As you read this, take a moment to relax your hands for a moment and take a look at them. In most cases, the inside of your wrist will be facing you – and if you wear a wristwatch – the face of the watch will be pointed away from you so that you must rotate your wrist to see the face. I would like a wristwatch band that fits comfortably on the wrist with the watch mounted on the inside of the wrist rather then on top, i.e., a Side Band.
I first noticed this problem when I sprained my elbow and had trouble rotating my arm to see my watch. It was surprising how often and how far I had to move my arm to see my watch. After rotating my watchband around so that it was on the inside of my wrist, it was less comfortable but I found some benefits. I could read the watch while typing or driving or eating with no arm movement at all. When I sat at meetings with my hands resting on the table, I could glance at my watch without the telltale arm rotation that is often interpreted as impatience. I also found the watch buttons to be more easily manipulated from the side position. Finally, I saw that a watch on the inside of the wrist tended be more protected as well.
A piece of flexible carefully contoured plastic or maybe even metal should be able to accommodate a watch on the side of the wrist without shifting around the wrist and without discomfort. Some of the hard bracelet designs might even work with the minor modifications necessary to accommodate a watch. I would like this to work with existing watches because it is unlikely that a new line of watches would meet my needs in the near term. However, it is clear that a watch designed for a Side Band would be superior in both profile and comfort.
This is already partially baked in that a normal top-located wristwatch with an angled display is available that can be more easily viewed from a resting position. (can’t remember the name) However, a generic Side Band that could accommodate many watch designs would be much more interesting. It is also nearly baked since new flexible LCD displays will soon make the whole idea of a wristwatch obsolete since the band itself will contain imagery (time or otherwise) at whatever angle a user desires.-- dweeb, Jun 27 2003 I looked limp-wristed. Then I looked like I should be saying "Alms. Alms for the poor." Then I looked ready to be cuffed...-- thumbwax, Jun 27 2003 when I used to wear a watch, I often wore it on the pulse-taking side of my wrist and lots of people do.-- po, Jun 28 2003 John-- po, Jun 28 2003 My Class 1 (5th Grade?) teacher always wore his watch on the inside of his wrist, to keep it from getting scratched. And for many years, I did the same.
Now I use a computer all the time, and wearing it on the inside makes it more likely to get scratched (on the desk), so I've gone back to wearing my watches on the top of my wrist.-- DrCurry, Jun 28 2003 I wear my watch on somebody else's wrist. That way I don't have to rotate my elbow, worry about scratching it, or pay for it.-- shazam, Jun 28 2003 I think the best position is about halfway between normal and side positions. If I put it on the side position I still can't see it when typing.-- RobertKidney, Jun 28 2003 random, halfbakery