TIME TRAVELERS

TODAY’S TOP-END DIGITAL WRISTWEAR PROVIDES ENDLESS DATA AND DIRECTION WHEREVER YOU GO

- GORDON MEEHL

Throughout our entire history, humans have counted sunrises, sunsets and the phases of the moon. No part of our lives is left untouched by how we measure and enumerate the passage of time.

The human construct of organizing time into neat measurable packets has been the prime mover and motivator for creating new technologies to count, schedule and arrange our lives according to how earth is moving through space. From sundials to pocket watches to precision wristwatches that cost more than my first car, time pieces are a part of our daily lives.

If you merely want to sit back and watch the seconds tick away or if you care more about the name and bling on your wrist, then stop, move along—there’s nothing for you here. If you have high expectations from what you use and wear every day, then you’re in the right spot.

A watch should be a tool and not a fashion statement. Your timepiece should hold up to the same standards as all your other EDC choices. It should be reliable, easy to use and have functionality that exceeds your needs. Below are some of the criteria I used to select what I feel are the top choices for EDC wristwear and why I focused on digital rather than analog.

DURABILITY

To protect their delicate parts and pieces, a quality analog watch needs substantial shock and waterproofing. This usually means substantial bulk being added to an analog watch in the way of protective covers, thicker glass and the like. Because of its solid-state technology, a digital watch is much easier to protect, waterproof and harden than the thousands of small cogs, gears and springs in analog watches.

LEGIBILITY