How to Wear a Watch
This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.
Most people don’t overthink wearing a watch. They get ready for the day, select a timepiece, and strap it to their left wrist. Finito. That’s the only way I ever consider wearing a watch, too. Recently, however, I realized that might simply be due to a lack of imagination. Over the last century, after all, plenty of forward thinkers have innovated new ways to display their beloved timepieces.
This train of thought was prompted late last month, when I saw that the brand Akimbo had unveiled a hoodie with a hole in the sleeve designed to show off your watch. A little goofy, sure, but it served as proof that as watches continue to become more and more ingrained in the fashion conversation, even how we wear these items is now a styling choice worth interrogating.
Here, I present 16 different ways to wear a watch, listed from the ordinary to truly wild.
The Standard
You can’t go wrong wearing your watch the good old-fashioned way: facing outward on your left wrist with the time ticking dutifully away. You won’t win any awards for creativity, but it gets the job done.
The Destro
Destro watches are made specifically for left-handed people to wear on their right wrists. Based on the reputation of lefties, a destro wearer might pick up a couple of creativity awards, but it won’t be for wearing a watch in a surprising way.
The Upside Down (a.k.a. the John Wick)
Courtesy Everett Collection
Military personnel often prefer to wear their watches with the dial on the inside of their wrists. Benefits include avoiding glare on the watch’s crystal and the ability to read the time while lying on your stomach. None other than John Wick also wore his watch this way, ostensibly so he could read the time while double-tapping his enemies or launching an emptied pistol at them. Because of the style’s association with the military, wearing a watch upside down has become a strong signifier, according to our anonymous friend at Watches of Espionage, who writes about timepieces in the government and military. “I would argue today ‘inside-wristing’ is just as much about culture as anything else,” WoE wrote last November. “A watch is one of the few items customizable by uniformed personnel and for some it is a sign that you are a ‘gunfighter,’ ‘operator,’ or play Call of Duty on the weekends.”
The Loosey-Goosey
Gotham
Wearing a watch with a too-big bracelet or strap isn’t exactly novel—but the term for it is. Brynn Wallner, a.k.a. @Dimepiece, coined this as “loosey-goosey” style and it’s stuck. According to Wallner, allowing your watch to slide unfettered up and down your arm puts you in the conversation with celebs like Bella Hadid, who wears her Cartier Panthere this way.
The Warhol
This is a remix of the traditional style. Artist Andy Warhol famously wore his Cartier Tank without setting the time. It’s a flex that acknowledges how the watch has transcended its original purpose to become a potent fashion symbol.
The Ferrell
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
