Ezra Koenig on his first watch, time and money and the style of success (Esquire USA, May 2013 issue)
I got my first watch a few weeks ago. It’s a Casio retrofitted with a three-color band: red, white, and black. People often mistake the black for blue and assume I’m repping the French tricolor on my wrist. Once they realize the actual color scheme, they think it’s either Thom Browne or, very occasionally, the striped flag is one of the few that references the concept of time: The red stands for the bloodshed of martyrs, the white for a bright future, and the black for the dark past. Past and future in flag—perfect for a watchband, no?
I’d never considered wearing a watch before, but it struck me as a sensible step toward spending less time on my phone. It’s one less reason to pull out my “precious”—-and perhaps a small step away from that hyperconnected, everything-all-of-the-time modern anxiety. I’ll admit it’s hard to fully trust something that’s not connected to the Internet, but I think, with time, it’ll work out.
