What we wear should reflect who we are. Yet just who that is can change subtly during the course of the day, and often quite dramatically once we leave the office behind and stride off into the weekend.

Yet the one constant remains whether you are young at heart, as that above all else weaves a thread through all the people you need to be. There are few places this can find expression to the same extent is in the choice of watches and sunglasses.

Both can show a glimpse of who you really are even in a business environment, while being unleashed in its full fury when the time is right. If this is who you are, Watch.Me and De Sunglass Man may be well worth a visit.

Towards the end of August or early September, a third store, this one of Fort Street, will be joining the two current stores – one in Camana Bay and the other on Edward Street in George Town. The Fort Street Watch.Me store will be located next door to another new concept, Cayman Canvas Company, showing that there is some life in downtown yet.

“Each of the three stores has a different distribution of watches and sunglasses they’re actually selling. This particular one here downtown will promote some brands you’re not seeing in our other stores. It gives us the opportunity to constantly refresh what is new and spectacular in fun, fashion, sport, tech in the watch industry as well as new sunglasses,” says Michael Jappert of Island Companies.

Among the new brands to hit the Fort Street location will be Electric, a young sunglass and accessories company out of San Clemente in California with its roots deep in the action sports and music scene. Although the brand may not be well known yet outside the action sports fraternity, it has a superstar following, including the likes of Bam Margera and Kyle Busch, along with a large group of legends from the surf and snowboard world.

Of course, all of the major sunglass brands are there as well, from Channel, Prada, Bulgari and DKNY to Rayban, Oakley, and Maui Jim.

“The main focus of the store is just the amount of great watches and sunglasses that are out there. Everything is under $1,000 in Watch.Me and De Sunglass man so it allows us to keep bringing new and exciting things to not only our cruise passengers here in town but to our local community as well,” says Michael.

In fact, the whole vibe of the store is to encourage you to hang out and see what’s new in sunglasses and watches, without feeling for one second that you need to think about how this watch will boost your investment portfolio.

“It’s uniquely Cayman, it’s uniquely Caribbean, it’s meant to be something that’s just fun. You can come in and ask what’s new, and it isn’t that we’ve just moved things from one wall to the other – we literally have new merchandise all of the time,” says Michael.
In fact, Michael says that the challenge is to the buyers is to go out and find new and unique products.

“Our buyers travel all over the globe – we have watches from Southern California, from Italy, Hong Kong, Switzerland... it’s amazing what we’ve found that you’re just not going to be able to find anywhere else in the world,” he says.

And it is that uniqueness and appeal to your sense of individuality and style that sets the store apart.

“It’s great to see people with time pieces that no-one has even heard of before, and it’s not been a major investment, just something to treat yourself well. You’ll be able to pick something up that you’ll enjoy that’s not going to be a huge investment in your life – that’s really the goal,” says Michael.

Right now both stores have some of the more exciting latest brands like Nixon, Guess collection, Fruitz by Philip Stein, but there will also be a couple of new brands making their appearance in Watch.Me. The Fort Street location will boast watches from Rotary, a Canadian company, and the store is also looking to add LEGO watches.

“Kids like to have their watches as well and it is an inexpensive option for people to come and look at – everything from Pirates of the Caribbean to Starwars watches, so it’s really meant to be that place where there’s something for everybody and it’s a truly unique environment,” says Michael.

The brand you may not immediately recognise but that will have that ‘I know the face but I can’t place the name’ feel about it is Nixon watches.

“Nixon is in more film than any other watch company in any given year. You may not know Nixon, but I assure you you’ve seen it in a film,” smiles Michael.

The brand has some brilliant styles and definitely draws those who want something spectacular without signing over the house, the boat, and the investment portfolio.

Speaking of investments, one of the most appealing features of the store, apart from the wide selection of brands and styles, is the discounts.

The prices are duty free and in US Dollars, but when you buy any three items in the store, you get an additional 10 per cent discount on the total purchase. So it makes sense to jazz up your look with a new watch, a new pair of sunglasses for the beach, and maybe another pair for the office... and you’ve made it to your three items.

Of course, if you find that you can’t stop there, there is always the 20 per cent discount for five or more items to tempt you into a shopping spree to end all shopping sprees. Or just get a couple of friends together – you can get some brutally honest input on what suits you and what doesn’t, and at the end of the day you can pool your purchases for that 20 per cent discount. After all, isn’t that what friends are for? WH

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