Decoding Taylor Swift’s Obsession With Clocks

However the Grammy-winning celebrity hasn’t gone digital — even in a world of iPhones, Apple Watches, and AI.

As a substitute, the musician has virtually solely utilized analog expertise — a alternative that is made a noticeable influence on companies and her youthful followers.

Telling time with Taylor Swift

Time has all the time held a distinguished place in Swift’s artwork.

Lyrically, she started singing about significant moments on her debut album. You would possibly keep in mind lyrics like “2 a.m. using in your truck” from the fan-favorite monitor “Mary’s Track (Oh My My My).”

However Swift launched time as a theme extra closely in 2023 with the discharge of her tenth studio album.

In the course of the “Midnights” period, Swift used clock motifs all through the “Bejeweled” music video, prominently featured them in her huge Eras Tour, and included some as (still-undecoded) Easter eggs, or hidden clues, in her “Karma” and “Lavender Haze” music movies.

Then, when she was nominated for six Grammys this yr, Swift arrived on the occasion’s purple carpet sporting a diamond-encrusted watch custom-made right into a choker.

The Lorraine Schwartz timepiece was a playful nod to her nominated work and a refined reference to a brand new mission she’d announce that evening: her eleventh studio album, “The Tortured Poets Division.”

However then Swift wore the necklace once more, this time whereas out with buddies in Notting Hill on Tuesday evening. And followers suppose the “Anti-Hero” singer is as much as one thing due to it.

Is she extra highly effective than Father Time? Perhaps.

Swiftie or not, you have most likely observed that the majority issues Swift touches flip to gold.

She introduced main consideration to small Kansas Metropolis companies throughout the newest NFL season, and her tour has boosted economies round the globe.

And that is to not point out Swift’s influence on the rebirth of vinyl data.

Forbes reported that “1989 (Taylor’s Model)” was the highest-selling vinyl of 2023 with 1.4 million copies, and “The Tortured Poets Division” broke the report for largest vinyl gross sales — greater than 700,000 copies — in a single week.

These feats partially end result from a fashionable tactic wherein artists launch a number of vinyl variants of their albums to spice up income. Swift has been main the cost.

Naturally, Swift has additionally impacted the world of telling time.

Look no additional than entrepreneur Victoria P., who created her watch-focused jewellery model, Joiedevika, two years in the past. She first bought her handmade, time-telling necklaces at Los Angeles flea markets. As her designs grew to become extra fashionable, her enterprise expanded to Etsy, Depop, and a private web site.

Talking with Enterprise Insider, Victoria mentioned buddies texted her after they noticed Swift sporting a watch necklace on the 2024 Grammys. And immediately, orders got here pouring in.

“I Googled ‘watch necklace Taylor Swift,’ and I discovered necklaces from my Etsy store,” she mentioned.

Victoria famous that her on-line outlets have obtained a giant increase in latest months, together with her Etsy gross sales this yr already surpassing her complete for 2023.

“I’ve quite a lot of clients asking me for watch necklaces to put on to Taylor Swift events and occasions. It’s extremely fascinating,” she informed BI.

And she or he’s not the one one. Eugena Lee of Eugena’s Jewellery informed BI that her watch necklaces have been particularly fashionable this yr. Avery Borders additionally mentioned she’d observed the “Taylor Swift Impact” on her small enterprise, Mundus Magica Creations.

“I’ve seen just a few whispers of steampunk parts within the style business these days,” Borders informed BI. “However Taylor sporting a watch necklace has been tremendous cool. I’ve seen a lift in gross sales, a lift in curiosity, and a lift in inspiration on my finish.”

Swift has additionally made some money on clock-themed merchandise. She beforehand bought a “Folklore”-themed clock and a “Lover”-themed watch as official merchandise, and 4 of the “Midnights” vinyl variants she launched final yr created a clock when displayed collectively.

Brittany Cheshire, a 31-year-old Swiftie from Arizona, spent $120 on the 4 data. And no, she does not personal a report participant.

“I used to be transferring into my new home and I used to be excited to brighten the partitions in my workplace,” she informed BI. “I wanted a clock, and what’s higher than a Taylor one?”

She additionally bought a $50 show set from Swift’s official merchandise web site, which permits followers to mount the albums on a wall and switch them into practical clocks.

“I completely perceive that it is 4 of the identical album. However for me, it is extra in regards to the paintings,” Cheshire added. “I’ve all 4 variants of ‘The Tortured Poets Division’ on my wall, too. The images, the composition, every little thing is gorgeous. I am not only a loopy tremendous Swiftie who has to have every little thing she places out.”

However perhaps extra importantly, Swift has inadvertently helped younger folks be taught to learn analog clocks — one thing they’ve lengthy been accused of not figuring out find out how to do, even by Jimmy Kimmel.

“That is it! I am studying to inform time! Gimme!” one TikToker commented on a video Swift posted about her clock vinyl variants.

“From instructing about spelling to telling the time, it is official! Taylor Swift is one of the best trainer you would ever ask for,” one other fan wrote on X.

So what precisely is Swift saying by sporting her glowing watch necklace once more?

Devoted followers are scouring the web for solutions, with one lady saying she emailed a journalist to request that they test high-resolution images to see what numbers Swift had her timepiece necklace set to.

The reply stays unclear, and solely time — no pun meant — will inform. However Swifties are decided to beat the clock.