Well, coworkers finally noticed I have a Rolex..

[Patton250]

Originally Posted by Jason71

Don't sweat it. Handle yourself modestly (which I think you did), and wear it with pride. Most anyone with a reasonable job can afford a Rolex if they choose to do so.......it's all about priorities.

I read this entire thread and by far this is the best comment.

Now for those accusing the man's coworkers of "Hate". Do you realize the time and energy one must divert from their own personal lives and circumstances to generate and/or exhibit hatred towards another human being? In the United States the word hate is generally thrown at people who disagree with or have an opposing opinion of the person throwing the word hate at them. It's been used in our political system quite successfully for the last 20 years or so. Perhaps his coworkers were just intrigued or uncomfortable creating an awkward situation. Either way I'm quite sure there is not a human being on the planet that knows the exact feelings of each individual in this gentleman's office. If you do you have superpowers and should be wearing a Hulk not a Batman. (Inside joke)

To the OP. I'll tell you my friend that Facebook can cause these situations. I bought my wife a really nice pair of earrings and a necklace for Christmas and she put it on Facebook. That Sunday in church every single person we are friends with blindsided me with commentary. Mostly awkward commentary like you mentioned above. It made me very uncomfortable. So when I bought her a ladies DJ for our 20th anniversary I made it clear to not post that on Facebook.

Lastly you asked what you should do in the last part of your post. Well I think we can all agree here that you should most definitely buy another Rolex. Thanks for your service!!!

[WristEnvy]

If those mean coworkers continue to be mean and put you down for owning a Rolex, you can always come to TRF. You'll always have a friend here!



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[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Rock

I don't understand why anyone would feel self-conscious about their Rolex when the world is full of people who think nothing of dropping thousands on a wide variety of other non-essential items. Almost everyone you meet will have some special interest that sucks up thousands over the course of a few years - and if they don't you can bet they are working towards it.
Good-natured ribbing gets a good-natured response from me but nasty bitchy remarks get eaten alive.

Exactly

[WatchWatchers]

I am very scared if this happening. Come summer when I can no longer hide under sleeve I may actually take it off :(. People are terrible jealous aholes. Including my self. I don't want to have to deal with the whole office hating me. My other plan is an elaborate lie involving estate pre owned gifts or something.

[Sublovin]

Pretty sure you're overthinking this...who cares? It's a joke, just like a guy who drives the nicest car should always pay for lunch.
Relax
You purchased the most recognizable brand in luxury watches...people are going to notice

[cdmorenot]

Sounds like a shitty work environment. When I was a full time W2 employee at a company that didn't exactly pay Rolex like wages and I drove two newer, nicer cars and had a few nice watches, no one ever said anything.

We all had part time jobs and they knew I had a business on the side. Despite it being as entry level as it could be people were fairly educated and knew to stay out of each other's business.

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[mapalfa]

I wore one of the very first Swatch watches when I was in (GB101), so that gives you an idea about how long ago it was, but what watches people were wearing really wasn't an issue. If you did the right job, or got deployed where it mattered, you'd be issued with a watch and that could range from a CWC (basic infantry) to a Rolex for Royal Navy or SF divers etc.

I do, however, feel that wearing a Rolex could be an issue for someone in the junior enlisted ranks. The military is very hierarchical and people often try to position themselves, or make themselves look, further up the food chain than they really are. It's possible that the issue isn't the value of the watch itself, but a perception that you're trying to make yourself look better (for lack of a different word) than your comrades.

Obviously I'm coming at this from a UK forces perspective, but I'd be very wary that someone in a position of authority didn't like this and took it the wrong way and suddenly you find yourself having to do a nasty job while wearing a watch that really should be treated better.


Again, I'm not from the US, but anyone who chooses to serve deserves respect, so thanks for your service to one of our oldest allies.

