What Does a Watch Tell You about the Person Wearing It?

[SPACE-DWELLER]

What kind of wearer is this?

[Alcan]

I learned a lesson in judging a book by it's cover a couple of weeks ago when we had our house re-roofed. It was a hot day, and one of the roofers working without a shirt was a scary looking character. Torso covered with tattoos, an upper front tooth missing, somebody you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley.

It was a really hot day, and later, after the crew had finished, I invited them into the back patio and bought them a case of beer for doing such a great, clean job of the roof.

Turns out this guy has another job in addition to roofing. He's an organic beef cattle farmer, which is about the last thing I would have pegged him for! He's 4th generation on his farm, has about 50 head of cattle. Over 2 or 3 beers he talked about organic farming, getting and keeping certification, marketing, organic feed crop issues, etc, etc.

So, I was reminded that sometimes you just can't tell by looking.

[rolexsubuk]

Originally Posted by C.J.

That they all know what time it is. Aside from this, we would need more information before we go making assumptions as the the "books within the covers"

Not to take this thread off track, but I just want to share a quick story with you. A guy walks into a nightclub, a very highend nightclub. He's wearing about $3,000 in clothes and shoes. He pulled up in a Mercedes that runs about $70,000 and it's new and he's wearing a YG DD. He has about $3,500 in cash on him and he's spending it freely.

The guy must be doing pretty good, huh? Well, he's got ZERO in the bank, the car is three months behind in payments and the DD is twelve years old and he only paid $6500 for it (over time, mind you. It took him eight months to pay it off). The guy lives day to day from a cash job. But, he looks good, but that all it is, just looks. He's not a fictional character, his name is Carmine and I've known him since we were kids.

Now, I worked a jewelry show at the Taj Mahal casino. It was closed to the public and only certain high rollers were granted access. It was held in one of the finer ballrooms in the hotel. There had to be millions of dollars in jewelry displayed at the various stations and most of the shoppers looked very well to do.

At one point, a man walked in that attracted the attention of both jewelers and security alike. I'll admit, even I payed quite a bit of attention to this "square peg" amongst all the round holes in the ballroom. The man was in his early to mid fifties. Balding on top with long, shoulder length gray hair from the sides and back of his head that appeared to be not well maintained. He wore large framed glasses, a blue T-shirt with a small pocket on the left chest. The shirt was at one time navy blue, but it now resembled a faded bluish/gray and was obviously at least one size too small. He was about thirty pounds overweight and donned a pair of faded blue corduroys and even more faded brown boat shoes.

Myself and my group were in the employ of one of the jewelers as as "incognito" armed security as the local Police response time to a point well inside of the casino was in their opinion lengthy.

One of the women with the company we we're hired by asked us to quietly escort the man out. We refused initially not wanting to blow a perfectly good cover for no good reason, and I'm glad we did. The man had asked to see a particular necklace. This necklace was accompanied by a $4,000 plus price tag, very cheap compared to most the the items on display. The sales lady scoffed at the man and was rather insulting. The man was very polite and quietly left. He returned about twenty minutes later accompanied by Donald Trump, the owner of the casino and one of his Senior VP's. The woman was fired, the shops concession was closed, the entire group of exhibitors was told to give the gentleman anything he wanted and it was to be billed directly to Trump and everybody there learned a valuable lesson in what judging a book by it's cover can cause.

The guy turned out to be some mega-millionaire that actually earned his fortune and was just a real down to earth kind of guy. I was a WIS back then too. This guy wasn't even wearing a watch. He ended up talking to Trump and had the concession re-opened and the womans job returned to her.

A top story that Craig I was in palm in Majorca last year and was looking at all the million pound yachts and having a dream when one bloke got of a sun seeker now if you past this bloke in the street you would probably throw him some loose change you would not expect him to walk of a 2 million + boat i had a quick chat about His boat with him and he to was so down to earth like you say never judge.

[davinci]

My mate Dave. Multi millionaire...self made man, owns recruitment companies here in UK and abroad. Drives a Bentley, his wife a Porsche Cayenne. Nice house with pool, cart lodge, gym, spa. jaccuzi, homes in marbeilla and london docklands.
Wears Breitling Bentley watch, also has a crosswind and a cartier roadster. hates rolex for some reason.

