WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
AN OLD WORKPLACE adage says you shouldn’t wear a watch that’s fancier than your boss’s. For Tony Traina, 27, an associate lawyer in Chicago, however, it would have been difficult to find a more casual timepiece than the $399 Apple Watches his firm’s higher-ups tend to favor. He didn’t bother. As a watch-lover, he ignored protocol, showing up at work in a $1,500 mechanical watch by German brand Nomos Glashütte. But it barely went noticed.
In the past, one’s shoes, one’s suits and, yes, one’s watch spoke volumes about one’s place at work. Even though some believe status watches still send signals, today’s office has drastically evolved: CEOs wear sneakers and tell time with their smartphones; many people work remotely; wristwatches are less commonly remarked upon. “You’re more likely to get comments on a new iPhone” than a new watch, said Ryan Cecil Smith, 33, a designer at an animation studio in Los Angeles. In January, he purchased a Rolex and braced for snipes from his Apple Watch- and Casio-wearing co-workers, but so far no one has even acknowledged the pricey timepiece.
Often, wrist real estate that once held introductory-level luxury timepieces like Tag Heuers is occupied by smartwatches—which themselves quietly telegraph modernity, youth, humility, tech-smarts. Most of Matthew Marcus’s millennial co-workers at NCC Media, a TV-advertising sales company in Bethesda, Md., wear Apple Watches. “They kind of treat it as an extension of their phone,” said Mr. Marcus, 30, who is an outlier with his no-texting, no-emailing Grand Seiko watch.
Fans of status watches, however, still subscribe to the view that their timepieces can skew impressions. Kevin Weinman, 34, a CFO for a luxury retail company in New York City, believes his 18-karat gold Rolex GMT Master II “creates a better perception of experience and authority,” that matches his executive title.
When Mr. Weinman was undergoing multiple interviews for a position at a startup, he swapped that flashier watch for quieter options including a vintage Rolex Datejust. “I was very conscious of not wearing extremely expensive watches during the interview process…I didn’t want to seem as if I was priced out of a competitive compensation package.”
Griffin Caprio, 39, a founder of a podcast production company in Chicago, similarly changes his watch depending on whom he is meeting with. If he’s facing a potential investor, he skips the eye-catching green Rolex. Instead he’ll wear a watch from “under the radar” brands like local Chicago brand Oak and Oscar or a Glashütte Original which is actually more expensive than his Rolex but “is not as known to as many people outside of the watch industry.” Mr. Traina, the lawyer in Chicago, speculated that, at his firm, people don’t wear “flashy” watches in front of clients “for fear of them wondering where all of the money they’re spending is going.”
But there is more-objective evidence that status watches can cause waves. Mr. Caprio once worked as an engineer at software and technology companies, where he discovered that curious co-workers were googling his watches and learning that they went for five figures. “You almost kind of want to hide a watch a little bit,” said Mr. Caprio, who felt his colleagues looked down on watch collecting as a “stupid” way to spend money.
The idea that a watch reflects one’s place in the hierarchy definitely persists in more traditional workplaces. Myles Fennon, 40, a commercial real-estate broker in Manhattan, noted there are certain watches, including a ceramic Rolex Daytona and an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, that his co-workers buy when they’re thinking, “I just made a lot of money, I’m going to go light some of it on fire.” He prefers more-discreet watches “a couple layers deeper” than the common Rolex, like a modern Tudor Blackbay stainless-steel sports watch. He can recall a recent deal with three other brokers who all wore various Daytonas (which can retail for $10,000 and up): “On the elevator ride down I was like, ‘Sorry I didn’t get the memo that it was Daytona day.’”
In the past, one’s shoes, one’s suits and, yes, one’s watch spoke volumes about one’s place at work. Even though some believe status watches still send signals, today’s office has drastically evolved: CEOs wear sneakers and tell time with their smartphones; many people work remotely; wristwatches are less commonly remarked upon. “You’re more likely to get comments on a new iPhone” than a new watch, said Ryan Cecil Smith, 33, a designer at an animation studio in Los Angeles. In January, he purchased a Rolex and braced for snipes from his Apple Watch- and Casio-wearing co-workers, but so far no one has even acknowledged the pricey timepiece.
