I’ve been vehemently scouring any dictionary from the past 200 years to prove Apple wrong and formally write to them explaining they have no right to call their health device a watch. Surely there’s more to a watch than just telling the time. Did a watch need a moving mechanism for it to be called a watch? Alas not and there will be no letter. A watch is and has always been a device to tell the time.
Pre 2007, before we became obsessed with the birth of the smartphone, a watch had a clear and obvious function: to tell us the time. However fast forward to 2025, and we all have a mobile phone close to hand. Those smartphones clearly show the time in whatever size and format we desire, but the smartphone isn’t the biggest threat to the watch industry.
This year the smartwatch stands proud and alone at the top of the market, eclipsing Rolex in the process. So, I contemplated: Why exactly do we buy a watch? A traditional watch. A real watch. We don’t buy them anymore to tell the time, we buy them to tell our story.
I’ve been consumed by the watch industry since my very first memory. I’m a 3rd generation watchmaker and been lucky enough to work with some truly inspiring people within the industry. So many incredible watches have passed through my hands – most notably during my time distributing brands like Vacheron Constantin, Girard Perregaux, the very early days when Jean Claude Biver first reintroduced Blancpain, and other brands like MB&F, Audemars Piguet to name a few.
I saw the power a watch had to spark conversations.
I have some special memories within this quite wonderful industry and it frustrates me how the smartwatch has stolen the wrist.
I needed to take some time out the industry to deal with mental health issues. I always hid behind a ‘10.10 smile’ (another story for another day) and after many long and arduous years, I found a new lease of life, finding a desire to create a brand that told a different story.
Split watches are created with modern materials and feature a revolutionary Seiko family automatic bi-compax chronograph, and we have a different back story to other brands. We frown at 7.23 and we don’t mind. We embrace counter culture and the desire for meaningful change. Like blues, grunge, punk or Brit Pop, we champion honest conversations and the need for change. A conscious collective brings people together..
Split Watches donate 1 hour of therapy for each watch sold to our charity partner Anna Freud. They create safe spaces for kids talk about their personal grief. Those thoughts that weight us down. I hope Split will connect us all in such a different way to a smartphone.
If you need to know how well you slept then please buy an Oura ring. I know how I slept, don’t need a ring. If I’m not grumpy and go another day without sending that letter to Apple, then know I’m doing okay.
Let’s reclaim the wrist for real watches. Watches that tick or sweep. Watches that slows us down not speed us up. Sometimes we need to disconnect to truly connect.
Discover the new timepieces from fledgling brand Split Watches, as well as its inspiring mental health-focused backstory at splitwatches.com.
