Why I double-wrist a traditional watch and smartwatch, and why you should, too

A year ago, I decided to wear a traditional watch on my left wrist and a smartwatch on my right wrist all the time. This best-of-both-worlds solution has no drawbacks, and I am here to tell you about it. You should consider doing the same if you like watches and tech.

It is easy to look at the past and want the future to be different. I bounce on these all the time. I want the newest technology in my camera, but I also want to shoot film again. I like the convenience of streaming music, but I spend a lot of money on vinyl to own a proper sonic souvenir. It's the same for my love of watches. I have admired traditional watches, fancy handmade mechanicals and inexpensive quartz movements for a long time, but I still like to wear a smartwatch.

My traditional watch collection is more modest than I would like it to be. I look for affordable watches that are well made and designed and should last a long time if well cared for. I own an Apple Watch Series 6 that I bought off of my colleague Mitchell Clark shortly after I began working at The Verge. There is nothing more sporting or tool-equipped than an Apple Watch. It's a helpful little computer for your wrist, but it doesn't get me excited like my first automatic watch, or like my father's old Hamilton Paxton that he left behind.

The Apple Watch is a great piece of technology and engineering, but its masterstroke comes from all of the things you can do with it: timers, alarms, notifications, activity and fitness tracking, and digital watchfaces you can change on the fly. Some of the features of a traditional watch, like timers and alarms, are nice, but I don't feel like I have to do much more with a regular watch to appreciate them.

Traditional watches have different shapes, sizes, and materials.

I quickly learned how well they complement each other after I combined them. How I am going to dress for the day is the beginning. I change out my traditional watch on a daily basis depending on my mood or what I wear. Sometimes I want a watch that blends in with my outfit and other times I want it to be a statement piece that really pops from my wardrobe. It is possible to do that with an Apple Watch on its own since there is a lot of strap options and watchfaces to choose from, but it is not the same as traditional watches that have completely different shapes, sizes, and materials.

By combining the unique qualities of my traditional watch with my Apple Watch, I feel like I can come up with small ensembles that lend me a bit of added confidence in my personal style and make me feel more comfortable in my own skin.

Are the clothes or the watches what you're asking? I think it's both. Each of my traditional watches has a small connection to me in terms of design and style, so if I didn't wear a watch, I'd lose out.

I want you to know that accessorizing is a lot of fun, and that's why I think more people should try it. Finding your personal style is important to a lot of people, and even if it does help a little, it is worth it. Double-wristing teaches you to appreciate things in a more casual way, which is one of the main reasons why you should try it.

All of the people that wear Apple Watches are familiar with battery anxiety. The 44mm Series 6 dies in about a day and a half, but it doesn't bother me. I still have my regular watch on the other wrist, so it's not a big deal. I usually don't charge my Apple watch overnight. When it buzzes about a low battery, I let it track my sleep and just put it on the charge at any time. The practice may sound chaotic, but to me, it helps me not care about the battery life of one more device in my life. It dies if it dies. I will be able to be a bit blasé about it once I get to charge it.

Accessorizing is quite enjoyable.

The casual feelings have helped me not get too bent out of shape over the inevitable dents and ding to my watches. When I bought my Apple Watch from Mitchell, I was aware that it had a bunch of small scuffs and a long scratch on its screen, which I think happened when I ran away from a bear trying to steal Mitchell's fancy trail. Buying a well-loved timepiece for a good deal is a great way to help you overcome that initial anxiety of putting the first scratch on it, and since my wrists have a tendency to make appointments with the door frames in my house, it's just best that I don't worry Patina and wear and tear are great.

I tend to be too hardcore about some of the things I care about, so keeping my casual relationships with my timepiece and any device I own is often best. When someone asks me about my cameras or my fountain pens, I tend to come on a little strong and overshare my passion for these things. The most important point about the double wristwatch ensemble is that most people don't care if you look weird. Not a single thing. Nobody else does anything. Don't trust anyone else.

If you do this for other people, you are doing it wrong, like when you go out looking your best and nobody comments on how good you look. The opinion that matters most is the one you do for yourself. Even if people notice that you wear two watches, they probably won't pay much attention to it because it's so low on their list of concerns. You can explain to them all the advantages of wearing two watches, but most conversations will play out like this.

Are you wearing more than one watch?

There's a regular watch and a wristwatch.

They don't really care if they think it's cool. It is important that you like the way it makes you feel about yourself, that you like being able to tell the time with a small flick of your wrist, or that you like being able to tell the time when you are working on something.

On the off chance that someone asks you about your watches and they actually care, it's probably because they're into this stuff, too, and it will lead to a beautifully nerdy conversation about watches or tech or both. This is more likely than stares of confusion or snide comments.

I don't think wearing two watches is stigmatized. Nicolas Hayek, the CEO of The Swatch Group, was known for his many watches. Even though we live in a world that has evolved past traditional watches, there isn't much stigma over them. Try it out for a second. Someone gave you a Timex or Swatch when you were a kid, or you could start with a classic calculator watch. Why wouldn't you? The calculator watch may be redundant with a watch. If you have to, get out of your comfort zone and choose between tradition and technology. Life isn't long enough to make decisions about yourself or your sense of self based on what others think or care about.