With the current rise of digital technology, there is no discounting the fact that smartwatches are booming in the modern economy. The big question remains: is there still a market for automatic timepieces?
One could not help but wonder how automatic timepieces can stay relevant for watch users not only in the current time but in generations to come.
In truth, not much is certain about the real and accurate origins of the first automatic watch, or “clock-watch” as they call it. What we do know is that wristwatches started evolving in the 15th century, with individuals and brands racing to create new innovations to make watches more durable, more reliable, and more accurate.
But what is the allure of modern automatic timepieces compared to wrist keepers who are powered by chipsets and LCD screens? We, for one, are guilty of using a fitness band that also tells the time on our right wrist, while still sporting a traditional watch on our left wrist. Double wristing as they call it.
What really sets automatic timepieces apart from digital watches of now is the fact that you are wearing a piece of horological history. From the years it took to develop and perfect the technology used in today’s watches, how the designs of the watches are conceptualized and executed, to something as simple as looking at a sweeping second hand – all these factors, big and small, are part of a rich history of watchmaking that dates centuries.
We all believe that the big Swiss and Japanese brands are toe-to-toe in creating beautiful watches. But in the current time, the influx of new indie brands or so-called microbrands made horology more accessible to the common man.
One such microbrand from the Philippines, Argos, takes this rich watchmaking history and a creative passion to create watches that will continue the heritage of the ones before them. Made from top-grade materials, a tested and robust automatic movement, and with a timeless design, we at Argos created our first watch: The Odyssey.
The Odyssey makes use of a Japanese NH35 movement as its base – a Japanese machine perfected by one of the master brands of watchmaking. Beyond this, the design of The Odyssey was a long and painstaking process to create a timeless watch design fit for all walks of life.
With a beautiful textured dial, a top-grade stainless steel case, the exhibition case back showcasing the heart of the machine, and the gorgeous blue rotor, the Argos Odyssey proves that modern horology is not dead. Like art, automatic wristwatches live through the passion of people who see their beauty and understand that it will continue to be part of the future.
Digital machines now have a place in our lives. But automatic watches do not merely tell time, they tell stories of the people who make them. They tell stories of the people who wear them. And they will tell stories of people who will wear them, cherish them, and pass them on to generations to come.