There are some purchases that seem very "adult". Not adult in a kinky way but adult in a "wow, I bought this and feel so grown up now" kind of way. Something that falls under this category is a proper watch.

I've gone through quite a few cheaper watches, mainly Swatch but most recently a leather cuff watch from Anthropologie and I've loved them all in an ephemeral way. They were like candy - inexpensive, brightly colored, and filling an urge for a short time. But the time had come for a (gulp) big girl watch.

It's not just the money (though of course that is a consideration), it's more the thought of picking "the" watch that defines you. This is something that, hopefully, I'll be wearing for a long time...so how do I narrow the endless choices down? There were some things that I knew...I knew that I wanted a watch that was both classic and funky at the same time. I also knew that I wanted a good watch but not one that was so expensive I was going to be nervous to wear it. There was also, I admit, a watch that I had been drooling over since I was a teenager but that I'd always considered to be outside of my price range.

My daydream adult watch was from Hermes. To be precise, my two daydream watches were from Hermes. One was a classic watch on an extra-long strap that wound twice around the wrist...designed originally for pilots during World War II. The second was the Medor, based upon the collier de chien...punk-ish with three studs, the center of which lifts up to reveal the watch face.

A couple of weeks ago...I don't know why...I went into Hermes. There was (honestly) no purpose or motive, I just went in. You've probably guessed by this point that I tried on both of my "dream" watches. The Medor was disappointing. On my wrist at least it looked cheap and wrong. The other watch, with the long double tour strap was...beautiful. The watch itself was the classic Hermes "H" in surgical stainless steel. The face was classic with a subdued scallop effect in the enamel between the lines leading to the numbers. The band was tan with cream stitching which would age beautifully. I sighed, gave the watch back to the sales assistant, and left the store.

My resolve lasted about a week or so. I went back, and the watch with the long strap came home with me. I'd like to think that this was a wise purchase...I hope that this was a wise purchase. One thing that I found out at the store does make me feel better about buying the watch now. The mechanism's are currently made by ETA of Switzerland, who have been making watches since 1793 and are responsible for the movements of watches for companies all the way from Swatch to Cartier. Hermes has invested $2 million in creating their own movements and are in the process of migrating all of their watches to this new movement. Which is great, but...with Hermes own movement the prices go WAY up. While we were in the store we looked at some men's Hermes watches. A typical watch with the old movement was $2,000 - $3,000. A watch with the new movement was between $16,000 - $19,000. I don't know if there will be such a large difference with all of the watches once they transition to the new movements but it definitely made me feel better about my purchase. I'm sure that the new mechanisms are wonderful but would make the watch far too rich for my blood.

So, there it is...I am a woman, with a woman's watch (though I still love Japanese candy and cartoons).