It’s About Time— Timeless Watches and Lasting Relationships (Featuring JORD Wooden Watches + GIVEAWAY)

“The value of a watch is not in being able to tell how much time has passed, but in being aware of the need to make that time count. Moments are bigger than minutes and your watch should tell more than time.”

JORD, a company that creates beautiful modern wooden timepieces, has this quote on their site. A few weeks ago they reached out to me for a collaboration. They generously sent two his-and-her wooden watches for my boyfriend and me, and I was ecstatic to receive them. This company excites me as I see their passion. Their love for what they do and what they create is so apparent, and I really believe they want to create special, meaningful products for their customers. This quote, I think, is captured beautifully in each of their pieces, and I truly understand what they mean by moments being larger than minutes and the importance of not just counting time but making time count.

I’ve been dating the same guy for about a year and a half now, though I prefer to not to think about how much time we’ve been together and instead how much we’ve grown together. Though a year and a half may not seem that long, I feel like we’ve been through a lot. Not every moment being absolutely fantastic, of course. I would be lying if I said that every second was perfect, because let’s face it: relationships are hard. Even the best ones are. And up until recently I don’t think I completely understood that.

I expected perfection. I expected constant unconditional support and absolutely zero fights and perfect understanding. This, of course, was incredibly idealistic of me. Stupidly so. But I think I can honestly say that we had exactly that for the first year of dating—maybe for even a little more than that. And I know this because I remember very little of that year. I can’t really remember specific days or specific moments. Every day seemed to merge into one. One where we were constantly happy and madly in love. But relationships are a funny thing. They change. Morph and fluctuate between phases. And I know this because I now remember a lot more.

I remember frustration. I remember fights. I remember making up. I remember perfect dates after rough weeks. I remember more days, more hours, more seconds. Things are no longer perfect, no longer super easy. And honestly, it’s about time.

Lasting relationships are not perfect ones. They are not free of fights and arguments. They may involve misunderstandings and disagreements. They may feel hard at times. Sad at times. But what makes them last is their ability to work through the bad. It’s their ability to see past the hard times to the certainty of those that are better. It’s their ability to remain confident with what’s been made and to have confidence with what can be made in the future. It doesn’t require perfect understanding or perfect communication but the mutual desire to grow. To understand better, communicate better. To love each other a little better.

Because love is not just a feeling. Or an emotion. Love is a skill. An art. (Highly recommend the The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm if you want to read more about this idea.) It requires practice. I remember after a year of dating how scared I was of fighting. I remember being so scared of it that I would silently harbor anger for weeks and weeks instead. Not wanting to tell him that I was upset about something. And this was so unhealthy for me, him, and the relationship. And while I’m still not perfect at telling him what bothers me, I’m getting better. I’m trying to be more proactive with communicating when something upsets me. Even if I’m scared that it may start an argument.

And the longer we’re together—the more up-and-downs we experience—the more I learn. The more I understand on how to love. And we become better, even though it may not seem like that. Even though we may argue more, we continue to get better. And if it can guarantee that I can be with this boy for the rest of my live, then bring on more fights. Bring on the misunderstandings. Bring on the difficult nights that teach me more. Because I want this to last. And I won’t count this time as days or months or years. I’ll count them as lessons learned.

R E V I E W, G I V E A W A Y, & O T H E R R E M A R K S

Huge thank you to JORD for collabing with me and helping me create this piece! The Cassia and Dover watches are extremely beautiful and I’m so happy with them. I’ve been wearing my Cassia watch everyday since I’ve received it. I’m especially fond of the Roman numerals, as well as the zebrawood which has such a beautiful grain. The ivory face is beautiful and bright and looks stunning alongside the brass accents. I really don’t think I’ve ever loved a watch as much as this and am extremely excited to continue to wear this watch throughout the spring season.

The Dover is equally as stunning and is honestly one of my favorite designs by JORD. The Dover is a two-tone wood watch utilizing both zebrawood and dark sandalwood. Both woods have lovely grains and compliment each other perfectly. The watch has silver details and a white face border which provides nice contrast. However, the most special thing about this watch is its skeleton watch design, which shows the watch’s internal moving gears and parts and is overall really dope.

Both watches came in wooden boxes that are honestly art pieces in themselves. Made with a gorgeous warm-toned wood, embossed with the JORD logo, and fashioned with magnetic closures for the lid and slide drawer. Beautiful attention to detail and absolutely stunning.

However, one of our favorite parts about JORD and these watches is their ability to be engraved. This makes the watches such meaningful gifts for your friends, family, loved ones, and significant other. In spirit of this post, ours were both engraved with the saying “Good stuff now. Better stuff to come,” which I think is so perfect. (As some of you may know “good stuff” is one of my catch phrases for literally describing anything, so it just seemed fitting.)

Overall, I think JORD’s timepieces are some of the most beautiful on the market. The quality is exquisite, and their designs are stunning. I think their watches would make such special gifts for your significant other, your family, or yourself , and I think who ever receives a watch from JORD will fall in love with it.

If you’re interested, links for the two watches are down below, along with the link to my giveaway! JORD and I are collabing to give a $100 gift card to their site! Enter for a chance to win! Giveaway ends at 4/15. Anyone who enters will receive my 10% off discount code to shop the site after the giveaway ends! Good luck!