Biggest coke fiend and lager lout you could ever meet.

[jac67]

Originally Posted by YachtmasterTT

What Does a Watch Tell You about the Person Wearing It?

They can tell the time.


John.

[RONeb]

I think that now days the less and less a watch can tell any thing, my parents and their parents had very nice watches from Swis brands like IWC,Rolex and so on, and they cost only a friction of the $ they cost today, back then people were proud of their watches
Now days a lot of guys don't even wear a watch!
And those who do, just do it for the time, or some thing like that
The average Joe on the street won't know the different between a 5$ quartz watch to a 5000$ Rolex

I guess guys who do wear nice watches are either actors who need to "show off" so they put a lot of "bling bling" style, or guys like us that wear watches because we love and value them

[ROGU808]

I think that the only thing you can hope to tell about a person wearing a fine time piece like a Rolex is that maybe...JUST MAYBE...they have some appreciation for what they have strapped to their wrist and what it all stands for.
Hawaii has always attracted rich and famous people. Some have earned their riches...others have begged, borrowed and even stolen theirs.
One of the richest men in the US lives here full time and always has a great looking Rolex or Panerai REPLICA on.
We belong to the same club and when I first met him I complimented him on his watch, which was a Breitling that was a gift from his oldes son. A couple weeks later I got a call from this man asking if I remember seeing him take his watch off or pick it up before he left the club the day before. As it turns out...he lost the gift from his son. Since then...He's only worn replica's because he has told himself that he is not responsible enough to own the real thing just yet.
If you walk around Waikiki, you will see pimps driving up in their Mercedes wearing a Plat DD...and drug dealers drug dealers wearing their WG DJ with pave diamond dials on alligator straps. We all know how they made the money to afford those fineries. But they are ONLY wearing them because of the name on the face of the watch. They have no idea or even care about the history...the craftsmanship...or the quality behind their watches.
I have to agree with JJ in that a person's character and the watch they wear are NOT mutually exclusive.
We love the watch...but the person wearing it has to earn my respect.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by jac67

They can tell the time.


John.

Dunno about that, John. One of my colleagues was saying the other day how weird it is that I rotate watches on a daily basis. I said that there was nothing weird about it, and that I would swap watches like she swapped earrings on a regular basis. She objected, saying that her earrings were jewellery, while a watch was functional. I asked her how often I was on time for work. She thought about it for a minute and said, "Okay, you're right - it's jewellery".

[jac67]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

Dunno about that, John. One of my colleagues was saying the other day how weird it is that I rotate watches on a daily basis. I said that there was nothing weird about it, and that I would swap watches like she swapped earrings on a regular basis. She objected, saying that her earrings were jewellery, while a watch was functional. I asked her how often I was on time for work. She thought about it for a minute and said, "Okay, you're right - it's jewellery".

[Mort]

I never judge a book by its cover. In my business, we deal with all types.

Pen collectors run in a few different profiles, especally when it come to fountain pens.

The first being the daily user. These people are the type who prefer function over anything else. They do not care about the status name, like Montblanc, Cartier, Dunhill,ect. The care about how the pen writes. It could be a $50 dollar pen or a $500 pen. It has to fit their needs, to write well. Most of the time these are nice regular folk, most have been to college, have good jobs and may or may not own a watch that is "high end". Although I have seen many of these same people have a vintage watch on.

Then there are the people who are kind of middle ground. They like the function of the pen, but also want some name recognition, mainly for the thought of the quality behind the name. Sort of like the reason many have chosen Rolex or Omega. The history, quality and durability. They feel when they buy this pen, it will be a life long item that will continue to serve them well.

Finailly there is the Luxury buyer. These are usually people of means, higher edjucated professionals, like doctors, lawyers and very successful business people.These are the people who may spend over $2000 and up for a pen and many have several or much more in there collection. These people are usually into nicer cars, higher end watches, large homes, boats, ect.

The thing is, a lot of time you cant tell who is who.

Yes, I do notice what watches most people I deal with are wearing. I do this because I love watches, not that I am judging wealth. And sometime the customer notices what I am wearing as well. I have had many watch conversations when people I deal with are buying pens.

As for me, I guess I am middle ground as far as telling a lot about a person.

