In my humble opinion, the one thing that we can rely on, as far as being consistent, in life is change. And change is always on the horizon. Whether we’re talking about social issues, trends, fashion, or what we, as a society, see as attractive and unattractive.

In the mix of all of this, one thing remains fairly clear in all of this change.

Every change makes a statement.

Our statement are made by our clothes, our hair, the way we dress, the way we think, talk, act and even react to the world around us. Whether you’re giving the finger to the man, fist in the air, wangs our for Harambe or marching with the sheep, your statement is clear.

However, in the middle of the madness, we are reminded so often how far we come and how quickly time passes.

It passes a lot more if you don’t have a watch to keep track of it.

Bracelet Clocks?

In the history of our time, wearing watches on your wrist was nothing more than a joke. A “silly ass fad” that some crazy Europeans came up with. It was in the form of a bracelet that just screams “feminine” to the masses and would never replace the prestige and fancy dress of wearing a pocket watch on your vest or coat, would it?

However, during the times of World War 1, humanity had found it to be incredibly functional and convenient to wear a watch on your wrist; thus began turned the “silly ass fad” into a necessity. Soldiers who didn’t have one would mock up a tie for a pocket watch to fit on their wrist like a wristwatch would.

(Ironically, this wouldn’t be the first trend we would get from our brothers and sisters in arms. Let's take a moment to thank them for Aviators as well.)

Soon after, civilians began to take this trend and ran with it and why not? Why make life harder on yourself by having to actively go out and find a public clock to keep track of where you are in your day?  The wrist watch soon began to be known as, “the most useful piece of jewelry one can wear.” Due to the effectiveness it had for the military, it was marketed to men for the promises of making one “More military-like. More masculine.”

Outside of the average Joe and Jane, the watch soon found itself in high demand across multiple venues due to the growth of the automobile, aviation and railroad industries. By World War II, the pocket watch was deemed obsolete and faded away into your great grandfather's storage box in the attic. Now, mere props for a good steampunk Halloween costume.

Timing Is Everything

Beyond all of this history, we still see people walking around today who wear multiple different styles for multiple different reasons. Some being along the lines of:

• Convenience - Simple as that. Just the thought that you can check the time with a flick of the wrist, as opposed to digging your smart phone out of your purse or pocket, makes it that much more beneficial.
• Simplistic Function - Simplicity makes life so much easier and the fact that you don’t have to check your phone for the time and end up getting distracted by a million different things on your smartphone does ease your stress. We’re a busy society, so when we can get a break from being bombarded or overwhelmed, let’s take one.
• Style - This is probably the real reason we wear a nice watch or invest in a really nice watch. It looks good! And let’s be real, when your outfit looks good, you feel good. When you get a compliment, you feel good. When someone wants to know where you got that badass time piece, you know you love telling them.
• Statement - Along with style, this would be a tie with why we choose to wear a particular piece with our outfit. Again, it goes back to our statement. What we’re telling the world without saying a single word. We show the world our success, what we value, what we stand for, what we believe in and what we are passionate about with our pieces.
• Punctuality - In my opinion, there is very few characteristics that really make an individual stand out like punctuality. It is a symbol of respect, maturity, dependability, discipline, humility and work ethic to those around us. Having our watch on your wrist is a symbol of this characteristic.

The Modern Pocket Watch

The Millennials are coming in hot with the latest and greatest in convenient technological advances to improve the most … let’s say, irrelevant inconveniences. Such as the smartphone. Though very impressive (as well as expensive), me being the old soul I am look at this as impressive but not necessarily a necessity.

Being so interconnected and so available to a variety of information and applications is a double edged sword, especially for those who lack in self discipline.

Can you honestly think of a causal reason or situation to constantly be so readily available to all the information the internet has to offer to you in a handful of seconds? Must you have everything that’s already in your pocket at all times, just so you don’t have to miss  that tweet, see that status or get the weather forecast in that very same moment?

It may just be me, however I see such a disconnect with the more advance we get with our phones. I’ve seen tables of people at restaurants just sitting together, on their phone. Couples out to dinner together, both on their phones most of the evening.

Could this be the new pocket watch? Possibly, but does this have the value that the wristwatch has carried for almost a century?

What’s Your Statement?

We can, undoubtedly, spend hours counting and debating which watch is best, what brand is better and what style fits best. However, one thing we need to look for in a watch is this:

When choosing a watch, one must keep these three into consideration. In my opinion, these make or break the decision on the watch.

When you’re talking craftsmanship, you’re talking about nickel free steel, high quality glass, and Japanese quartz moment. Strength, dependability and made to last.

When it comes to function, you’re looking at a solid backlit display, 12 & 24 hour option for you military personnel, alarm function, a stopwatch, and a display to check the date in case you forgot.

And, finally, your statement. What do you believe in? Do you believe in money? Success? Happiness? Prosperity? What does it take to achieve everything? What is the one thing needed to have the world and everything in it?

Strength.

Strength Will overcome Obstacles Every Time. This is SWOLE and this is why we wear SWOLE.

To show the world what strength can do and what strength is all about. It’s not always about what you can do in the weight room, it’s also about what happens outside of the weight room.

Your heart, your mindset, your morals, your integrity and what you do when you’re at your lowest.

That is strength. That is what SWOLE is. That is what we’re about.

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