Worn & Wound
William Wood’s Fire Exit Watch is a Truly Original Take on a Traditional Calendar
I have a complicated relationship with Day displays. So often, they’re crammed onto the dial, take up too much space, they don’t add much to the functionality of a watch - I frequently don’t know the date, I very rarely don’t know what day of the week it is - and throw everything out of balance. My… distaste for day-of-the-week displays (and frankly the complication as a whole) is why I prefer the Datejust to the Day-Date and have never kept an SKX for longer than a few months. Still, every so often, some brand comes along and does something so clever I can’t ignore it. Here, with the new Fire Exit Watch from William Wood Watches, we find clever in full supply. Those familiar with William Wood Watches will know that the brand draws heavy inspiration from the history (and materials) of firefighting, and the brand supports a number of firefighting charities. While most William Wood Watches draw their firefighting inspiration from firefighters and their equipment, the Fire Exit Watch draws from an oft-overlooked piece of fire safety gear, the emergency exit sign. Specifically, the Fire Exit Watch is based on the globally ubiquitous ISO standard (yes, they standardize more than dive watches!) green “Fire Exit Man” signs. Those of us who spend most of our time in the United States may be shocked to discover that, as with the metric system, most of the rest of the world has gotten on board with a single style of exit sign. With the Fire Exit Watch, William W...