Often, wrist real estate that once held introductory-level luxury timepieces like Tag Heuers is occupied by smartwatches—which themselves quietly telegraph modernity, youth, humility, tech-smarts. Most of Matthew Marcus’s millennial co-workers at NCC Media, a TV-advertising sales company in Bethesda, Md., wear Apple Watches. “They kind of treat it as an extension of their phone,” said Mr. Marcus, 30, who is an outlier with his no-texting, no-emailing Grand Seiko watch.
Fans of status watches, however, still subscribe to the view that their timepieces can skew impressions. Kevin Weinman, 34, a CFO for a luxury retail company in New York City, believes his 18-karat gold Rolex GMT Master II “creates a better perception of experience and authority,” that matches his executive title.
When Mr. Weinman was undergoing multiple interviews for a position at a startup, he swapped that flashier watch for quieter options including a vintage Rolex Datejust. “I was very conscious of not wearing extremely expensive watches during the interview process…I didn’t want to seem as if I was priced out of a competitive compensation package.”
Griffin Caprio, 39, a founder of a podcast production company in Chicago, similarly changes his watch depending on whom he is meeting with. If he’s facing a potential investor, he skips the eye-catching green Rolex. Instead he’ll wear a watch from “under the radar” brands like local Chicago brand Oak and Oscar or a Glashütte Original which is actually more expensive than his Rolex but “is not as known to as many people outside of the watch industry.” Mr. Traina, the lawyer in Chicago, speculated that, at his firm, people don’t wear “flashy” watches in front of clients “for fear of them wondering where all of the money they’re spending is going.”
But there is more-objective evidence that status watches can cause waves. Mr. Caprio once worked as an engineer at software and technology companies, where he discovered that curious co-workers were googling his watches and learning that they went for five figures. “You almost kind of want to hide a watch a little bit,” said Mr. Caprio, who felt his colleagues looked down on watch collecting as a “stupid” way to spend money.
The idea that a watch reflects one’s place in the hierarchy definitely persists in more traditional workplaces. Myles Fennon, 40, a commercial real-estate broker in Manhattan, noted there are certain watches, including a ceramic Rolex Daytona and an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, that his co-workers buy when they’re thinking, “I just made a lot of money, I’m going to go light some of it on fire.” He prefers more-discreet watches “a couple layers deeper” than the common Rolex, like a modern Tudor Blackbay stainless-steel sports watch. He can recall a recent deal with three other brokers who all wore various Daytonas (which can retail for $10,000 and up): “On the elevator ride down I was like, ‘Sorry I didn’t get the memo that it was Daytona day.’”
Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
Interesting
It’s never Daytona day where I work
It’s never Daytona day where I work
VR/
Paul
SI VI PACEM, PARA BELLUM
Paul
SI VI PACEM, PARA BELLUM
Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
Kind of obvious, really.
"We'd better synchronize our watches."
Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
Its usually Daytona Day on my wrist.
- toxicavenger
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Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
so my Airking says I east shit sandwiches I guess
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Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
I chuckled with GO being more expensive than Rolex
Yeah just don’t ever try to sell it lol
Yeah just don’t ever try to sell it lol
Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
only if you're an uptight, approval-seeking geek
‘I don’t worry about a thing, 'cause I know nothing’s gonna be alright’ Mose Allison
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Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
Told many years ago...in sales, never drive a Mercedes or wear a Rolex. Some common sense in that.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
I was amused by the “I’d rather wear a Tudor Black Bay than a Daytona or an AP” comment. There’s nothing wrong with a BB, but if I had the means to afford a Daytona but wanted something else that would be more “discrete,” the BB wouldn’t be my first choice.
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Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
I’ve never had a male boss that wore a watch better than mines. But I’ve had female bosses that wore Cartier and Rolex watches.
Almost no one cares. Although the comment of wearing a Rolex when you are in sales, I’ve heard before.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Almost no one cares. Although the comment of wearing a Rolex when you are in sales, I’ve heard before.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Omega / Tudor / Rolex / Sinn / Doxa / Seiko
Re: WSJ - Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think
Always enjoy reading articles like this Paul. So much fun honestly. Thanks a lot !
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