Does anybody (under 30) really know what time it is?
Anyone who needs to know the time these days would be wise to ask someone over the age of 30. To most young people, the wristwatch is an obsolete artifact. Ask college students for the time, and you'll have to wait a few minutes as they rummage through their purses or backpacks to find their time-telling device: the cellphone.
''I haven't had a watch for a really, really long time," said William Yeung, 20, reading an Elementary Statistics textbook while sitting on a bench in Boston Common. Yeung, a student from Hong Kong who is studying at Massachusetts Bay Community College, said he and most of his friends use their cellphones to tell time. ''There's usually a clock in the room if I can't use my phone," he said. And if there isn't a clock? ''Whatever, I ask someone or wait. It's not that important."
Sharlene Leurig, 25, an MIT graduate student, has not worn a watch since she got a cellphone in 2001. ''I usually go without knowing the time if there isn't a clock in the room and I can't turn on my phone," she said. ''Watches have become a fashion accessory rather than a tool to tell time."
It's not only college students who are spurning wristwatches. Even young professionals aren't wearing them. Leaning against a ledge near Park and Tremont streets, 24-year-old Jessica Rung explained that using a cellphone to check the time is much more efficient. ''I like having just one device that does everything," said Rung, 24, who works as a paralegal downtown. ''My cellphone has mydatebook, all my numbers, and it's also my phone. It's the perfect multitasking tool." When Rung can't use her cellphone at work, she said she solves the problem by checking the time on the computer. ''I have a ton of watches at home but I never wear them," she said. ''They're all presents from my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles."
If the trend is troubling those who make and sell watches, they aren't letting on. Susan Lelyveld, who runs the store Swiss Watchmaker in Harvard Square, said she is aware that sales of lower-price watches, ranging from $50 to $300, have dropped 10 percent over the past year. ''We're keeping an eye on these trends, but they haven't impacted our business -- at least not yet," she said.
Swatch, the chic Swiss watch company that targets a lower price range, recently tried to market a wristwatch that doubled as a mobile phone, but it was dropped because of technical difficulties with the design. Still, said Joseph Panetta, a company spokesman, ''I see the cellphone thing as more of a fad, not a trend. As kids get older, they're going to need watches. You're not going to want to pull out a cellphone at the opera or while you're mountain biking."
College students aren't buying it. At Brown University, it's almost impossible to find anyone wearing a watch. Margaret Anderson, 21, a star of the Brown rowing team, is rarely late for practice, and it's thanks to her cellphone, because she stopped using a wristwatch her freshman year of high school. Hilary Costa, a 22-year-old comparative literature major, is in the same boat. ''I use my cellphone with such frequency that another time-telling device would be pretty redundant," she said.
Alexander Zevin, 21, said that if he does get a wristwatch it would be more for fashion than function. ''I kind of want a wristwatch," he says, ''like one of those old-fashioned ones that looks like it's from the early 1900s."
If the younger generation would rather use their cellphones for now, the older generation seems fully committed to their wristwatches. It was hard to spot anybody over 40 who wasn't wearing a watch on Boston Common on a recent day. One man without a watch, Michael Brands, 49, a graphic designer from Baltimore who was headed home on a train from South Station, said he wears a wind-up wristwatch but at the moment it was packed away in his suitcase. ''I never, ever think to look at my phone," he said. ''Even when I have my phone and I'm not wearing my watch, which is basically never, I usually ask someone with a watch for the time."
Noah Himmelstein, 19, has the unfortunate distinction of being that ''someone" -- and he is the rare teenager who wears a watch even though he carries a cellphone. Himmelstein, who wears a bulky plastic wristwatch, has been wearing a watch regularly since he got one as a kindergarten graduation present, he said.
''To have to always pull out your cellphone for the time is a pain. Plus I think it's rude. But the problem is people ask me for the time about 20 times a day like this," he said, tapping his wrist with his index finger and making an inquisitive face to demonstrate how people usually pose the question. Indeed, seconds after Himmelstein did the impression, a young woman approached him and performed the same routine. ''See! See!" Himmelstein almost yelled, jumping out of his seat. ''What did I tell you?"
Perhaps as the younger generation ages, professional demands will require them to strap on a watch. But the idea seems improbable to people like Nick Theriault, 20, who laughed and gave a quizzical look at the mere mention of wearing a wristwatch. ''Yeah, I own like three or four watches," he said. ''But it's only a style thing for special occasions. If I do need a watch, there's always my phone."
