THE CONVERSATION: TIME SHAPES UP

Rough winds do shake up watchmaking and this is when we least expect new directions. The debut of just one collection has changed the math and made many question the wisdom of banking so overwhelmingly on round watches. The editors of WOW debate the issue

- ASHOK SOMAN, DANIEL GOH AND RUCKDEE CHOTJINDA

A common refrain in watchmaking goes like this: watchmakers are free to make watches in any shape they like, so long as that shape is round. This is repeated so often that it borders on being tiresome – the recent launch of the Patek Philippe Cubitus has gone a long way towards making this a topic of conversation again. So it is that the editors of WOW Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand came together to talk it out. Given that all three are self-confessed fans of the form watch, you might think that this will make for some weak tea. However, this is a nuanced subject, as the ensuing conversation reveals. One subject that is not covered is a factual matter that does not merit any discussion: the robustness of the form watch.

To be frank, contemporary watches usually boast excellent build quality – far better than anything made in the early part of the 20th century when form watches were at their peak. Yes, rubber gaskets work best in round form but no watch in any form these days, from a reputable maker, will experience trouble with humidity and the like. There might be some cause for concern when the time frame under discussion is decades or even centuries but, needless to say, we know of no evidence for this. At the present time, we can definitively declare that form watches are just as capable as round ones in normal situations. Extraordinary circumstances are beyond the scope of this article although we note for the record that dive computers exist in a number of different form factors. As far as we know, none are troubled by being tools that are not round.