On Fashion and Function

I haven't regularly worn a watch in quite a while -- not since getting my first cell phone, my freshman year of college.  That watch (the silver one on the far right in the photo above) was a graduation gift from my father, and perfectly suited my aesthetic: simple, streamlined, not fussy, and worked very well stacked with the wrist-fulls of bracelets I wore all the time in my late teens.

However, it doesn't have a second hand, and now as I'm nearing the clinical stage of my education and career, I'm finding that to be a necessity as a piece of my professional equipment.  I scoured the internet and stumbled upon The Perfect Watch -- bracelet clasp, small round face, and that oh-so-important second hand, with a unique style I haven't encountered anywhere else.  It was what I needed, and everything I wanted...only, after an It's-SO-Sparkly-I-MUST-Have-It impulse buy brought me the teal one, and plundering the mister's watch collection landed me the leather one, I realized that everything I thought I knew -- about myself and what I wanted in a watch -- was wrong. 

Now, I'm sold on the large faces -- I think I like the aesthetic, and I definitely appreciate the practicality.  After all, functionality is why I'm even in the market for another watch.  I know that buckles don't bother me, but I still don't like the looks of most links.  I want something that will work just as well for me on my punk-rock pin-up days as it will when I'm channeling Kate Becket or Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.  Tall order, especially given my aversion to having things that are just like everyone else's.  I think I've got two favorites, each with an alternate colorway, but we'll see.

What are your timepieces, and how did you select them?  It feels strange to suddenly over-think the choice of an accessory that I completely ignored for years -- have you come back to anything after a break, and found that your taste has completely changed?