I have a confession to make to the watch community. It’s difficult to get the words out, and it might come as a shock to many of you, but I think it’s important to be transparent and open here. You trust us with commentary on watches of all kinds, and to put these things in perspective, and in return the least we can do as editors and writers is come clean when it’s warranted. I’ll just come right out and say it: I use Siri to time just about everything.
Wow, it feels good to be unburdened. I just couldn’t keep it inside any longer. But these days, when I’ve got a load of laundry to change over, or limited time in a parking spot, I’m pulling out my phone instead of looking at my wrist to twist a bezel or start a chronograph. With just two words, I can ask my one constant companion to remind me of the expiration of just about any event. There’s literally nothing easier. And she’s so polite!
As a watch collector and enthusiast, I love wearing my watches, and I use them to check the time frequently and subconsciously because I simply enjoy admiring them. This, I think, is common among our lot. We glance down to our watches even when we don’t need to know the time, just to admire the dial or the lines of a case. Maybe we recognize the time during these impromptu, reflexive check-ins, and maybe we don’t – haven’t we all had the experience of looking at our watches, looking away, and then realizing you actually have no idea what time it is? We’re frequently engaged with the object, but not necessarily its function.
I don’t currently own a Speedmaster, but when I did, I’d look for opportunities to use the chronograph. I’d throw a frozen pizza in the oven, start the chrono, and tell myself I’d check in when it got up to 15 minutes, or whatever, and we’d be good to go. Maybe I’d even use it again to time that five minute cool down period, so as not to destroy the roof of my mouth on pizza approaching the heat of the sun. Reader, I don’t have to tell you that more often than not I wound up with pizza that was overdone, and a chronograph that I’d simply forget about, letting it run for hours on end. On the bright side: slightly burnt frozen pizza is so unappetizing, there was virtually no chance of mouth injury from indulging too quickly. My taste buds thank me.
The solution was right in my pocket. Even easier than setting the oven timer, asking Siri to set a timer or alarm in a simple sentence spoken in plain English is a foolproof way to avoid unfortunate situations that result in parking tickets, missed meetings, or a disappointing meal. This, of course, isn’t news to the vast majority of technologically inclined people all over the world who use these features everyday. But as a watch enthusiast who wants to use his watches for real world stuff, it presents as a weird conflict between modern convenience and the charm of something we love, but is by now fairly antiquated.
It feels like a transgression sometimes to rely so heavily on digital, automated timing when I’m so heavily invested in watches, both as a hobby and a livelihood. How can you look yourself in the eye when your most critical timing needs are met not by 300 year old technology, but by silicon? The purist in me wants to make better use of dive bezels, chronographs, and mechanical alarms, but the person inside of me who just wants to be on time knows that he needs a little help, and that’s where Siri comes in.
I have a watch collector friend who loves the Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox, owns several great vintage examples, and tells me he uses the alarm functionality all the time. I’m a Memovox owner myself. It’s a great watch with a wonderful history and real beauty. But man, it’s tough for me to imagine making the choice to wind the alarm and set it for the many time based reminders I require throughout the day, when there’s an easier option that involves simply speaking my request in the vicinity of my phone. Am I a lesser Memovox owner because of this? Perhaps I am. But last time I met this friend for drinks and some watch talk, he was late.
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