Geek Bling

Rocky had the coolest watches. Nice, retro digital watches: one was a Fossil, and the other one was ordered directly from the maker online. Very bling, very geek chic. At the time, I was still under the thrall of the WASP credo that a watch should be understated.

Which was kind of retarded, now that I think about it. It's easy to be "modest" and wear a plain Timex when the cuff links you're wearing were inherited from your grandfather. But for those of us without the benefit of a trust fund - a category to which I most definitely belong - next to our wedding bands, watches are probably the nicest, and only really acceptable pieces of jewelery most men get to wear.

Thanks to Rocky's inspirational example, I've been wearing big, chunky metal time pieces strapped to my wrist for the last five years. However, until last week, I didn't have the courage to follow his more fashion forward example. That changed, when I saw the Projects Iridium Watch.

Since I check my Blackberry constantly, watches have become more jewelry than timepieces for me. Accuracy is not an issue with this watch. It's a simple design, but I like how the blank white face "pops" because there are no hands visible on the face, just the red and blue dots moving beneath the face of the watch.

While I do love this watch, I don't like the fact that the wristband is attached with screws to the case. Pins would have been appreciated. This is the kind of watch that would look great with a grosgrain strap, but that is no longer an option due to the difficulty of removing those tiny screws.

Which is a shame, because when I saw this online, I knew I had to have it. Next time I see another clever timepiece from Projects, I'll think twice about the purchase because of that odd design quirk.