First, I do not wear expencive suits or suits at all when I am at work. My normal dress is nice dress pants and polo shirts in the warm months, and button down dress shirts or long sleeve polos as well as pull over and or cartigan sweaters in the winter. I am mostly preppy in how I dress.

I do not were expencive shoes as I have foot problems and real expencive shoes are uncomfortable for me to wear all day, so I wear Rockports or Mesphisto.

I do wear a good bit of jewelry. My wedding ring is a solitaire ring, and I also wear a ring on my other hand that has a very heavy diamond setting. Then is my love of gold watches. I do not wear this stuff to impress others or look rich. I have always liked jewelry since I was a kid and as my budget got better, I have bought nicer stuff.

So I am sure to some they do not know what to think about me by what I wear or whats on my wrist. The bottom line is I do not care. I know who I am and if people want to make assumptions on first impressions based on the above, let them. Still a better way of knowing anything about someone is talk to them.

Some of the richest people I know are down to earth and you would never know they had money, and some of the poorest people I know are really out there and strive to look rich.

The bottom line you really cant tell much about a person by what watch they are wearing.

Sorry if I ran long. This is an intresting thread.

just my 2C

[haakon59]

The only time I remember being judged by my watch is when shopping for another watch at an AD. Other than this, I don't think it means all that much. I have spoken to people who wear a high-end watch and they have no idea about it, while some others do. People get things for all kinds of reasons and I don't think it has a psychological or other significance much at all.

[timebroker]

Worked as an ERP consultant for a short time.
My boss said ; When you see a guy walking into a company with jeans, normal shirt and watch, so in fact nothing fancy and he is there for implementing some software or updates, fixes ... you usually know he's good.
If he on the other hand comes in wearing Armani with a Rolex and all that, be careful, he might not know what he is doing and is compensating his lack in skills.
Of course this is generalizing and truth be told we had to go and work in suits all the time so guess how well we understood our work
I know I know suits are needed in certain lines of work but ...

There was this one guy, bermuda, loafers, hawaii t shirt, he did not care how he was looked at by other people, came into meetings, everybody in suit, high end watch etc etc but he was the guy that got the job done and made more money than the rest put together.

There is no clear answer to this question as many have stated before me, judging someone before you get to know them, be it his wealth, social status or his character is impossible but first impressions do tend to distort your view of somebody.
Working in a place and behaving rude because somebody does not wear what you expect is of course NOT done, customer is KING...

[widespreadpanic]

What does it tell me?
It tells me they are interested in knowing what time it is.

Of course there are people who care about the quality, craftsmanship, and brand of watch they wear.

Just like the fact that people may drive a Kia or a Porsche just for transportation.
Just like the fact that people may have a Sony or a Krell stereo just to listen to music.

I could go on and on. You get the idea.
Why are we on this forum?
Because most of us care a little more about what TYPE of time it is.
My opinion of course.

Take Care
WP

[oldman2005]

There're time you can tell the person by the watch but there're time you can't, so to be safe I don't judge a person by the watch...To be honest, there're too many Folex out there to even tell.

[mike]

Well, an elderly gentleman with a beat up Rolex tells me the two of them may have some interesting stories to tell.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by mike

Well, an elderly gentleman with a beat up Rolex tells me the two of them may have some interesting stories to tell.

Yep....I'll second that

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by mike

Well, an elderly gentleman with a beat up Rolex tells me the two of them may have some interesting stories to tell.

I'll bet they do

[watchnut]

When you come right down to it, we forum types consider our lives too precious to watch them tick away on anything but the best!

[mc1010]

my dad's classmate who owns one of the biggest steel factories here, a bank, and several hotels wears a folex and even proudly showed them off to my dad. he said he doesn't like wearing a real one because he would always feel bad when he scratches or dings it.

hope he can find a place to buy a fake mercedes benz too.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by watchnut

When you come right down to it, we forum types consider our lives too precious to watch them tick away on anything but the best!

Nicely put, David!!

[astcell]

Originally Posted by TexasTechC6

...On the other hand, I am a City official and can't wear my gold/ss sub to work!...

Why can you not wear your Rolex to work? I used to wear mine when I worked at the welfare department!

