The death of luxury watch wearing by gentleman?

Who are these "gentlemen" you speak of? I have heard the legend of such "gentlemen". They are said not to take out their cellular telephones while dining. They are rumored to know what "French Cuffs" and "collar-stays" are. Lost to the mists of time, they are.

I can’t say who they were but it was that type of person yeah. Was expecting discreet little dress watches poking out from the cuff.

I meant generally, as a class of person, not specifically, as in who you met.

Very early on in the history of this website, someone made the observation, probably not original but true nevertheless, that objects only become collectible when they are no longer necessary. This happened to watches very recently. We are in a niche, a cultural eddy.

There was a time when every gentleman's kit included a snuff box or a cigarette case. When was the last time that you saw a calling card, even business cards are going out of fashion. We are raging against the dying of the light. We do so impotently.

Gone the way of cuff links , pocket kerchiefs and Brylcream in the hair I suppose, ties being the last bastion holding out with suits . ( still being a symbol of servitude ) You don't see Images of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk in suits or really wearing watches either , Mark Zuckerberg either … go figure us watch people …..

It’s still a multi billion ££ industry lads. Don’t sound so bleak 😂😂 @Chronos14 @Aurelian

There’s enough of us ‘enthusiasts’ to keep this going for a few years yet.

First of all...beautifull watch.

Yes, that's present reality.

On my last big business meeting with some heads of the financial industry on last summer (it was hot and all wrist exposed) I checked the audience.

12 People

5 Smart Watches

2 Analog watches (me included)

5 No watches.

I couldn't recognize the other watch, but nothing special.

My one was a Frederique Constant Classic Quartz (a beauty).

That's why I always say: Do not overestimate the value of your watch to others.

Wear what you love, not what others could expect. Because 95% of the people don't care :-).

I bought a nice victorian mother of pearl and abalone calling card case for £10 the other day. No use whatsoever (I've not been given a business card - except for by Japanese people - for about 10 years.).- But very pretty all the same.

Yeah I only really remember one expensive looking watch on a senior person - a Hublot Big Bang. More often I've spotted watches on more junior people who must be enthusiasts (e.g. a nice Cartier recently.)

I collected matchbooks as a kid. When was the last time that you saw one in a restaurant? (Yes, I miss the old way sometimes.)

man your piece is outstanding, leave the unstylish with their smartwatches.

true nobody cares, that's why when you encounter an enthusiast is a never ending exiting chat😂

I've only been watching other persons' watches for a very short time now but have noticed quite a few nice dress watches being worn. My knowledge is too limited to spot brand and model from two metres away, but they looked dressy -- couple of JLC Reverso-like watches, couple of three-hander-white-dial-leather-strap classic looking ones...these have been mostly government officials, so I guess the dress watch is not completely gone out of fashion in those circles :-)

Beautiful watch!

Yea 😂Actually, this here is a self-help group therapy, were few last watch dinosaurs help each others to overcome their social isolation.

So thanks to having me here 😎

I don't know what company you keep, but 95% of the people I interact with look at my wrist! 😅 I never disappoint! They look forward to the next meeting to see what I wear! 😜🤪🤣 Cheers 🍻

Sorry to say, but the ellipse is a tedious watch, and so are the types you meet! 🤔🤷🏽‍♂️😅 Wear what you like for you and not for them! 😁

I have such a bad habit looking at someone’s wrist. Usually disappointed when i see a digital watch.

But there was this magical lunch meeting with a new prospect at the time that my watchful eyes saw an IWC Portugueser. It’s beautiful piece….

Talking about his watch was a great to kickstart to our conversation and partnership.

Hah! Yeah, it's very noticeable when people are checking your wrist out too.

I'm a guy, so I think I finally can understand you ladies out there that it's very obvious when people's eyes start to drift....

I'm never going to judge someone based on a trivial trinket, honestly, and I think it's pretty shallow to do so. Especially in a day and age where not everyone enjoys spending money on things which are purely -at this point - decorative over functional. And I'm sure there's some old hag out there judging people's hair, shoes, lack of mutton chops, whatever. Styles wax and wane, and that's just the flow of human civilisation.

Sure, it's nice seeing someone wearing an interesting watch, and I get excited about it. But I won't think otherwise of someone not wearing the "traditional" attire. Mechanical watches are already a very niche interest, and extremely specific dress watches even more so.

Agreed, to a point. Some of my London colleagues wear nice watches, Calatrava, Rolex etc., But they only have one watch. The rest are pretty much Apple watches. When the Singapore team descend on London, however, it's a whole different ball game. We get exotic Rolex, Patek Grand Complications, Vacheron, AP and the list goes on. They embrace the 'old school elegance' far more than their London counterparts.

Italy is the same; their watch game is way up there.

I once met the CEO, CFO, CTO and other assorted acronyms starting with C when they came visit my workplace. Mostly apple watches and fitbits except for a kinda nice blue breathing chronograph, very early 90s and the CEO had a tiny very old but still quite nice Santos de Cartier. Than again, I work in Britain and most companies here tend to want an informal atmosphere, so hardly any suits.

Yeah I used to work with all the c’s in a big British company and just one guy had a Hublot big bang.

Quite the watch!

It definitely feels like it's no longer a way to determine someone's seniority/wealth/sartorial style. Time was you would check out someone's shoes, haircut, watch and use a little Sherlockian deduction to arrive at a reasonable picture of them or the person they wanted to project. First two might work now (though you need to know a fair bit about luxury footwear - it's not all John Lobb shoes any more). I see Apple watches everywhere (UK based) and probably on the wrists of most senior people I work with or see on the streets of the Square Mile. On the plus side, because it's so rare to see, watch chat is a great ice breaker when you do see someone with a notable timepiece.

I work in a small office in Spain, 25 people and in fact most wear a wristwatch. I think 5 wear no watch, 3 an ugly smartwatch and the rest including the ladies wear watches like Rado, Certina, IWC, Hamilton, Citizen, G-shock, one Rolex, so all good here 😅

Woah the Financial Times is literally reading our thread:

https://www.ft.com/content/afc566af-4592-4dd8-9685-413635926805?ftcamp=traffic/partner/feed_headline/us_yahoo/auddev

ten points for spotting the misnamed watch

‘Formal’ or ‘business’ used to be a necessity in that particular environment. If you didn’t conform, you were seen to be making a statement. More recently, with more relaxed attitudes and changing cultures you are making a statement if you choose to dress that way. The ‘rebels’ are now the ones wearing a pair of shoes or a tie.

With regards with your two older gentlemen, did you enquire about their smartwatches? Why they chose to wear those? If they’d still considered watches as ‘tools’? Or maybe if it meant they could use their mobile phones less, as a result?

No it wasn’t that sort of meeting (really very senior chaps - no time for watch chat.) - I’d have chanced it if one of them was in a luxury watch - as maybe an enthusiast. But if I had asked them it would have risked sounding like “you are scruffier than I imagined you’d be?”

Times change. A ‘gentle’man nowadays is probably considered either homosexual or a chauvinist. Etiquette and politeness is largely replaced with woke acknowledgement and ‘modern ghetto’ jargon.

Do you know anyone who stands up at a dinner table when a lady excuses herself and again upon her return?

Even these trinkets and baubles now more often represent status and wealth than taste, class and education.

Nevertheless, enjoy your watch for yourself, not for the anticipated comment of others.