Watch no longer for time only, but a badge of wealth

THE WATCH is making a return… but not for telling the time.

Increasingly, the watches are being worn as a fashion accessory and – in the era of the expensive smartwatch from the likes of Apple – a status symbol.

Just last week Apple announced a partnership with French luxury products company Hermès to produce a range of stainless steel smartwatches with stylish handmade leather straps costing up to £1 350 (R28 200) . The firm also offers a version with an 18 carat rose gold case that comes in at an astonishing £13 500.

Research from retail analysts Mintel has found that one in four people who wear a watch rarely use them to tell the time.

A similar proportion – 27 percent – say they wear one as a fashion accessory, but this rises to almost one in two for those aged 20-24, showing how attitudes are changing. Some one in eight say they wear their watch as a status symbol, but this rises to one in four of those aged 25-34s.

Mintel found that the wealthy were most likely to view their watch as a badge of wealth and success. Four in five people with a household income over £50 000 own a watch, compared with just two-thirds of those at the other end of the wealth scale with an income under £15 500.

One in four of those with a household income over £50 000 admitted the watch was used as a status symbol, compared with just 10 percent where income was under £25 000. – Daily Mail