The Luch Slow Watch

I want to recommend a watch that costs less that $50, has a movement of unknown pedigree, isn’t made in a country that’s known for watches (it’s from Belarus), looks a bit odd, and will never increase in value.

That watch is the Luch one-hand watch.

A one-hand watch, also called a slow watch, is a watch with one hand that’s neither an hour nor a minute hand, but a little of each. It tells time through a single hand that points to the spot on the dial that shows both the hour and the minute. Telling the time on a one-hand may be disconcerting at first, but you get the hang it quickly. The time that’s being displayed in the photo below is 9:35:

Slow watches are refreshing and fun.

The large lines between the hour indicators show 15 minute intervals, and the smaller lines show five minute intervals.That’s all there is to telling the time with the Luch slow watch.

The Belarus Luch—whatever the movement is—is refreshingly accurate for such an inexpensive watch. The Luch has a copper shield above the movement, giving it a reasonable amount of resistance to magnetism.

The Luch comes in a variety of styles and colors, and you can find it on Amazon and eBay. Some of the models have a partially clear caseback. The flat crystal is pleasantly non-reflective.

The watch arrives with a drab, vanilla strap, but don’t let that stop you from being creative with straps. After all, this is no ordinary watch.

One-hand watches are a link to the past. Early pocket watches in the sixteenth century, and the tower clocks that preceded them, had only one hand. They are creatures of beauty.

Most watches are about knowing the time as exactly as possible. (how many threads are there on watch forums about watch accuracy?) But a slow watch offers perspective on time. It’s not about precision; it’s about making time move at a place that’s in harmony with the calmness you want to feel, and should feel.

I don't want to get all philosophical, because you’re here to read about watches and not relive your eleventh grade philosophy class, but trust me on this: If you make a slow watch your only timepiece for a few days—and for $45 what do you have to lose?—you’ll feel more in control of time, rather than the other way around. When you wear this watch while you're waiting at the doctor's office or standing in line at the DMV wondering when your turn is going to come, time seems to flow at a more tranquil pace. You’re less bothered, less impatient.

It’s not easy to read the exact minute on a slow watch, which is part of the point. And although it’s easy to learn to read a one-hand watch, it takes a second or two longer to decipher what time the watch is displaying than with a traditional watch. A quick glance won’t work. You have to spend more time looking at a slow watch. Who doesn’t want to look at their watch longer?

The MeisterSinger Lunascope is a
stunning watch. It's about $3,400.

Other companies make one-hand watches, but most are more expensive and larger, or use a quartz movement. But who am I to stop you from buying an even better one-hand watch, such as the MeisterSinger Lunascope moonphase?

Some reviewers say that one-hand watches are more minimalist than two-hand watches, but I disagree. Because they sport 144 five minute markers, the dials, clever and aesthetically pleasing as they are, look busy. The absence of a hand does not automatically make a watch minimalist.

Circling back to where this review began. I don’t care if your usual wrist fare is a gold Patek or a vintage Daytona. Your owe yourself to try something decisively different and which touches your subconscious in unexpected ways. Give the Luch a whirl. You only have $45 to lose.