The LA Times is reporting that the younger generation is not so fond of wrist watches and instead teens and 20-somethings are more inclined to spend their money on techno-gadgets like cell phones or iPods that include a time piece on them:

Many older people too would make the cellphone their primary timepiece if it didn't mean digging around for their reading glasses, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, which tracks consumer trends.

"Once the cellphone manufacturers recognize that not everybody has X-ray vision, they'll begin to make the cellphone clock a little bit bigger and it will very quickly replace the fashion watch as the No. 1 timepiece," he said.

Cohen began polling consumers about watches after he realized that he had stopped wearing one a couple of years ago.

His conclusions were corroborated by the Piper Jaffray investment bank, which produces a semiannual report on teen preferences. In the latest study, teenagers who said they never wore a watch rose to 59% from 48%. The number of teens who said they wore a watch daily declined to 13% in this spring's survey, compared with 18% of those polled in the fall.

And 82% said they didn't plan to buy a watch in the next six months, compared with 76% last fall.

I find this sad. A watch, at least to this well-over-20-something, is a wonderful piece of jewelry that is functional as well as fashionable.

Pictured is a turquoise and sterling watch from Fossil Inc.