With the rise of ubiquitous cell phones and other portable devices, there has been some talk that wristwatches are on their way out. Who needs a watch, when you can just pull out your phone and see what time it is.



After all, cell phones have developed some incredible features, besides just showing the time. ?Phones are going to get smarter and become real personal assistants,? technology writer and futurist Jack Uldrich told the San Diego Union-Tribune in a story about cell phone technology. ?They're going to know the calls you want to take and the ones you want sent to voice mail. With GPS, they could know when your good buddy is a few blocks away and suggest you get together for lunch.?

So, with about 250 million cell phone subscribers in the United States, you think that would put a dent on watches sales. And it has. Timex says its sales are down 25 percent in the past five years. But that's Timex.

What cell phone proponents forget though is the important luxury and style plays into the sale of promotion of watches. People aren't just looking for something that will tell them the time. They can get that from the cheapest watches available at any store on any corner.

Instead, men are looking for top-notch accessories that will complement their style in the business world. No one ?wears? their cell phone out to a business dinner or a formal event, but a fine watch, like those military watch brands made by companies like Panerai Watches, U Boat Watches and IWC Watch. Military watches are especially trendy these days with high prices and highest quality materials. You won't be worrying about checking the time on your phone when you have a Panerai Luminor, a Panerai Radiomir, a U Boat Flightdeck Watch or an IWC Portuguese Watch.

While there is some doom and gloom talk in the United States about how watches are on the way out, in favor of web-enabled phones, but that's not the case for the high-end market and for companies with emerging economies, like India, Russia and China, are thirsting for such luxury goods. In fact, Indian businessmen have been petitioning their government to cut down on the import tax on luxury watches, because the demand is so great.

That's one of the interesting things to know about military watch brands like Panerai Watches, U Boat Watches and IWC Watches ? as European companies, these watch makers try to appeal to the biggest market possible, not just the United States. So when they are looking to sell military watches like the Panerai Radiomir, Panerai Luminor, U Boat Flightdeck Watch or IWC Portuguese Watch, they are selling to businessmen across their continent as well as in Asia and around India.

So when you hear the near about how no one needs a watch any longer because they have everything they need with their phone, don't forget they are leaving out an important piece of the puzzle ? luxury. If you want luxury, it is still out there for you to find and is still important to what you carry.