ring.

[hbelkins]

I've lost a considerable amount of weight (more than 100 pounds in the past 10 years). As a result, my fingers are smaller and my wedding ring has a tendency to slide off, especially when I'm in the shower or I'm washing my hands. My wife encouraged me to stop wearing it so I wouldn't lose it. I did so, reluctantly.

No woman ... is making a move on me based on the absence of a ring.

Ditto.