[DCgator]

Was in DoD for forty years, both in uniform and as a civil servant. Never have I witnessed a situation like yours, in fact mostly the opposite. Colleagues and friends never worried wearing Sub or GMT/GMTII or SD (my first exposure to Sub and SD was when training with SOF and Rangers at Ft Lewis). In other quarters people wore TT DJ as well as steel DJ SS part of everyday timepiece as well as sports models. Lots of people also wore and preferred YG DD. To be fair these people were usually in grade E6 and above or GS-10 and higher. Rolex may now maybe a rarity in the military, but DoD-wide, I say it's common as the Casio, Suunto, Timex, and Seiko pieces worn out there in the field or garrison. I'll tell you I've worn one or two types of Rolex in every single deployment and no one thought nothing of it. While in the Defense Attaché Service I wore Rolex watches during all assignments and TDYs.....again, always unnoticed except by watch guys.

Enjoy your Rolex and get a couple more!

[VinnieVegas]

Don't let it bother you. When somebody notices mine, it's usually complimentary. And fairly rare.

I've only had one bad incident all of last year, and it wasn't at work.

I can't read minds, but I think a partner at my law firm is annoyed that I have my collection. Often casually checks out my watch and seems disapproving. But I have no idea what he's thinking.

I'm 48.I really don't care. Just give it no mind.

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[VerticalHorizon]

Life is too short to worry about what others think.

Do what you love, speak from the heart, and wear your passion.

[AK797]

Doesn't sound that bad to me, you got a few nice comments as well so the way of the world is plus and minus, can't have it all your own way. Also it's not so much jealousy but a little bit of a subconscious status/defensive thing between men when one is wearing an expensive luxury watch, same with cars and houses too, millions of years of survival of the fittest and evolution are not so easily wiped out, and banter and ribbing is often a way to express it and is really just a compliment.

[SeaAndSky]

Jason and Patton have good advice. You'd be wise to follow it. Take the high ground. None of us are perfect and you don't want to have any ill will over something as trite as petty comments about a watch. As someone said, "good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners."

[jon_jon]

We get this kind of thread frequently where co-workers or friends or neighbors show their discomfort with you wearing a Rolex. As with OPs story, the story comes up more commonly if you are lower in the totem pole in the workplace. Instead of being a "fairly low ranking enlisted military member", if OP were a military officer, I doubt this would even be a conversation topic. Likewise if you are at the manager level or higher at a Fortune 500 company, no one will even make a comment.

It reflects society in general as people judge you based on your job, income, education, etc. When material possessions like watches, cars, fancy clothes don't match up with how people see you financial situation, some people question how you can "afford" such an item. Some people have said if you just say it was a family heirloom handed down from your grandfather, people just move on as the story makes sense in their mind. However it can be an uncomfortable situation for many as we see this kind of story being told over and over in different forms. Unfortunately we don't live in a vacuum and have to work along people who will judge you based on their perceptions of you. Hopefully the work situation will improve as you develop a relationship with your co-workers based on not your possessions, but who you are as a person.

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by Glpstandard

...one of the girls I work with got some cheap earings from her husband as a gift, and she was pretty pissed about the amount of money (or lack of money) he spent.

That must be some crowd you work with.

[drifter01]

The funny thing is, if you wore a Patek, or some other similarly priced watch nobody would say anything. They only act this way towards Rolex. Its just that they know the name Rolex, (due to advertising ans sponsorship), so they feel justified in ragging on you about it. Of course, they can buy expensive shoes, cars, suits, etc., but heaven forbid you buy an expensive watch.

[Hpozzuoli]

It's the have nots. These folks probably don't even care about watches, but you strap a few grand to your wrist and all of a sudden everyone is a critic. It's the Prius generation........

[joli160]

Agree with Alex. Think it's a cultural thing. Having lived in Germany and being your neighbour now I noticed similar experiences in Holland. If you stick your head out it gets chopped off. Influence of pre dominant socialists governments for the last 50 years in both our countries, feeling guilty for doing well is the norm. Strange mentality overhere, but you did very good giving the Mrs a beautiful present which she obviously enjoys

Wear it with pride

[Wcdhtwn]

Not being in the military I can't really give advice on that work environment, but what's been stated so far is good advice. Wear it, screw what others think. Why should you deprive yourself of something you like and can afford because someone else cannot?

