Watch Out

I'm incredibly opinionated about quite a few things. Covers of Beatles songs, leather jackets, good pepperoni pizza, and watches. I've only ever had a few watches over the years. Probably few enough to count them on the fingers of one hand...and at least one of those watches was a tacky thumb ring that I got as a tween from Claire's. Oh yeah. Another one I had for ages and could only wear every so often? One with a mood-ring style face that changed colour with my temperature.

The one watch I remember really loving wasn't even mine. My aunt had bought it as a present for my mom and I frequently 'borrowed' it from her. It had a nice brown leather strap, analog face, glow-in-the-dark hands & numerals, and an audio alarm you could set to sound like a rooster crowing. The style of it was far too big for my skinny tweenaged wrist, but I'd still take it when Mom wasn't wearing it just for the fun of the gadget.

But it's not for lack of an obsessive need to know the time that I don't wear watches. I can just never find a style that I like enough to put it on every day with whatever I wear. So I've set myself the task of taking a proper look at my options to see if even I can find a watch that strikes my fancy. After all, it's doing me no good if it just sits in my jewellery box for months on end.

1)This ASOS wrap around watch is for men, but it feels excusable because a wrap-around is meant to be a bit bulky anyway. I like the round-but-square face, and the simple leather band.

2) This blue wrap-around from Debenhams is, again, nice and simple: two words that actually define my style pretty well. I like a few statement or bold pieces paired over mostly simple or neutral base pieces.

3) This River Island wrap-around (I know I have a theme going here...) is a bit borderline. The leather is a lighter brown than I tend to like, and the 'love, hope, dream' plate on the band is pretty cheesy.

4) The Feral Wanderlust in leopard print is cute. Because the band is thin, I think the animal print bothers me less than it might otherwise. I like the analog face and the small round shape. It would stand out just enough to be cute, but would blend in enough to go with most of the clothes I already wear.

5) This doozy of a wrap-around from storenvy is so much fun. The right chocolate brown leather; a small, round face; braided and studded detail. It feels more like a fun bracelet that happens to tell the time. That said, it might be the sort of thing I love the idea of more than I'd love it in practise. Adorable as it is, I think it's still chunky enough to make me hesitate when pairing it with certain outfits.

6) The Fossil is nice and simple, again, and would match pretty much anything. It probably wouldn't make the cut for fancier outfits, but that's fine. It feels sleek and unpretentious enough for everyday wear, which is what I would want.

1. ASOS wrap-around £25
2. Debenhams women's watch, on sale! £10
3. River Island wrap-around, £25 @ ASOS.com
4. The Wanderlust, by Feral Watches. $40
5. Via, Storenvy. $29.80
6. Fossil Archival Mini Leather, £95