Wrist watches are a very personal thing, they do have many positive benefits from a boating point of view, ie being able to just glance at a digital watch on a night passage has its benefits as opened to digging out a smart phone or going down to the lower helm, Alarms can be very useful on a boat and generally watches do not have to be re charged every day. Expensive watch bling can be as nearly effective as a casio or timex and can engender a feeling of accomplishment in the owner. For myself a wristwatch is an essential, and has been all my adult life.
I have multiple watches including an Omega Seamaster at one end and a Casio frogman at the other, the Casio is more accurate and reliable but I love checking the Seamaster when on a passage. Some of the more modern digital watches inc GPS, Barometer, Compass, E Data, and o yes, tell the time as well !.