The Watch: A Man's Everyday Accessory

When a woman wants to accessorize, they'll put on some earrings, perhaps a necklace, and the rest goes from there. FOr men, the one accessory that every man wears (excluding rings, earrings, and piercings) is a watch.

Although many would argue that a watch is only necessary to tell time, a watch is a piece of jewelry for a man. For some, one piece of jewelry is enough whereas for others a piece of jewelry should compliment the outfit and so you cannot just have one.

The man that treats his time keeper as an accessory will no doubt understand that there is a connection between the color and texture of his shoes, belt, and watch.

The color between the belt and watch supercedes the band color of the watch; that means that you can have brown shoes/belt but have a metal banded watch.

The band of the watch should match the color and texture of the shoes. WHich means if you have a pair of black shoes, your watch should have a band that is black or metal. As for for the texture, match smooth shoes with a smooth band and textures shoes with textured watch bands.

Likewise, the belt should also match the shoes.

The more casual the attire, the bigger the watch dial can be. Which means if a man goes to a tuxedo event, his watch band should not only match the glossiness and blackness of his shoe, but the dial should be fairly conservatively small.

Metal watches are great because they go with pretty much everything however the rule of the dial size is still relevant.

A man's watch collection is built over time, and meant to be passed down to his sons, as tradition (from what I've read). A watch once passed, also has a history to it.

The first watch I ever got, during high school, was from K-Mart which was a $40.00 ironman triathlon watch. After that, I first understood the concept of building my watch collection in 1998.

My second watch was a titanium Seiko that cost me $500.00 in 1998. I still have the watch and just changed the battery this year. I bought it during a time when I was able to afford lavish objects.

My third watch was a gift from my friend Chin, black textured band with gold colored dial, meant for very formal occasions. It has a quarter carat diamond as it's 12 o'clock time. It was bought for me during a time when realized we'd be friends for a long time.

My fourth watch was a textured, black banded Kenneth Cole watch from Ross for $45.00. It's the only watch where I've switched the battery on my own. It was bought during a time when I figured out what being a man really is.

My fith was a smooth brown banded Kenneth COle watch, purchased because I had a bunch of brown shoes with no watch to go with them. Around $45.00 and also from Ross. I bought this because I was in my first relationship where I wanted to dress well for my girlfriend.

My 6th watch was a simple, plastic banded, watch for $30.00 that I purchased to upgrade from my Ironman. It runs on solar and I purchased it during my "i'm broke" phase.

My 7th, and recent watch, is also a Kenneth Cole watch for $55.00 at Ross. It's a stainless steel watch with a large dial and black face. I purchased this so that I can just wear my Seiko watch for salsa dancing and needed a metal watch that would go with everything. I bought this watch with the money made from J Smooth Salsa last weekend, the first time I've paid myself since I started teaching in summer of 2002.

Although watches tell the time as the day goes, the watches themselves are timeless and can hold a great story of history to them.

Although the Ironman watch was purchased out of necessity to tell time, I gave that watch to my friend Rex the day before he left for the Middle East in 2005. He needed a rugged watch for the war ahead and didn't have time to buy one. And thus, The watch continues it's history-building life.