So, I started up a new blog category.

ANYWAY. Remember that e-ink watch I got for Christmas, the one I was super-stoked about and loved madly? Yeah, well, after about a day of wear I discovered that I am incredibly allergic to the metal (ion-plated nickel, I think?) they used for the face and band. My wrist became red and puffy, and it itched for almost a week after I stopped wearing it. Needless to say, this turn of events was kind of disappointing. I really loved that watch.

I’ve never really worn jewelry until the past year or so, when I began wearing watches and a wedding band (which, being tungsten carbide, is not only indestructible but also irritation-free). So I didn’t realize until the past year or so that I seem to have inherited my mother’s hyper-sensitive skin. She can’t wear gold and several other kinds of metals because she breaks out on contact. It’s OK, because I inherited lots of other things from her — my love of reading, my interest in pretentious rock bands of the ’70s, my artistic streak — so I’ll forgive her the less fortunate inheritances, like skin allergies and a lack of height.

I was able to exchange the disastrous watch for another, so I decided to go all-out and find one that was as far removed from a futuristic, metal-banded, e-ink LCD-screened watch I couldn’t wear. I bought instead… an analog watch made of wood.

“Wood?” you say. “They make watches of wood!?” Yes, apparently they do. I discovered the existence of wood watches at the same time as e-ink watches, and they both fascinated me in equal measure. In fact, I put both on the wish list from which my sister-in-law selected the e-ink one. Now that I have it in hand — or on wrist, as the case may be — I like it just as much as the previous watch, because it really is different.

Rather than sporting a funky, abstract face, it uses a simple, old-fashioned analog dial. Where the other watch was thick and very heavy on the wrist, this one is quite thin and incredibly lightweight. And the aesthetic differences should be obvious.

The thing I find most interesting, though, is that there the other watch seemed destined to look worse as it aged due to nicks and scratches on its jet-black surface, this style of watch is said to improve over time. Weathering and exposure to skin oils supposedly “cures” the wood, giving it a richer and more vibrant tone over time. I hope that’s true! I like the idea of a technological device that actually becomes better as it becomes older. Also, the watch’s primary color is similar to the tone of my skin, so a little weathering might add some welcome contrast.

Oh, and it’s different than the e-ink watch in another way, but perhaps the most important one of all: It’s hypoallergenic. Also, it was just slightly less expensive than the other one… enough that the leftover credit netted me a Marillion album I’ve been meaning to pick up for a few years. Flawless victory? Here’s hoping.