[timebroker]

Originally Posted by astcell

Why can you not wear your Rolex to work? I used to wear mine when I worked at the welfare department!

Many people seem to think you cannot wear a Rolex to work because it would be inappropriate towards your fellow employees or clients ... NOT!

[Blue Bull]

Originally Posted by timebroker

Many people seem to think you cannot wear a Rolex to work because it would be inappropriate towards your fellow employees or clients ... NOT!

For the past 7 years I have been wearing a Rolex to work every single day ... no exceptions Why would I want to wear anything else if I have a Rolex ??
Due to the nature of my work,the Rollies have been covered in blood,stomach content from the nasogastric tube,saliva,nasal excretion many,many times... Some theatre scrub soap and a scrub brush and its clean again..

[John685]

Originally Posted by Blue Bull

For the past 7 years I have been wearing a Rolex to work every single day ... no exceptions Why would I want to wear anything else if I have a Rolex ??
Due to the nature of my work,the Rollies have been covered in blood,stomach content from the nasogastric tube,saliva,nasal excretion many,many times... Some theatre scrub soap and a scrub brush and its clean again..

Chris, have you thought about ducking occasionally?

[Blue Bull]

Originally Posted by John685

Chris, have you thought about ducking occasionally?

Had some blood in the face ,just last week.The assistent pulled the aortic cannula to quickly from the Aorta and I got a nice squirt in my direction.Off course,the surgeon and the assistent thought it was VERY funny .. (Patient was HIV negative)

[Welshwatchman]

I think I have the correct answer.

1. Anna Nicole Smith.

2. Tiger Woods.

3. Dick Van Dyke.

4. Me. But I am a lot taller, don't were sunglasses, not overweight and can't use a golf stick to save my life.

What's the prize, anyway?

[Green Arrow]

[QUOTE=Welshwatchman;263320]I think I have the correct answer.

1. Anna Nicole Smith.

2. Tiger Woods.

3. Dick Van Dyke.

4. Me. But I am a lot taller, don't were sunglasses, not overweight and can't use a golf stick to save my life.

What's the prize, anyway?[/QUOTE ]


Trip to New Zealand, all expenses paid stay with JJ including unlimited use of Bluesy--subject to confirmation of prizes to the first person to get all of the answers exactly correct, including punctuation and spelling. Contest organizer reserves the right to withdraw prizes and replace them with prizes of equal or lesser value, including the right to simply state that the prize is ---priceless.

[Welshwatchman]

I take the meaning as :

Some wealthy people wear incredibly expensive watches.
Some wealthy people wear inexpensive watches.
Some people lacking wealth wear expensive watches.
Some people lacking wealth wear inexpensive watches.
Some people wear no watches.
Some of the above may be a$$holes.
Some of the above may be "the salt of the earth".

Me, I'm one just one of the a$$holes.

[Rawhyde]

Originally Posted by astcell

Why can you not wear your Rolex to work? I used to wear mine when I worked at the welfare department!

I have had one job where wearing a Rolex would be a bad idea. I had my Air King and my Tudor Chronograph at the time...only wore them to work once each. (My boss was interested in seeing them.)

I was a Preventive Maintenance Engineer in a foundry. For those who have never been in a foundry, it is hot, nasty, and dangerous. The sand and grit works its way into everything, and the constant abrasion destroys anything. It was common to see watch bracelets worn paper thin. In that environment or something similar, it's a good idea to wear disposable watches.

Now, I work in a clean place. I wear either the Rolex or the Tudor as the mood strikes. I did go on a job interview a few months ago where I was told that I couldn't wear my watch or any type jewelry for safety reasons (it was a plant that manufactured yarn).

Other than safety regulations or fear of damaging the watch, why wouldn't you be able to wear any watch you wanted to?

Rawhyde

[Blue Bull]

Originally Posted by Welshwatchman

I take the meaning as :

Some wealthy people wear incredibly expensive watches.
Some wealthy people wear inexpensive watches.
Some people lacking wealth wear expensive watches.
Some people lacking wealth wear inexpensive watches.
Some people wear no watches.
Some of the above may be a$$holes.
Some of the above may be "the salt of the earth".

Me, I'm one just one of the a$$holes.

They say God was a Urologist,because only a Urologist would create the rubbish dump next to the recreation centre ....