The engineering feat of watches is fascinating, yet I abhor the status symbology associated with Swiss watches. Someone once told me one can immediately see the "value" of someone by their watch. A watch represents 1 month salary. And they went on judging people every day based on their watches. It so disgusted me that I've never worn a watch since beside a 20 month stint with an Apple Watch. Watches are the epitome of old design where more meant better. They are still incredible works of art which fascinates me. But they really serve very little purpose other than status symbols.

But accurate timekeeping has long ago ceased to be the point. And this, with deep irony, is another reason why the global watch industry survives