Every man knows, deep inside, what he’d really like to get for Christmas: A Red Ryder BB gun… But that’s not going to happen, and he understands that, so he’s always going to be pleasantly surprised to open a smallish gift box and find a new timepiece inside. Today’s watchmakers realize that they’ve had to become more fashion statements than sun dials in recent years, as cell phones (universally equipped with clocks, calendars, GPS and everything else) have become ubiquitous in society.

Big Ben is Still Ticking…

Watches still make for great gifts, and always will, until they can make a telephone that works 10 meters below the surface of the water, or that has a battery lasting longer than 48 hours in freezing cold weather. And, while pocket watches are still popular (as with bola ties, for whatever reason), nobody much has to dig their watch out to check the time. The crux of the competition in the marketplace, then, would be fashion.

Watches to Match Personalities

Once upon a time, Casio released watches that had a calculator on it, but the thing beeped like a microwave oven and was therefore useless for cheating in math class – and it was just plain ugly to boot. Since then, companies like Swatch have gone head to head with companies like Timex for share of the retail market, and during the housing boom, Rolex went from being as rare as Ferraris to being as common as HDTVs.

Only women know enough about their men to come up with the perfect watch as a present. If he’s the rugged-outdoors type, there are plenty of watches that will cater to his testosterone – complete with compasses, altimeters and such. If your man likes to look his best, there are metal-band watches ranging from $5 at the mall discount stores to the timepieces that cost as much as new cars. Watches are often packaged as gift sets, too, including a matching pen, lighter or other sundry. No matter what you get him, because it came from you, he will always consider it to be a timeless classic.