Watch 1809

Charles Wilson crafted this watch, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from silver. The circular form, a visual echo of cyclical time, immediately draws the eye. The watch’s face, though marred by cracks, presents a complete, unbroken circle; a symbolic containment of time itself. Consider how the circular design and reflective silver material interplay. The circle has long been understood as a symbol of infinity and unity, and it is suggestive here of the never-ending passage of time. The cracks, however, disrupt the notion of perfect time. The marks are not merely imperfections; they introduce a semiotic rupture, challenging the very idea of time as an immutable, smoothly flowing construct. They function as visual reminders of time’s capacity to inflict change and decay. The tension between the watch’s form and its damaged surface invites us to question the human impulse to measure and control the intangible and the inevitable.