I’ve never really thought of myself as someone who jumps on trends. When it comes to music, movies, and other things I enjoy, I don’t pay much attention to whatever is in the zeitgeist at the moment. Or, more accurately, I don’t let whatever that is define my taste. I tend to be somewhat skeptical of whatever is becoming hyper popular at the moment.
In watches, it’s fairly easy to spot a trend when it’s happening, but a bit more difficult to figure out what’s going to take hold before it actually happens. Jumping onto a trend in watches always seemed particularly silly to me. Watches have an heir of permanence embedded into them, so a “trend” in this hobby is anachronistic to what watch ownership is all about, and what a “good watch,” or one that ultimately stands the test of time, really is. Being trendy in watches carries a larger risk that you’ll wind up with regrets. Example: I don’t feel bad at all that I got really into Canadian post-rock when it had a moment during my college years. Twenty years later, it’s passed, but I still get excited when a new Godspeed You Black Emperor record is announced. Will watch enthusiasts who have collected every MoonSwatch variant still lose their minds over plastic watches a decade from now? Maybe, but it seems unlikely.