Almost No One Cares About Your Expensive Watch or Suit

agree +1

dont get the watch/shoe/suit hype at all. 

I’ve got a 700€ watch and received probably ~20 positive comments about it. While you may got your point that an expensive watch likely doesn’t matter, actually a lot of people look at the watch of their conversation partner, you’re just not one of them. I was also genuinely surprised how many people started conversations about it.

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I love meeting fellow watch nerds, but it's one of my favorite hobbies. Doesn't matter if it's inexpensive or $$$, I love em all lol 

I just think watches are neat

I wear expensive suits and watches for my own pleasure and not to impress on others nor do I care about "prestige". Good suits are comfortable and make me feel sharp, powerful and ready for anything and you better believe I get treated better because of it. And with watches it is really about the story/meaning behind every piece, not the value or showing off. Sure some people like to shove it in your face with an iced out Rolex or AP but that's really just tasteless and pretty much universally frowned upon by anyone with half of a brain on their shoulders.

Never understood people who spend their own hard-earned cash on shit they don’t like to impress people they don’t like or even know. Lot of insecure folks in finance so naturally you see more of it here

As an intern I wore a nice watch my father gave me as a graduation gift. One of the second year analysts was explaining a credit model to me when he stopped and asked about my watch. I misread the situation and spoke for maybe 30 seconds on the watch, for him to reply "cool man, I'm rocking this... (Forget what it was but maybe a 50 dollar watch)". 

Watches are awesome if you like them . So don't go out and buy a Batman 2nd hand for 30k because you think it'll make you look cool. OP Is right, no one really cares. 

What IS differentiating, in my opinion, is if you really like watches, wear what you can (reasonably) afford and use it as a way to talk to your MD wearing a Zeitwerk. 

With that said, the watch I get the most complements on by far is a Salmon Dial Croton (prob $150 on ebay), despite having a couple 5 figure watches. I think I have pretty good taste, and if you use that, it will transcend price. 

This comes up a lot and I honestly don't see why this is any different than any other luxury item.  Sure, you may not care if I wear $25,000 watch.  I also don't give a shit if you drive a $250,000 car.  If it gives you pleasure, and you can afford it, do it.  Especially if you're not being a dick and rubbing it in other people's faces.

While so many seem obsessed with watches and suits and prestige being a big reason behind that, it seems like the worst bang for your buck in terms of prestige. A 6-year old can the tell the difference between a Ferrari and Nissan. Your $15K watch? Not so much. Even people used to being around wealthy clients all the time like myself can't tell the difference, don't care or don't even see your watch.

But aren't you sort of proving the opposite point that you're trying to?  If a six year old can tell the difference in your ride, then it's not really a sign of superior taste, right?   I don't know a ton about watches, but I notice when people are wearing nice ones.  I think in general this is a rule about money; that truly wealthy people tend to buy/dress/etc in expensive but understated style.  Watches are an appropriate way of showing that kind of wealth, I'd think, in that they're functional but also represent a lot of technical ability and engineering, and aren't flashy in the way buying a Lamborghini Aventador is.

Moreover, if you are comparing a Ferrari to a Nissan, the appropriate comparison is a $15,000 to a novelty Mickey Mouse watch.  In which case, a six year old could still tell the difference.

Finally, cars cost a shitload of money to maintain and use in addition to their sticker shock.  Garage, insurance, gas, routine maintenance, etc.... the more your car is worth, the more you come out of pocket annually.  At some point above a basic level of utility, you are paying for those things without actually getting utility in return.  Again, not to shit on your desire to own a nice vehicle, I'm just not sure why you're making this argument when it so clearly applies equally to owning any luxury good.

I think the type of people to buy a $15,000 watch don't really have money concerns nor do they care about the opinions of laypeople. It's like that one Ariana Grande lyric - "I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it".

I think dudes in NYC care about watches and clothes because they don't have other ways of flexing their high income.  If they lived anywhere else, they'd buy a nice car & home and wouldn't care about these accessories.  But nicer home and especially car are non-options in NYC so they look for another signal.  

I think hard to generalize with these. I’ve met people who have no idea what they are wearing beyond the fact that it says “Rolex”, and others that drool over their vintage $500 watch.

Not fair to say one way or another. Many watches appreciate/hold their value extremely well so its also a good way to park extra cash and just sell/buy new one every now and then without losing most of what you put in. I personally like this.

We don’t get fancy watches or suits to impress people like you. We get them because it feels good to wear, it’s a nice reminder to us that we have money and we get used to quality.

Yea, you don’t care our watch costs 50k.

But we also don’t care you don’t care. Thanks for being so enlightening for us.

There are a lot of watch nerds that don't really fit OP's framing, including myself. Personally, I think watches are a fascinating topic with a surprising number of avenues to learn/discover/think about, whether it be design, engineering, history, marketing, business, manufacturing, crime, fashion, etc. I really enjoy reading about them for some indescribable reason and just happen to buy/wear the ones I like or think are cool/interesting. It is a very nerdy hobby that if you get too far into it, you get desensitized to the prices and find yourself considering certain watches that cost way beyond what could ever be seen as rational just out of curiosity. Trying to impress others really isn't something that crosses my mind, and my interest in it is probably more akin to baseball card collecting than it is to typical luxury shopping. I am pretty frugal everywhere else in my life and just see it as an expensive hobby/interest to enjoy learning about.

I think the bigger point in this isn't that people don't notice these things - some do, it's that it doesn't matter. No one looks at your Lange, recognizes what it is, and decides "yeah, what this person is saying makes more sense" or "this person is trustworthy" or "this person is pleasant to be around". Maybe somewhere in the back of their minds they'll think "that person has nice taste", but any number of other impressions you might give off are infinitely more important than their incremental reaction to your watch. And they're just as likely to have a mild negative reaction as a positive one - e.g., "what a pretentious douche", "you'd waste $60K on that?", "that AP is ugly as sin"(because they are), etc.

Not to say you can't enjoy nice things, do what makes you happy. It just won't change anything for you when interacting with someone else. Won't fix an a**hole. Won't slow down a rockstar.