One of the biggest points of disagreement among the horological faithful is whether or not a smartwatch — the Apple Watch, let's say, although of course you can say this about any smartwatch — is really a watch. The argument is, of course, less one about definitions and more a way of expressing either a commendable broad-mindedness about what can go on the wrist, or expressing a commendable detestation of electronic wrist devices and all they stand for.
Perhaps the only thing more divisive than smartwatches and their ilk, is the question of how to wear one. I doubt that anyone reading this substitutes a smartwatch for a mechanical watch with any regularity, but those of us who wear one I usually wear an Apple Watch also often pair it with a mechanical watch on the other wrist.
This makes sense, but the fact is it feels weird. It probably shouldn't feel any weirder than wearing a watch at all in fact, some people dislike having any watch on their wrist — strange I know, but true but long habit has gotten us watch enthusiasts used to having one watch on, period, and wearing two undoubtedly feels funny — and in a way that even persistence doesn't necessarily completely eradicate.
After several years of doing it, however, I have noticed that there are ways of pairing a smartwatch with a mechanical watch that feel a bit more natural. The Apple Watch shot for this story is a Series 7, 45mm model. Wearing a watch on one wrist means an asymmetrical distribution and double-wristing feels odd partly because it just doesn't feel normal to have two objects of similar sizes on both the left and the right wrist. What to do, what to do? Well, you can game your own habituated proprioception by making sure that one of the watches you're wearing dominates the other in terms of mass, size, or both.
At 41mm or 45mm, the Apple Watch takes up quite a bit more room than something more unobtrusive, like a Fitbit, and pairing it with something either noticeably more discreet a Tank Louis Cartier, for instance or noticeably less discreet a Royal Oak Offshore, maybe? Either way, while you're still technically wearing two watches, it's going to feel less like an exercise in redundancy, and more like a celebration of diversity.
