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The most chic, trailblazing women I know have historically worn watches. They are perpetually elegant and confident, like the watch has anointed them with an otherworldly combination of grace and drive. Women who wear a watch seem to go through life boldly. (I especially love how watch-wearing women subtly flip their wrists to check the time!) It is almost as if the watch has an incredible exalting power.
Finally, I myself have become a woman who wears a watch. This MICHELE timepiece packs a universal punch that suits my life—and goes with anything I wear. (A bonus!) The watch is diamond-studded, boasting a two-tone 18k gold-plated bracelet and a sophisticated mother-of-pearl chronograph dial. The rectangular Art Deco face is a killer and can exist in any era. When I put it on, my wrist becomes a glittering crystal ball of possibilities well within my reach. It is like I am a New York City siren.
However, I had never really worn a watch before my MICHELE days. Nary, a digital iteration! Sure, I saw my mother wear a watch. At the end of a long work day, she would carefully unclasp it and delicately place it on her dresser as if it were a fragile robin’s egg. But I was a kid! What did I know about watches? It was not until I eventually made it to New York City to pursue working in the fashion industry that I was bombarded by driven women who wore watches.
This horological universe felt like a foreign space when I arrived in the city. Why should anyone even wear a watch? After all, everyone these days carries a cellphone as if it is an appendage—and we can tell the time from that little, perpetually glowing screen. But I quickly learned that a watch, especially a gorgeous one, is not for the sole utilitarian purpose of telling time but, instead, is a symbolic statement. A watch is deliciously elevating; an almost old-world indulgence! In fact, a timepiece is a timestamp on life! A classic physical signifier that says, “Hoorah, I’ve achieved something—and I’m still en route to achieving more.”
Plenty of my friends and colleagues sport watches. The purchase may mark their first big salary jump. A new career. Even leaving a job. As for me, I started wearing a watch after I departed from my full-time fashion writing position of nine years—that I loved!—and struck out on my own. I adored fashion and resale but also enjoyed my side gig of cleansing the closets of editors. I slowly combined each of my passions and launched a business cleansing very chic closets of fabulous women around the city while telling fascinating stories through those clothes.
Before, the idea felt like a pipe dream rather than a feasible job. Now, that far-flung fantasy has transformed into an actual career. Whether on the subway, in a cab racing to an appointment, or at a work dinner, wearing something of permanence is a constant reminder that I’m heading in the right direction—and everything I want to accomplish will happen in, well, due time.