> Sometimes I don't understand how my brain functions. Or malfunctions, as the case may be.

My guess would be that it has to do with the subconscious, like you said. Our brains are constantly filtering out loads of stimuli. For example, unless you have a rock in your shoe or something else is wrong, you probably won't notice the way the shoe feels on your foot. If you think about it, you could take note of the pressure on the sides of your feet and of the squishyness of your insole. But normal brains don't pay attention to this stuff on a regular basis; if they didn't, we'd all go mad.

It makes sense that even after a decade of not wearing a watch, your brain still knows what the sensation of a watch feels like. I'm guessing your bracelet just triggers that awareness in your subconscious, and the awareness is brought to your conscious mind when you think about time.

My unresearched but educated opinion is that something like what you've described happens to a lot of people and is perfectly normal.