[Danex]

Originally Posted by Patton250

To the OP. I'll tell you my friend that Facebook can cause these situations. I bought my wife a really nice pair of earrings and a necklace for Christmas and she put it on Facebook. That Sunday in church every single person we are friends with blindsided me with commentary. Mostly awkward commentary like you mentioned above. It made me very uncomfortable. So when I bought her a ladies DJ for our 20th anniversary I made it clear to not post that on Facebook.

Facebook is indeed a trouble maker at work. OP, why would you "friend" coworkers on FB when they are obviously not your friends?
They may have noticed and gossiped about your Rolex either way, but I still suggest you carefully consider with who you share your personal life carefully.


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[anothernewphone]

Everyone at my office makes good money - I have the Daytona, one of my bosses has an Explorer and a Top Gun chrono, another has a TAG Heuer Carrera Twin Time, and everyone else has the "why do you wear a watch" mentality. No one shames me for wearing a Rolex, and they all make a lot more money than me. If your work environment suppresses individual thought and expression, I would hate to work there.

[Jason71]

Originally Posted by SeaAndSky

..........As someone said, "good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners."

I've not heard that before. That's really good.......I'll have to remember it

[Ckci]

Originally Posted by AlexMachine

There is a huge cultural difference if you compere US and Europe (and even within European countries).
I can only assume that generally speaking, showing your wealth or success in US is no big deal. But in some countries like Finland and maybe in Germany there is a huge different. People are some what jealous, authorities has drummed years and years "keep your head down, don´t you dare to be different from the masses, work hard, pay your heavy taxes etc" this mentality is luckily slowly dying away but still. Even if you are a self made man and you are worth several millions and media is spotting that you have a solid gold watch, they print headlines "XXX companys owner is bragging with his solid gold watch worth xxx€" and believe me, a Cabinet minister wearing his 3000€ TAG was enough to get headlines"

Socialist ding dong propaganda. It's everywhere. Ignore their comments or ask them/him "you keep bringing up my watch and it makes me think you are jealous for some reason." I'd personally start with ignoring unless he wouldn't let it die and then at that point I'd turn the spot light back on him everytime he subsequently brought it up.

[Timesurfer]

There is some good advice in here, some very saavy ways to approach it... Im taking note.

Some good ribbing, maybe some not so much... It sounds like its not very pleasant, ideally one should look for people that are more supportive, unfortunatelly its not easy... Ive encountered this many times in my life and found that the best way to deal with it is some good, disarming humor... Nothing disarms a person better than a joke about the situation, something that says, couldn't care less and its kind of funny!

i´d laugh and say something like, you know me "im fancy!" Or something like... You like it? I can hook you up if you want? .... I bet that would be the end of it.... No harm... No foul...

Best of luck and you have some good friends here at the Forums!

[strafer_kid]

Have worn Rolex for over 20 years and have never really found this an issue - occasionally the odd comment though often from someone else who has one. With mass production and millions in circulation, they are everywhere!

[DPE]

They are looking for a reaction and a bit of fun. Just smile and take no notice.

[TommyLing]

I am lucky enough to be one of those person who couldn't give two hoops on what other people think about me. I just enjoy my life and try to give the best to my family. When I am in a good mood I do help out my community as I live in a small town and with my work most people in the town knows who I am.

[watchwatcher]

Here's a couple of "pig"-isms:

Cast not pearls before swine.

Never try to teach a pig to sing...it will only frustrate you and anger the pig.

Enjoy your watch, you've earned it. And good for you for buying your wife one, too.

[WAK4]

Curious if the OP is US military stationed in Germany?

Either way, sucks that there's an issue. Perhaps the others need to grow up a bit...but if you handle your finances well and can afford these things, let it go and just enjoy.

[WatchWatchers]

Maybe it's job specific? I work with engineers. Not a single showy guy. We all make good money and there are guys driving clunkers and wearing Costco jeans.

[Furbo]

Originally Posted by Glpstandard

.. he thought it was a Tag at first, until I told him it was a Rolex