Are you wearing a thing?
Bongi D D M Radipati | Monday April 18, 2022 06:00
I believe that almost every adult would answer it wrongly by claiming that they wear a device. Said in the same breath with a thing, a device reinforces a beguiling conceit. It sounds more refined, more intellectual, perhaps even more pompous! The inclination to prefer a device over a thing is thus a result of a combination of basic ignorance and misplaced elitism. Could philosophy enlighten our understanding of this everyday matter of dressing?
Albert Borgman, a philosopher, teaches us that there are only two basic kinds of human artefacts. There are things and devices. A thing is embedded in a complex network of human activity and socialisation, while the point of a device lies only in what it does, which is disconnected from its creation. On the reckoning of Borgman, a mechanical watch, that is, a watch that is wound (by hand or the movement of a hand) and a quartz watch, that is, a watch powered by a battery – are each a thing, while a cellphone and a smartwatch are devices, although they too tell time, among others. By the way, even a television set and a radio tell time, but thankfully are not watches!
It is recorded that time-keeping started in the ancient world with the Egyptians using seasons and days to measure time. Thereafter, the ancient Chinese invented instruments to measure time. In a short order, an hourglass followed. By the 14th Century watches were being invented and by the 18th Century, the wearing of watches became mainstream. In the 21st Century, in wearing a watch, one is literally following the time-worn culture of personal timekeeping.
Amazingly, a mechanical watch has 10 basic parts and over 100 parts moving in unison and consistently while telling time at every point. And for over 150 years, these specifications have remained as constant as time itself. With its craftsmanship, admittedly, a mechanical watch is a tool of historical ingenuity, enclosed in a simple contraption, but, with sufficient care and maintenance, intended (unlike with a device) to last a lifetime. If found, this watch will cost you a minimum three-figure amount. Another timekeeper – a quartz watch - is now commonplace and affordable. Because it is powered by a battery, it has few moving parts and thus has no complex mechanism. Additionally, it has low maintenance costs, has better accuracy, and its cheapest one can be bought for the price of a fast-food snack. Since its power source is a battery, typically, a quartz watch has functions beyond just telling time. If you want a watch that is expensive, will require your attention to its intricacies and has unparalleled sophistication and craftsmanship, then a mechanical watch is your choice. If, however, you desire a watch that is considerably cheaper, can be bought at any good watch vendor and will require far less of your attention, then a quartz watch is your preference.
As time has hummed along with our acceptance of its relevance in our lives, we have come to admit that there are at least two watches that an adult should strive to have. They are a dress watch and a chronograph. A dress watch is a slim, uncluttered watch typically completed by a letter strap. Because it has a singleness of purpose – just to tell time only - it always manages to slide effortlessly under a shirt cuff. This has made it beautiful and utilitarian almost by default! Then there is the chronograph, essentially a watch that doubles also as a stopwatch, measuring events in its sub-dials that are usually three inside the main dial. It is common for it to have a metal interlocking band as a strap for this watch. This tends to accentuate its hefty nature. If you have athlete’s arms, or you have round arms, this watch is good for you.
In any case, this is the watch you wear if you want others to notice your wrist! But it is not a watch for certain adult events in your life, such as a job interview, your wedding day, being on a podium, or other significant occasion in your life. These belong to a dress watch.
To wear a watch is to strap it on a wrist with a casualness that conceals the elaborate consideration that preceded its wearing: a free wrist, an item of clothing that should not interfere with it, and the care of avoiding to knock it off against other objects. And once it is worn, there ought to be an abandonment of its presence, except on the odd occasion when one glances at it to check time.
I think that were it to contrast itself with other timekeepers, a watch would accept that, unlike them, it avoids any reflection of its value and that it succeeds in underestimating itself. With its subtle complexity and its longevity, I want to imagine that every evening when an adult puts away their watch, possibly close to other gadgets necessary for their modern life (such as a cellphone, or a smart watch, really a wrist computer), it probably mocks those gadgets’ concepts of wonder and functionality!
Anyhow you look at it, every watch is really a work of visual art, an item of mechanical science, a personal choice and sometimes a story able to hold the attention of its owner. That a watch – a thing that may cost as much as hosting a party of adults or as little as the price of a take-away meal – is able to give us time and keep it too, is equivalent to the figurative bottling of lightning in a small case. That is only one sense of a watch. Here is another. A watch’s presence in our lives always reassures. ach time you glance at the watch on your wrist, or each time you do not have it on you, you ought to be reminded of how better off you are wearing a thing!
*Radipati is a Mmegi contributor