Chasing Time with Henry London

I realized early on that time has to take its own course and have learned to love and respect my own unique life pace even if I don’t always necessarily understand it. Still, just like everyone else, I constantly rush (traffic and my weird sleeping patterns are mostly to blame) and I do tend to feel pressured to make more out of my day. Beyonce also has 24 hours in a day so what on earth is happening to mine?

But time, much to my dismay, is something that we can’t bend to conform to our needs and desires. The clock ticks as it does—day after day, hour after hour, second after second. There’s really no use trying to one-up it. We roll with the punches. We take what we can get and we make the most out of things. Easier said than done, I know. After all, time management is one of the hardest skills to master despite the many self-help books and number of courses to aid you.

What you do in an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year — that’s completely up to you. Though I do hope that when you look back on how you’ve been spending it, you find it worthwhile. There is, unfortunately, no clear-cut path to conquering time. But while you figure out what to do with it, I think the best way to actually track it, so to speak, is via a beautiful timepiece.

I’m very particular with accoutrements of all kinds—I rarely ever wear accessories. Watches are no exception. I was very recently introduced to Henry London and it evoked a lot of emotions especially since the brand celebrates all things London. Their watches are named after subway stations, the first ever piece was inspired by a vintage watch found in the markets of Portobello, and the selection, in its diversity and eclecticism, mimics the people of London—a diverse group of people who are all equally captivating, charming, inspiring and yes, I need to go there, quintessentially polite.

Since it’s been exactly a year since one of the greatest experiences of my life—my lovely stint in Oxford—I  will always look at London with love.

And I guess that’s exactly what the watches evoke—a sense of love. And not just because the watches are objectively gorgeous. Dome-shaped dials, classic vintage styles, genuine leather straps that are interchangeable, even a dial that includes moon phases— these are all objectively appealing to any watch connoisseur. But the great thing about Henry, “a sprinkle of magic dust” acco. to Managing Director Paul Harry, is that each timepiece is customizable for free. You can engrave whatever you want at the back of the dial. Names, significant dates, declarations of love—those are all plausible options.

Obviously, when I got my first Henry I had mine engraved too, but instead of going the usual route, I had my ‘word of the year’ immortalized instead. Each year I come up with a word—an overarching theme of how I want my year to go—and this year it’s “Soar”. Isn’t it nice to not only be able to tell time on a beautiful timepiece, but also have it as a constant reminder of whatever it is you hold dear—in my case a frame of mind? Now it can always be within reach to remind me, at a glance, whenever I feel like I’ve been losing direction that it’s always forward and up. Always.

In my humble opinion, if Cinderella just had a watch, she wouldn’t have had to go home with a shoe missing. Heels nowadays are way too expensive to just leave at some party. Even in the hands of some lovestruck prince.

Henry London watches are available in all Wristpod and Swissgear branches, Landmark Makati and select SM Department Stores