Would you trust someone who wears two watches to come on time?

Wearing two watches is almost a new urban uniform. Two perfectly calibrated devices, and yet the wearer remains chronically behind schedule.

A curious phenomenon has begun to emerge at airports, boardrooms, Mumbai brunches, and Bengaluru co-working spaces: people are wearing two watches. One wrist carries the classic — sometimes vintage — Rolex, Omega, Citizen, or Titan; the other, a sleek Apple Watch, Garmin, or Fitbit pulsing with numbers about steps, heart rate, and hydration.

It has almost become the new urban uniform: proof that you value tradition and technology, status and stamina, aesthetics and analytics — all at once.

It’s hard not to chuckle when you see it in the wild. Someone glances at their mechanical masterpiece while ignoring a vibration from the tracker reminding them to ‘stand up’. Or they consult the Rolex, yet still arrive fashionably 10 minutes late.

The irony is striking: two watches, both ticking, yet the wearer still struggles with punctuality. Even with technology on one wrist and tradition on the other, arriving on time often remains an aspiration rather than a reality.

The contradiction is delicious: two perfectly calibrated devices, and yet the wearer remains chronically behind schedule.

One watch shows, the other nags

Over lunch recently, an old friend tapped the sapphire glass of his Swiss watch to make a point — only to be interrupted by a polite buzz from the other wrist: ‘drink water’. “I never actually listen to it,” he admitted, before ordering another coffee. A few minutes later, it buzzed again: ‘time to breathe’. He ignored it. After all, who has time to breathe when there’s so much to prove?

Another acquaintance — a marathon runner in theory, spreadsheet sprinter in practice — proudly showed me his sleep analytics: two hours forty minutes of deep sleep, and a resting heart rate that looked more stressed than rested. “But look,” he insisted, “I still hit 10,000 steps.” How? By pacing airport lounges, phone glued to his ear, voice a continent away. The steps were real; the rest, a mirage.

Health as a status symbol

What stands out is how the health tracker itself has become a social signal. At yoga studios and weekend treks, you see wrists lit up with rings, graphs, and ‘closing circles’, each flicker quietly announcing: ‘I care about wellness, and I measure it too.’ At dinner, someone might check their blood oxygen saturation before checking the time.

Yet for all their brilliance, these devices can only track what you choose to do. They can’t force you to swap a cocktail for coconut water, log off at midnight, or leave the phone behind for an evening walk. Self-discipline remains the stubborn variable, untouched by design upgrades, and software patches.

The data that doesn’t change

The irony is that despite all this data, the basics of good health stay old-fashioned: balanced nutrition, quality sleep, moderate exercise, and the rare act of doing absolutely nothing. Watches can measure every heartbeat, but they can’t calm an anxious mind. They can track your REM cycles, but they can’t make you put the phone away.

In honest moments, most wearers admit this. Weekly reports go unread. Sleep trends get forwarded on WhatsApp more as trivia than as a reason to change habits. The world’s most advanced wearables still rely on the oldest algorithm we know: human willpower.

Beyond the wrist

This isn’t an argument against technology. Trackers do help some people catch problems early, or nudge them to walk a bit more. Sometimes, they really do matter. A friend ignored his fatigue until his watch flagged a dip in blood oxygen, which led to a timely doctor’s visit. Another noticed her stress alerts kept spiking after tense client calls — and slowly learned to step away and breathe. Even the humble hourly nudge can, on stubborn days, get us to stretch and remember that we live in bodies, not just inboxes.

In those small moments, the device becomes less a nag and more an ally. It is a digital tap on the shoulder, reminding us of what we already know, but too often forget.

In the end, being on time is about respect, not just what your wrist tells you. Drinking water is a habit, not a polite buzz. And fitness takes shape quietly, through small, unremarkable choices repeated each day — without applause or graphs.

So yes, wear your Rolex. Wear your Apple Watch. But remember: neither can run for you, sleep for you, or choose discipline over distraction. They can only count what you do — or what you choose not to do.

Two watches, one question: who’s really in charge — the watch, or the wearer?

(Srinath Sridharan is a corporate adviser and independent director on corporate boards. X: @ssmumbai.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.