I know most people use their phones to tell time, but there’s something very romantic and beautiful about a timepiece.

Lakshmi contrasts the utilitarian convenience of smartphones with the tactile, aesthetic, and symbolic appeal of a traditional watch or clock. Calling a timepiece “romantic” suggests intimacy with objects that carry craft, history, and personal meaning—items worn on the body, gifted, inherited, or associated with milestones. The remark also gestures toward a broader nostalgia for analog experiences in a digital age: a timepiece does not merely display time but embodies it through materials, movement, and design. In this sense, the quote frames luxury or craftsmanship not as mere status, but as an emotional relationship to beauty and permanence amid disposable technology.