Nick Felt started wearing comic-book figure watches when he was between the ages of eight and ten.
“My father would always wear a watch and growing up you always want to be like one of your parents, so I just started wearing watches,” Felt, a junior studying political science and the production industry said.
Now, Felt has his own small collection of seven watches all together, only four of which he brought with him to school.
Most people still wear watches for the utility of them, but many choose their watches based on how they look.
“I kind of like (wearing watches) more because of the different styles,” Felt said.
Among Felt’s collection are multiple Movado watches, a Swiss Army Sport watch and a solar powered Seiko watch.
Unlike Felt, Zach Tumbleson, a sophomore studying electrical engineering, wears his watch for a more technological reason.
“I have a smart watch so I like to check it for my texts so I don’t have to pull it out in class,” Tumbleson said. Tumbleson owns a Pebble watch that is sold on Amazon.
He uses his smart watch to check notifications during times when he can not pull out his phone. The watch uses Bluetooth to connect to his cell phone.
Tumbleson was not interested in watches until he saw a friend using their own smartwatch, and it fascinated him because he is interested in technology.
“I am also kind of a tech guy so it is another gadget to have,” Tumbleson said.
Tumbleson’s watch can set alarms, be used as a calculator and show text messages all from his wrist.
Hunter Lyerla, a junior studying engineering technology and management, wears his watch nearly every day because of his job. He is in the Ohio Army National Guard and he needed to have an authorized watch.
While deployed in Iraq, Lyerla said that it was extremely rare to have a phone. Without a cell phone like many people in the U.S., Lyerla needed to have a watch to tell time.
“My parents sent me my watch during Christmas when I was deployed,” Lyerla said.
Despite having many watches, Felt said that not all of watches “make the rotation.” His parents gave him one for their 25th wedding anniversary.
“I wear that (watch) when I dress up or whatnot,” Felt said.
Lyerla also has purchased a watch “to look more professional”.
Felt said that the watch his parents gifted to him will become a family heirloom once he has kids.
“(The watch) will be handed down to my child one day as well as the watch that my father got that day will be handed to me one day,” Felt said.
Because of wearing watches, Tumbleson and Felt both said they were “more aware of time” but not necessarily always on time to events, and they still wear their watches every day.
“As long as (my watch) is charged I wear it every day,” Tumbleson said.
