In our household, I’m the only one that really needs a watch. MacGyver has an incredible sense of time (and has never really worn a watch) and the kids seem to have an invisible umbilical cord connected to their phone (so they don’t see the need for a watch). I have passed on Slash-M’s Swiss Army watch to RD and my trusty Timex to MyGirl so they have something to use when they need watches. GI was never really keen on wearing watches apparently because he felt they were not left-hand friendly.
Anyway, in December last year, MyGirl sent over a picture of herself taken during the awards night at the High School. (Congratulations, MyGirl for getting the highest ATAR in your school. All your hard work paid off.) I noticed she was wearing a different watch. She told us later that Nayr had given her the watch for Christmas. Oooohh!
As Christmas approached, RD indicated that he felt he needed a dress watch. He had gone to Melbourne earlier that month to attend a conference and had the opportunity to become one of the panel chairs. This required him to moderate the discussion and keep the time because the conference was running on a coordinated schedule. He used his phone but felt it would be better if he had a watch. Well, ask and ye shall receive. He told us that MJ had gotten him a watch as a joint Christmas and birthday gift for him and he would get it the next time they see each other. Oooohh!
GI, who was once a staunch "I don't like Apple products, I prefer using an Android" had recently shifted to iPhone. He surprised us even more by arriving before Christmas wearing a new Apple watch. He said that he finally found a watch that he could wear comfortably on his right hand. And everyone knows that an Apple Watch deserves an Oooohh!
On Christmas Eve, MacGyver received a FitBit as his Kris Kringle gift. It's a cool gadget. Aside from telling the time and tracking the health stats, it gives him alerts and notifications. In fact, he can even read the whole message on his wrist on the FitBit if he wanted. Oooohh!
Well, that wrapped up the Christmas season and the new watches... or so I thought. When RD showed me the watch he got on his birthday, he announced, "It's a hybrid watch."
What is a hybrid watch?
RD was happy to show off his new watch.
From the outside, it looks like an ordinary watch that simply gives you the time, possibly the date. However, upon further inspection, there is more than meets the eye. To begin with, the time is synced to the time in your phone. It can maintain two time zones, in fact. RD's watch has three programmable buttons. The buttons can be customised to work as a remote shutter for one's phone camera, for music control, to track one's progress and more. What a cool watch!
The concept intrigued me. I had to find out more about this thing. I went online and discovered that there are a lot of these types of watches out there.
Yes, I knew there were different kinds of FitBits and smart watches. I see many people wearing different gadgets on their wrists that subliminally announce they are actively monitoring their health. However, I don't really like the black screen, so this concept of a hybrid watch definitely appealed to me. I like seeing the hands of time moving around. (I'm old school that way.)
Anyway, I also discovered that these watches come with a serious price tag. I was not going to get one just for the sake of getting a new watch. However, out of the blue, or more likely as a result of these AI programs running in the background of one's searches, a hybrid watch for women displayed on my search window showing a price tag that was more than 50% off the original purchase price due to the additional 40% discount for the Christmas season. (Now we're talking. A hybrid watch at that price is something I would consider.)
I don't really like buying things online without physically seeing the product. (Yes, another old school habit of mine.) I wanted to see how the watch would look like on my wrist, particularly because the model on sale had a very thin wristband.
My google search indicated that David Jones was selling the watch I wanted for $250. (Uh, no, I would not want to spend that much for a new watch, but David Jones did not have to know that.) I decided I'd go to David Jones during my lunch break.
In my almost 10 years of working in Sydney, it was the first time I entered the David Jones at the city. (They didn't have to know that either.) Well, it is entirely possible that it was obvious I did not know where I was going because I entered the David Jones dedicated for men. The one for women was in the building on the next block. (Oops!)
I found the watch section and located the Fossil display. Unfortunately, the did not have the model I was interested in. The staff suggested I try the Fossil store at QVB. Fortunately QVB is right across my office building so I dropped by before heading back to work.
The Fossil shop was quite a small store. They had a rack with a few hybrid watches for women but not the style I wanted. I tried one on although I knew I would not buy it. (RRP $299, but it was on sale for $199. It was cheaper than the David Jones online price for the watch I wanted but still over my budget.)
My trip to Fossil store was not wasted though because I asked this important question as I tried on the watch, "Will this watch work without connecting it my phone?" (The lady must have thought I was nuts asking for a smart watch but not wanting to connect it to my phone. Little did she know my iPhone had been giving me notifications for the past month saying that I had no more memory in my phone, that I had already deleted some seldom used applications, and at one point it did not even allow me to take a picture anymore.) She smiled and politely replied, "No, you need to connect this to your phone because the watch gets its time from the phone."
Well, that was certainly a deal breaker. I would have to get my phone cleaned up to make space first before even considering making a smart watch purchase. Fortunately, Apple support for me comes in the form of MyGirl. I had been telling her for weeks that I needed her help to get my phone cleaned up. My attempts to back my phone up were unsuccessful. Since I am currently using her old iPhone, she knew what needed to be done. She managed to back up my photos and reclaimed much needed storage space after she deleted a whole batch of them.
Now that I had the phone storage issue sorted out, I could resume my hybrid watch expedition.
I was wishy-washy about getting a new watch. Do I need a new watch? Do I want a new watch? Did I want the Fossil watch I saw on sale? Did I want to get another kind of watch?
Well, there is nothing like "Sale ends Monday!" to make one decide if they want to buy something or not. After checking the website for more than a week, when I logged in on Saturday evening, there was a countdown beside the watch I wanted. Right there and then, I approached MacGyver and showed him the website.
"Can you please get his watch for me? The discount ends in 35 hours."
And just like that, I had a new watch.
The watch arrived on Tuesday night. RD promptly downloaded the Fossil App and customized my watch. RD currently has his watch buttons set this way -- music volume control up and down with the top and bottom buttons respectively, and music pause-play for the middle button. (Go figure.) He took one look at me and made the decision to customize my watch buttons -- top button monitors my steps and the bottom button will find my phone. (Yes, my son knows me so well.)
Having worn my watch for several days, I'm pretty happy I took the plunge. I am now able to track my steps without having to bring my phone with me wherever I go. I have discovered that if I sleep early, I am able to get 70% deep sleep. And now, with the final customization of the watch buttons, I am able to track my water intake.
So special thanks to MacGyver for getting me the watch, MyGirl for clearing up my phone's storage space, RD for setting up the phone and the app, but most especially to MJ for introducing us to the existence of such a wonderful invention.
