Andy’s Law of Accessories states: “The inconvenience of physically wearing an object must be inversely proportional to its functionality.”
This means if I wear something, it better do more than look nice. For example, we have clothes: Slightly inconvenient, but they compensate by keeping me warm and saving my oddly-shaped body from public embarrassment. At the completely useless end of the Law of Accessories, there’s the necktie: A hassle to wear, it does absolutely nothing, drooping pointlessly around a neck like a noose on strike.
Shining examples of the Law are watches: The inconvenience of strapping a watch to wrist is made up by their benefits: They tell the time, have stopwatches, alarms and other handy things.
Some watches do even more: They take Andy’s Law of Accessories by the figurative horns, and shake it around a bit.
An example is the Casio G-Shock Atomic Solar watch. Breaking apart the name, we know the Casio G-Shock brand as watches made durable and tough. They take abuse and are more durable than a magician’s assistant. Adding a bit of zest to the recipe, the G-Shock is atomically flavored: It’s an “atomic watch” because it sets its time from special signals broadcast from Fort Collins, Colorado. The result is a watch you never need to set and is incredibly accurate. In addition, no battery changes needed: It’s solar-powered, charging itself with sunlight. Prices start at just over $100.
See Andy’s extended review of a Casio G-Shock Atomic Solar watch.
Another solar-powered watch is the Citizen Eco-Drive. Starting at $135, see a short movie describing how Citizen’s solar watches work.
Like people and plants, if there’s no sun, things stop working. But designers foresaw this: The solar cells don’t actually run the watch, they charge a long-life rechargeable battery. So if the watch stays in the dark for months, no problem. And just wearing the watch through the course of your day keeps it happily charged. While direct sunlight is best, solar watches also charge during gloomy rainy days, and even from incandescent lighting.
Some watches are “kinetic”, charging their batteries by your body movement: Inside a kinetic watch, a specialized weight moves or spins in reaction to the motion of your arm. This movement is used to charge the watch battery. For classy and expensive tastes, try the $400 Seiko Arctura Kinetic.
Why are these watches any better than simple battery-powered ones? Sure, a solar/kinetic/atomic watch is techie-cool. But there are more benefits. They’re convenient: Just strap ’em on your wrist and they take care of themselves. Since you never need to open the watch for battery replacement, watertight seals are never broken. And since no batteries are wasted, they’re environmentally friendly.
Remembering Andy’s Law of Accessories, we see these watches pass the test. They perform in ways above and beyond the norm, making them fun, interesting and functional for everyone. It’s about time.