What Time Is It Please?
by George Aboussante
http://www.jotwatch.com
Most everybody today has a watch of some sort. We're all
obsessed with "time". Either we don't have enough, we had
a good one, we can't find it, or we do something time after
time. If you think about it, a watch is lots easier to
carry than a grandfather clock. Our "small, portable
timepieces," have progressed way beyond what you strap
around your wrist.
You can find watches set into rings, pendants, and even
brooches, such as the ones worn upside down by nurses.
There are watches in pens, in shoes, and set into belts.
Where did the idea of carrying time with us ever come from?
The ancient Egyptians told time and counted days by
measuring the angle of the sun. This was done by using
gigantic stone obelisks. (These weren't portable.) Next,
the Egyptians used calibrated candles that burned at a
certain rate. Each section marked the passing of an hour.
Many centuries later, Europeans began using sundials.
Around the tenth century, in England, there were even
pocket models to be found. They must have made jackets
hang strangely. They also would have been painful to sit
on.
400 years later, mechanical clocks with their weights and
mechanisms started to appear in church towers and became
quite popular. Some still exist today. They were then
modified, and smaller versions appeared in homes.
Miniaturized even more, pocket watches soon appeared that
men could attach to their vests with chains. Supposedly,
pickpockets couldn't steal your timepiece as easily from
off your chest as from your pocket.
In the mid 1600's, Blaise Pascal, the famous mathematician
and philosopher, grew weary of reaching into his pocket
for his watch. He started tying it to his wrist with string,
thereby creating the first pocket watch. It may have
looked tacky, but it did the job.
Today you can get a watch that comes with a variety of
straps in different colors, patterns, and materials. You
can match it to your wardrobe! You wouldn't want your
watch to clash with the rest of your outfit!
How about sports watches? You can get watches that are
also speedometers, barometers, mileage calculators, and oh
yes...they tell you the time. Yes, some watches even have
voice features that talk to you. "Six o'clock, time to get
up," they say, for example. Is that just what you need?
More voices telling you to get up in the morning? And
cell phones substitute for watches constantly, too.
This vast variety in timepieces provides you with
multitudes of choices for gift giving. For her, why not
get the always popular, delicate gold link bracelet and
gold-framed watch, with matching earrings if you like.
Women love gold, so make sure to get 24k, not anything
less. Guys prefer gadgets they can mess around with. They
think people will be impressed if it looks very
complicated. They also think other people will think they
know how to use all the buttons. Then there are the big
names in watches, such as Gucci, Rolex, and Cartier. You
can visit some watch sites here:
http://www.fhs.ch/en/links.php
Remember, time waits for no one, be he or she man or
woman. If you just can't think of a gift for that special
someone, you can save hours of meandering aimlessly by
running into the local jeweler's store. Then be prepared to
watch your special one's eyes light up when they open
the little box!
Submit An Article
|
|
|
