Wearing two watches: why people do it, and how
Founder & CEO, Smartlet - CentraleSupelec engineer - Concours Lepine 2025, Awarded - CES 2026
Contents
People wear two watches for four reasons: to read two time zones at once, to keep a backup, to carry a smartwatch's data next to a mechanical watch they love, or because each watch stands for someone. The classic way is double wristing, one watch on each wrist; the newer way holds both on one wrist. It looks eccentric until you notice how many sensible people have done it, and for how long.
- Two time zones. General Schwarzkopf wore two watches through the Gulf War, one on Saudi time, one on Eastern time.
- Redundancy. Buzz Aldrin wears an odd number of watches, "in case there is a discrepancy".
- Data plus a watch. Prince William has worn a Garmin on one wrist and his Omega Seamaster on the other.
- Sentiment. Maradona wore two watches because he had two daughters.
- Most people already own both. In a 2017 US survey, 82% of smartwatch users also owned a traditional watch.
Why people wear two watches
- Two time zones. One watch on local time, one on home, headquarters or the market that matters.
- A backup. When the time has to be right, two instruments are better than one.
- Function and feeling. A smartwatch for health data and notifications, a mechanical watch for everything a smartwatch is not.
- Sentiment. A watch that belonged to someone, worn next to one you chose.
None of these is a fashion statement first. Each solves a problem that one watch leaves open, which is why the habit keeps resurfacing in very different lives.
Who has done it, on the record
General Norman Schwarzkopf is the clearest documented case. In a 1998 letter that accompanied a Seiko he donated for auction, he wrote: "I always wore two watches during the war" (Antiquorum). As reported since, the Seiko on his right wrist was set to Eastern Standard Time and the watch on his left to Saudi Arabian time (Watches of Espionage).
Fidel Castro was photographed for years wearing two watches at once, often a Rolex GMT-Master next to a gold Datejust. Why remains a theory: the usual explanation, Havana time and Moscow time, has never been confirmed (Quill & Pad).
Space did the rest for the legend. Ed White is widely reported to have worn two Speedmasters on the outside of his suit during the Gemini 4 spacewalk in 1965; NASA's own history confirms that he wore a Speedmaster (NASA). On Apollo 14, Edgar Mitchell carried his personal Rolex GMT-Master under his sleeve alongside the issued Speedmaster (Space.com). Buzz Aldrin, photographed in later life with three Omegas at once, put the logic in one line: "You need an odd number in case there is a discrepancy" (Time+Tide); we told that story in Apollo 11 redundancy and two watches.
Outside the military and space, the reasons get more personal. At the 2023 BAFTAs, Richard E. Grant wore his late father's Breitling Navitimer on one wrist and a Cartier Santos on the other, set to the time of Eswatini, where he grew up (Time+Tide). Diego Maradona told Hublot's chief executive that he wore two watches because he had two daughters (Time+Tide). Kevin O'Leary says he keeps New York and Abu Dhabi time on two watches (the executive's version).
In January 2023, Prince William was photographed with a Garmin Forerunner on his right wrist and his Omega Seamaster on his left (WatchPro). A smartwatch for the data, a mechanical watch for the rest. That is the pairing most people now face.
The modern version: a smartwatch and a watch you love
For most people today, the second watch is not a second time zone. It is a smartwatch. Ownership data says the overlap is large: in a 2017 Parks Associates survey of US broadband households, 82% of smartwatch users also owned a traditional watch (Parks Associates). A 2019 survey of 1,319 men in China, run by Horoscope Consulting and reported by Europa Star, found 40% owning both, from a sample supplied by a smartwatch company (Europa Star). Owning both is not wearing both, but it is where the question starts. The ways to add smart features to a mechanical watch are compared in can you make an analog watch smart?.
Neither category is going away. Smartwatch shipments fell 7% in 2024, the market's first decline, then grew 4% in 2025, according to Counterpoint (Counterpoint 2024, 2025). Swiss watch exports were about 26 billion francs in 2024 and 25.6 billion in 2025, down 1.7% (FH). Two large markets, often on the same person.
Two wrists, or one
Double wristing works, and it has a long pedigree. It also asks something of the wearer: two watches visible at all times, a dominant hand carrying one of them, and a look that reads as a statement in a meeting or at dinner.
| Two wrists | One wrist, one bracelet | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see | Two watches, one each side | The mechanical watch; the smartwatch is underneath |
| Under a cuff | Two cuffs to manage | One |
| Health data | Smartwatch on the other wrist | Smartwatch under the same wrist, against the skin |
| Swapping watches | Two straps | Watch adapters, in seconds |
The Smartlet is the one-wrist version: a metal link bracelet that holds the mechanical watch on top of the wrist and the smartwatch underneath, in the central part of the bracelet. The mechanical watch takes watch adapters that seat in its lug holes in place of the spring bars; the bracelet is sized to the wrist by its links. Check your watch in the lug width finder.
Doing it well
- Choose a lead watch. On two wrists, one should be clearly the main piece; on one wrist, the mechanical watch on top is it.
- Match the register. Steel with steel, dress with discreet. A loud smartwatch face next to a dress watch fights it.
- Mind the cuffs. Watches with thin cases slide under a shirt cuff; check the height before a formal day.
- Night and sport are separate. For a workout, the smartwatch goes back on its sport band, since no metal bracelet is made for sport; at night, the Clasp accessory replaces the mechanical watch on the Smartlet.
More on composing the pair in composing a dual-wear setup, and on the people who wear two wearables in the quiet rebellion. For your watch, see watch brand compatibility; for the smartwatch, the smartwatch index.
Smartlet, Bronze Medal at Concours Lepine 2025 and shown at CES 2026, puts both watches on one wrist.
