Long time lurker, first Rolex or "Rolex vs. B&R"

[LittlewoodsThree]

I know how the OP feels -- the psychology of this is interesting! Here's a thought experiment, since someone mentioned the comparison to cars.

Say one day you arrive at that store in the less affluent part of town.

Scenario 1: You pull up in your 2-year-old $41,000 Volvo XC60, and step out of the car wearing your $39 Timex IronMan.

Scenario 2: You pull up in your 2-year-old $24,000 Honda CR-V and step out the car wearing your $8,000 Rolex Milgauss.

I wonder in which Scenario would you feel more self-conscious? If it's scenario 2, that would be despite the fact that you spent a lot less on the car/watch combo in scenario 2 than 1, the car is a lot more visible to everyone, and everyone knows the approximate values of the cars.

We're such a car culture, somehow folks don't mind if you spend a lot on a car, but watches seem to be a little different for no rational reason.

As a new rolex wearer (mind you, a modest SS DJ), I've seen that virtually everyone else doesn't care and doesn't notice.

One time an acquaintance that I only see rarely happened to be wearing a Sub. I noticed and remarked. His reaction was apologetic "it's 25 years old, it was my father's", as if he needed a good reason. I was only going to say "awesome!"...