It’s as much a surprise to me as to anyone that I am the one to come up with the Aussie reference title rather than Nic, but there you go. The topic of today’s article has to be something that affects many people who frequent social media; I’d be shocked if I was alone.
The topic in question is the amount we consume social media, and in particular how much the watch community can get engrossed in Instagram.
I love watches, but that’s not to say I don’t have other hobbies, I also happen to have a great passion for coffee, cycling and football (soccerball to those of you west of Ireland and north of Mexico). In fact, stick a gun to my head (probably only likely where they call football soccerball) and I will say I would actually lose watches out of all the other passions I claim to have. It is somewhat odd then that I used social media and Instagram almost solely for the purpose of fuelling my love of horology.
In the winter of 2018, I was an occasional Instagram user with around 350 followers, watches were represented as equally as all other hobbies and family posts, if I was wanting to delve into watch topics, I generally hit the forums.
Over time I realised there was a whole watch community available on Instagram, more importantly, I realised there was an established community here in Scotland. Being someone who moved to Edinburgh six years previous, my social circle was a surrogate of my wife’s or work colleagues and whilst I have made great friendships, I felt as though I had not been able to make any connections which were a reflection of the person I was.
One thing that jumped out about the Instagram watch community was the sheer positivity of the guys and girls on the platform, a welcome tonic from the forums which we know can be a tough rodeo. As the connections I made became more mature the time spent on Instagram also grew (compared to that on other social media platforms).
The sea change came last April when we stumbled upon Halfwatchtuesday. When we discovered this was something that captured the imagination, I seized the initiative to make it grow. This involved the formation/curation of the Instagram page and (a lot of) interaction.
I would think of Halfwatchtuesday lasting from late Monday to halfway through Wednesday to catch most of the worldwide community. We would repost every day to keep interest up, but the result was a lot of time glued to the phone.
I noticed much of my free time was spent hunched down looking at the black mirror. I took the liberty to download a phone usage app to track how much I was on Instagram; I was horrified to see that sometimes it was up to nine hours a day. I’m ashamed to say I have looked down when I should have been spending quality time with my wife and son, time I will not get back again.
Splitting the weeks with Nic has been a huge help in curbing my phone usage, but I will admit, I’m still never too far from it. I have been asked why do I view it so much, is it ‘escapism’, in a way it is. Whilst I am not trying to escape from something, I love my life and feel blessed to have it the way it is, there is something very alluring and captivating with interacting with like-minded watch folks from around the world. Politics, race, social status can all be put to one side for the joint love of watches and in a world where everyone is too quick to pigeonhole, that is highly refreshing.
Whilst seeing great watch shots and connecting with great folks is amazing there is no substitute for picking the head up from the phone and interacting with those in front of you. Certainly, meeting the guys who you know as Instagram handles at watch meetups is a fantastic experience and one I wholeheartedly recommend. Just this week we welcomed Wes from Nodus to Scotland and shared a super memorable day with him, forming memories which will last long into the future (especially Wes getting ID’ed in a Glasgow pub).
Personally, this writer’s aim is to make sure his interaction on Instagram is more quality over quantity. Therefore, it’s time to lift my head up more often and make sure real-life gets priority over instalife. Time is precious and for the time that has gone by where I wasn’t in the room…I’m Sorry.
One apology that never needs given is for showing the best of this weeks halfwatch pics
Last year felt like a break out year for Ming Watches, their copper 17.06 was one of the most desirable watches of the year, selling out in no time. We were very happy to see @hands.faces.cases show of that delightful dial to us.
If copper is a bit too much for you how about the deep bronze tones of the Blackbay, brought to you by @watchmebiohack
Spoiler Alert: more variations of the Casioak are coming, that said the original is still King, we loved the texture in this shot by @jaybswatches
Herringbone, Tweed, JLC no other words needed, such class form @wis3130
This is beautiful, monochrome, deep black, double cyclops flecto. It’s all too good from @mlfwatches
I don’t know why this Solar G-shock makes me thing of Interstellar (one of my favourite movies), but I love the retro-futuristic vibes. Well done @that_watch_guy.
Rounding off a hattrick of G-shocks in top picks is this different take on the watch and coffee shot by @watches.coffee.culture. Actually dunking your watch into a piping hot espresso is going above and beyond. We are informed no watches were harmed in the making to this post.
Rounding off top picks is @buzz822 with this stunning Vostok Amphibia shot with punchy orange and deep blue vibes; a true value proposition.
Shout outs
Halfwatchtuesday welcomes Le Jour Watches to the movement. We were delighted to see their very attractive Sea Colt. I personally love the one colour bezels and this blue really pops (my personal favourite being the grey dial). The watch comes packing an ETA 2836 so will be dependable as well as looking great and representing good value.
That’s a wrap for us folks. Stay tuned to Halfwatchtuesday as we have a few live reviews coming up. Also thank you for helping us hit 4000 followers, we truly appreciate it. We have decided not to do a 4K giveaway and try to have something special for 5K. Thanks for reading, keep snapping and see you next Tuesday.
Cheers
Omair
