This is what Rosalind says. She is anxious, keen to arouse her beloved’s interest, his very attention. Yet time seems everlasting expectancy, all too futile, and it does not seem to move. However, her simple phrase, in the theatre expressing impatience and longing, assumes a meaning which goes far beyond this, one on a much wider scope, indeed.
So which of the three watches pictured should Rosalind choose to make time go faster? As far as observations go, she would definitely not be advised to choose the one with the red dial, however lovely it may seem. Its second hand is very small. And any small second hand on any dial gives the impression of slow-moving time. As a matter of fact, the smaller it is, the more slowly time passes. Rather Rosalind would be happiest to choose the one with the white dial. Its second hand is the largest of all the three. And large as it is, according to its very nature, it seems to move much faster than the other two. The second hand on the sparkling blue dial is beautiful enough, yet still a trifle too short for Rosalind to make time move faster and faster, evermore faster ...
Watches are with us wherever we wander on this pilgrimage of ours. They are our life companions, telling us when to begin and when to end, when to arrive and when to depart. Thus any watchlover will pay much attention to the colour of a watch, its shape, its dial, its mechanical merits, its strap, any other element you may choose. But most of all: We should always be aware of the nature of its second hand! It is decisive as far as the speed of time goes.
Melancholically enough, though, even the smallest of all second hands cannnot make time stand still: Tempus fugit – tempus edax rerum. And any second hand, be it small, large, or somewhere in between, is inevitably subject to this very law of nature.
H.S.- merlin, 13/10/2019