A Perfectly Useless Afternoon Quartz Watch

The nice thing about quartz watches is that they’re inexpensive. Inexpensive to make — thanks to off-the-shelf movements — and inexpensive to buy. As Swatch will attest, there are plenty of cash-strapped collectors on the lookout for distinctive designs to add to their horological rotation. The A Perfectly Useless Afternoon quartz watch is a perfect example . . .

On the Mr. Jones Watches website, Designer Kristof Devos explains his minimalist meisterwerk’s genesis this way:

“Ironically, it took time to change the way I look at time. A couple of years ago, I read a quote by a Chinese writer, translator, linguist and philosopher Lin Yutang that I’ve kept close to my heart ever since:

‘If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learnt how to live’.

So when designing this watch, I took that quote as a starting point. The quote by Lin Yutang taught me the value of doing nothing at all every once in a while.

Note: “every once in a while.” If Mr. Devos did nothing at all all the time we wouldn’t have his pool guy and duck helping us plan our day. And I’m not alone in congratulating the horologist on his playful 37mm timepiece.

Previously, on “why a duck why not a chicken,” the A Perfectly Useless Afternoon watch was a limited edition. Such a successful venture that “This is a re-issue of the limited edition watch, the colour palette and the design have been slightly changed to distinguish it from the limited version.”

I bet buyers of the previous watch are a little miffed by the re-issue. Then again, they should probably chill out by the pool (reading my crime novel). Right? As you’d probably suspect, they can do so wearing A Perfectly Useless Afternoon, as it’s waterproof to 5 ATM.