Thoughts on luxury watches

You said it yourself, first impressions matter. Most people won’t care (I know I don’t). But the risk/reward isn’t there. At best (small chance) someone is a big watch fan, but they won’t be impressed by a $4k watch. So what you’ll have is neutral (most people) or negative reaction (people who are jealous or think you haven’t “earned it”). So be safe and leave it at home until you get a sense of what your team is like. 

Who cares, when we die, we leave everything behind. Including your $4k watch. So wear it while you can and enjoy doing so.

Nobody's gonna dunk on you for wearing your Omega Seamaster or Tudor or whatever lol, that is a perfectly acceptable watch price point for an analyst to wear. If you were wearing a rose gold AP or something that your dad gave you, ok yeah don't do that. But ~$3.5-5k is probably what I would suggest an analyst spend on their first "nice" watch that they plan to keep long-term.

Virtually every group has multiple people who are "watch guys" so it can be a point of conversation.

I think women can get away with it more. Plenty of girls in my analyst class wore Van Cleef, Cartier etc during the internship & graduated to a Goyard tote as an analyst. 

For a guy, I wouldn’t pull up in deal sleds and an LV belt on the first day. 

Not a big deal at all. 

I get stoked whenever one of our employees or vendors is also into watches and have good conversations with them. 

I've graduated from caring (being annoyed because it isn't earned), to now being stoked and having a conversation about collections whenever a new intern / analyst pulls up with a nice piece.

For what it's worth, I think it's just a security thing for the senior member in this situation. As somebody else above said, life is too short so just wear it and hit it off with people that have mutual interests. It's a great ice breaker

No upside and all downside.

I would maybe wear it after you’ve been on the desk for a few months and get a lay of the land and how hardo your team is.

But you’re a chick so you can probably get away with it.

Have been in your position, albeit with a more expensive watch (as a guy). Trust me when I say, no one will care

Walmart watches (like the $12 ones) look very nice. Maybe not what a collector would want but work well stylistically/aesthetically.

If it’s something like a Cartier Tank, you could prob hide it under a sleeve without much people noticing. Honestly, no one would notice or care unless it’s a flashy watch.