Scars Are Beautiful

When I was a student I worked for a builder contractor installing drywall. It wasn't glamorous work. Long days, dust everywhere. But it paid for my scholarship, so I showed up and got it done. One day, I had an accident. A sharp edge, a moment of carelessness, and I ended up with a deep scar on my forearm.

Nenad Pantelic • February 8, 2026

It's not a pretty scar. It never was. But every time I notice it, I'm reminded of that period of my life. Of having to work to earn my place, of learning the hard way to be careful, of responsibility, effort, and growing up.

I don't try to hide it. I actually appreciate it. That scar carries meaning far beyond how it looks.

I ruined it

I think about that a lot when it comes to watches.

When a watch is new I treat it like it's fragile glass. I am super careful. I avoid door frames, desk edges, tool boxes... anything that could leave the first ding.

And then it happens. The first scratch. The first blemish. That sinking feeling: "I ruined it".

But did I?

Over time, something shifts. The second scratch hurts less. The third I barely notice. And eventually, those marks stop feeling like damage and start feeling like memory.

That nick from a trip. That scratch from daily wear at work. The one which my three-year-old put on the bezel when he enthusiastically slammed a Hot Wheels car into my watch while I was wiping his nose.

In the moment, I remember thinking, are you kidding me? But now? That mark makes me smile. It's chaotic, funny, very real, and deeply tied to this time of our lives.

With scratches the watch stops feeling like something I need to protect and starts feeling like something that's lived alongside me. They turn a watch from something generic into something personal.

It's your watch

Without those dings, a watch is just a mass-produced object. It's a reference number. But once it's scratched, it becomes your watch.

Just like my scar doesn't look nice but means everything, the scratches on a watch aren't flaws to me. They're proof of living. Proof of time well spent.

Scars are beautiful.