Watch vs No Watch — Should Men Wear Watches in 2026?

The phone killed the watch's functional purpose in 2007.

The iPhone launched. Everyone had the time in their pocket. And yet watch sales have grown every year since. Something else is going on.

Why men still wear watches

The answer is not "to tell the time." You have a phone for that. The answer is everything else.

A watch is the one piece of jewellery that has always been unambiguously male. Rings, necklaces, and bracelets have crossed back and forth across gender lines throughout fashion history. The wristwatch arrived in the trenches of the First World War, moved to the wrists of RAF pilots in the Second, and became the universal marker of a man who took his time seriously. That cultural weight didn't disappear when the phone arrived. It transferred.

When you wear a watch, you make a silent statement about the kind of person you are. Specifically: that you don't need to pull your phone out every time someone asks for the time. That you make decisions about what you put on your wrist rather than leaving it bare by default. That there is intention in how you dress, even in the details.

None of this requires expensive. It requires deliberate.

The arguments against watches in 2026

There are two honest arguments against wearing a watch in 2026. The first is convenience — it's one more thing to put on and take off, one more battery to change or rotor to keep running. For someone who's never worn a watch, the friction is real.

The second is irrelevance. If nobody looks at your wrist, why bother? This is the argument that collapses the moment someone actually looks at your wrist. People notice watches. They notice the absence of watches too — a bare wrist on a well-dressed man reads as an unfinished sentence.

What kind of watch should men wear in 2026

The most common mistake is buying the "safe" choice. Fossil. BOSS. A generic stainless steel case with a white dial because it goes with everything and offends nobody. These watches achieve their goal — they go with everything and offend nobody. They also say nothing.

The watches worth buying in 2026 have a point of view. They exist because someone made a genuine design decision, not because a committee approved something inoffensive.

For the first watch:

Pilot APEX-21 — £165
The daily driver. Military-influenced, clean dial, green face against a silver case. Japanese quartz, sapphire crystal, 316L steel. The watch for those who want to wear a watch without thinking about it. It goes on in the morning and comes off at night and does exactly what a first watch should do.

For those who want to be noticed:

Frosted Royal Black — £240
The frosted diamond-dust dial catches light in a way polished watches don't. Deep matte black until direct light hits it — then it reveals itself. The watch people ask about. Sapphire crystal, 316L steel, Japanese quartz.

For those ready to make a statement:

Rainbow Edition Black — £425
54 individually set rainbow gemstone bezel stones. Frosted black case. Blue stardust dial. The watch that ends the conversation about whether men should wear watches. Nobody asks that about the person wearing this one.

The watch you wear says something

No watch says: I haven't decided yet. A cheap watch says: I know I should wear one but I haven't committed. A considered watch says: I know what I like and I bought it deliberately.

The price is almost irrelevant. A £165 Pilot APEX worn with intention says more than a £500 department store piece worn because someone told you watches were important.

The question isn't really whether men should wear watches in 2026. The question is what kind of man you want to be when you walk into a room. The watch on your wrist is part of that answer.

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Tomell London is an independent British watch brand founded in 2021. Designed in London. 700+ orders fulfilled. 4.9 stars from 124 verified reviews. Prestige Award 2024/25. Free UK shipping.