Traditionally, watches have been worn on the left hand and people, especially children, were chided for wearing watches on their left hands. We try to investigate why some people break the accepted “convention” and wear watches on their right hand.
It depends on the dominant hand
In the old days, watches ran on gear mechanisms and needed to be wound up every once in a while. This meant that a naturally right handed person would need to wear his watch on the opposite of their dominant hand left hand to able to wind his watch through the tiny lever dexterously when needed. The same was also true for naturally left handed people for whom winding a watch with their right hand was more practical.
Also, since most people use their dominant hand to do a bulk of the work (reach for and carry objects, write, drive etc.), wearing a watch on the same hand would be impractical. A naturally left handed person would thus find it easier to wear the watch on the right hand than to simply follow a convention that was established when being left handed was considered sinful and “wrong”.
It’s a cultural requirement for some
In some cultures, there are specific rules about which hand someone should wear adornments, like watches, on. This is a peculiar but major reason why a lot of naturally right handed people wear their watches on their right hands.
Practicality for drivers
In countries that use right hand drive, wearing a watch on the right hand would allow drivers to glance at their tie pieces without taking their eyes off the road for too long.
Personal preference
Some people simply like wearing their watches on the right hand. This stands particularly true for people that wear watches only as accessories and do not really need it to tell time.
