Wearing a wrist watch on the underside of your wrist

[plain old dave]

I have always understoof the reason Reagan wore his that way is he got into the habit when he was a radio announcer..... Makes sense, you can glance down and see the time for commercial spots adn station ID.

 

[olive bleu]

i wear mine on the inside because that's what my mother always did..and mother knows best

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I go with those who wear it that way because it is faster and easier to look at the time.

When I first started wearing a watch, it just seemed natural for me to wear it on the inside, although I was aware most others did not do so (except for nurses and people who needed to grasp something and look at the time simultaneously).

karol

 

[C.K.Farnsworth]

I don't think so, pockets aren't that great of protection and most pocket watches are more fragile then wrist watches.
I crushed a pocket watch that was in my front pocket while carrying a dresser up a flight of stairs. It was just one of those cheap Baby Ben but it was history.
I've had a Seiko divers watch for 28 years and relatively indistuctable.

I have an 1894 Elgin National pocket watch with an 1/8" crystal that might have damaged your dresser. The modern pocket watches are made to be displayed. But, if you get your self an authentic one... it'll last a hundred years or more with a good cleaning and servicing every so often.

Not to mention the Railroad engineers who's lives, as well as those of their passengers depended on their pocket watches being durable and accurate. My great grandfather was an engineer for the Santa Fe railroad in the 30's. I personally have destroyed every wristwatch I've ever owned.

And lastly, more on topic, my mom used to wear her wrist watch with the crystal on the inside and she said it was to protect the crystal as well.

cheers

 

[Caroline]

I've always sort of knew I should wear it with the face on the inside for the crystal, but after I saw Alain Delon wearing his watch that way in...Le Circe Rouge I think?...I always wear mine that way - now it's a rule for me, after Alain did it

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Yep - it's just to protect the crystal from scratches, or worse, a hard enough strike to break the crystal which could mean being without the watch for several days or a couple weeks until your jeweler could order and receive the proper replacement. A strike hard enough to break the crystal could also damage or destroy the hands or face of the watch. A friend's grandfather owned a well-known clock shop and when I asked in the 70's, he said it would be a major inconvenience & expense losing a watch or having to go without it while it was in for repairs back in the 30's-60's and that's how some would protect their investment.

 

[freebird]

I've worn mine both ways. Until I lost vision in my left eye, I wore my watch on the outside of my wrist. It seemed more natural to me that way. After I lost the eye, I ruined a watch or two from bumping into things and decided that I would start wearing it on the inside. Wearing it on the inside has become second nature to me.

 

[frijoli]

Hold up your cocktail and tell me what time it is with that hand!

It always seemed to be the right way to do it.

Clay

 

[Ranger01]

So you can tell the time just before you pull the trigger without having to rotate your wrist....

This is also the reason ive heard.

I wear my watch on the inside of my wrist. Learned to from my grandpa, he was a Marine during WWII and Korea, and then a police officer for 30 some years after retiring from the Marines.

I asked him one time why he wore it, and he replied that when in a fox hole and your holding your weapon (usually a rifle or sub machine gun) your watch would be pointing towards you when it was worn like that. Also it helps cut down on glare so that the enemy doesnt spot you.

Also in certain cases it keeps it from banging into things.

As far as I can tell that is the real reason why watches started being worn that way. Then when all the men came back from war, alot of them got jobs in the booming trucking buisiness, and therefore wore their watches like that so they could see them. I guess others picked up on the practice.

As for my reasons... well, its more comfortable (I wear a Navy SEAL Dive Watch from LUMINOX), I can hold my weapon and look at the time easily (convenient when hunting), and it doesnt get as much welding spatter on it when im not wearing gloves.

 

[WP45]

I wear my watch with the face on the inside of my wrist. It's easier for me to turn my arm that way to look at it.

Exactly. I always heard it started with pilots in the war. Just easier to see.

 

[Spitfire]

Same reason: Pilots in the war.

On the other hand (sorry:eusa_doh: ) if you have a real expencive or real classy old watch, why hide it on the inside?

 

[miss_elise]

my nana always wore her watch on the inside... i never thought to ask her why...

 

[Talbot]

my nana always wore her watch on the inside... i never thought to ask her why...

Is she handy with a rifle?

 

[miss_elise]

Is she handy with a rifle?

i don't believe she was...but it's one heck of a mental picture....lol

 

[Indy Magnoli]

One day when I was a kid, I scratched the crystal while walking too close to a brick wall. I've worn my watch on the inside ever since...

Kind regards,
Magnoli

 

[Herr Hitman]

There is a famous comedy sketch which gets done by Benny Hill. Here Benny is the guy with the watch face on the back of the wrist and gets asked what time is it while holding a drink in that hand. He pours the drink on his own lap. Moments later the guy next to him with his watch face on the inside of his wrist checks and pours his drink on Benny's lap too!

Didn't the Stooges do that first?

 

[Jay]

2. When flexing the wrist, as when pushing out of a chair, or on a desk, or doing pushups, the crown does not dig into the back of my hand - which HURTS when it happens.

I have a callus on the back of my hand from that. Maybe I too should start wearing my watch on the inside.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

I always placed the watch face on the outside. It looks much better that way, especially if the clasp/buckle is plain. But I'm clumsy, so I have to be careful not to bash it against things. Well, the pretty one, anyway. I have two watches. The first is the "pretty one", for work wear/dress wear. The second is a waterproof Indiglo Timex watch that I abuse to no end. (Actually, it's more of a continually refreshed collection of Timex watches...as I said, I abuse them. ) This one generally has a number of scratches on the surface by the time I'm through with it.

And yet I still refuse to wear the face on the inside.

 

[ScionPI2005]

I always wear mine with the crystal on the outside of my wrist. I've yet to have any problems banging/scratching my watches on anything this way. I'm not sure I could get used to wearing my watches on the inside.

 

[Yorker]

I don't think so, pockets aren't that great of protection and most pocket watches are more fragile then wrist watches.
I crushed a pocket watch that was in my front pocket while carrying a dresser up a flight of stairs. It was just one of those cheap Baby Ben but it was history.
I've had a Seiko divers watch for 28 years and relatively indistuctable.

It depends what work you do- my step-grandfather was in a heavy equiptment/logging/excavating business, working on D8 cats, dump trucks, etc for ~60 years, he always carried the same pocketwatch which he had transitioned to in the 1960's because of destroying so many wristwatches in the course of his work. He was adament that pocket watches were the only way to go for work like that.

as for wearing the watch reversed, I have don that when working on automobiles to reduce the risk of scratching or smashing the crystal. The inside of your rist is a tender place and people seem to have a built in instinct to protect that thin skin there vs. the back side of your wrist. Visualize dragging the inside of your wrist over a rusty piece of machinery- ick! I think everyone has an innate revulsion to that because of the tenderness and importance of the veins in that region. blech! makes me queasy thinking about it...

I know when working like that I've done more damage to my watch with it in the standard position than on the inside of the wrist. For day to day wear though I return it to the standard position.