Watch etiquette/fashion rules today

I once overheard someone saying they only had one watch! Can you imagine such a thing? 😧

Most of the rules formed around the available choices in watches at that time.

Nowadays with so many more choices (many, many, many more!) than in the past, the rules have changed accordingly. If they ever existed in the 1st place…

Big and formal never look good. Ever.

Watch fashion rules aren't dead.

As far as I'm concerned they never existed.

I wore my new Monta Noble dressed down yesterday and someone came knives out for me. This is why we shouldn’t care about these people think. Wear what you want how you want.

lol what really or are you just being facetious?

I’m interested in their white gmt 🥵

That’s a good point. Seeing Apple Watches (which I also have one) in every event makes any rules even more laxed for auto/quartz.

I guess it’s like how many corporate jobs used to be more dressed up and now it’s jeans, even pajamas if you work at home like me (with my polo/dress top 😂)

There will always be people who like wearing a tuxedo to the gym or their pajamas to Aldi but personally I like to find excuses to wear different watches for different situations. 😁

At my most recent visit to an airport I was absolutely staggered at the number of 50+ men that were wearing the most ridiculously huge watches. Watches so large in case size & depth that they should have been checked in & put in the hold.

Virtually none of these behemoths I could put a name to, they were unrecognisable to me. This got me thinking, where are these watches coming from? Where are they being bought?

Looking for reasons it appears to me that culturally, in certain parts of the world, size = everything. It's coupled with gold = wealth, even when it's just gold coloured.

I'm not knocking these guys, buy what makes you happy, what gives you pleasure. It's just something that I will never fully understand.

Haha right. I stick to conventions to make reasons to buy more watches for differing situations 😂

You weren’t in Miami airport by chance were you? Ha

I'm sorry but that noble is the epitome of a gada watch. I hope you told them where they should put their own watch. I can't even understand were they saying it was too smart or not smart enough?

With a few exceptions.....namely belt complimenting shoes, and some black tie/evening/gals/dress uniform occasions.....

Fashin "rules" for the most part can be bent or outright broken if you wear the choice in confidence, and aesthetically it ties/vibes with the overall loom one is going for.

In that vein, I've worn Dress watches on NATOs, Divers on leather, "tactical" watches on steel, etc.

If I feel like wearing it, I do.

Sometimes I like to go all in with formality, or go my usual route of single pass. Sometimes not. Completely depends on whatever whim or mood I'm in.

Tl;DR Just wear a watch, not a wrist computer, #useyourtools 👌🏻🤘🏻🤙🏻

Just lemme know who bra.... #storageboyzFTW

Tool Diver on leather.

I spot things kind that immediately but I’m just particular with my own style lol.

I also hate basketball shoes at weddings 😅

I don’t care for basketball shoes period! Haha!

When Bond wore his beat up Rolex Submariner on a Nato strap with a tuxedo in Dr No, and the great Ali wore his tiny and most classy Tank Louis on a leather strap with a white tshirt, the rules were changed forever -

Only watch snobs have these rules for others that one has to abide by. True watch lovers wear what they love to wear - Of course its perfectly fine if you want to wear a dress watch with a tux or formals (which i personally prefer too) and divers etc for more casual things but one cant say they are rules anymore. Secondly when it comes to shows a lot has to do with sponsorships and product placements etc.

Great points. I have thought about it this way.

But also I have to acknowledge that both referenced men are known for doing things that “normal” people can’t, so it is fitting they would break the rules in everything they do and get a pass 😛

The objective isnt to be "normal" - Ever.

I know as much about fashion as I do brain surgery (and I didn’t finish my Bachelor’s, which is to say I know nothing about brain surgery). I don’t know complementary colors or accents or materials.

However, I do try to look put together. I just want to look age-appropriate (not young but not a granpa) and dignified, no matter the attire. No caps unless I’m under the sun for more than an hour, and I take them off as soon as I’m under a shade. No baggy pants that show off my undies, no billowy shirts like I’m wearing a cape, and most importantly, I don’t wear clothes that age me, so I don’t wear cargo shorts or sandals unless I’m near water. Dignified is what I’m trying to go for.

With the exception of my Police Batman watch, all my watches I believe I can dress up or down. I’ve worn true dress watches with round neck shirts and dive watches with suits. Lucky for me I prefer small watches so it’s easy to fit them in any and all situations.

A lot of the old "rules" are dead in most of society. Things like not wearing white after Labor Day & before Memorial Day.

These rules had practical purposes once upon a time, but with advancements in technology the purposes no longer exist.

The "rules" exist now mostly as a way to gatekeep & ostracize.

Wear what you want, when you want.

I suppose. I was just curious cause huge watches on dress just look aesthetically ugly to me and that seems to have become the norm.

But then again they are making divers with leather and my Seiko Presage is huuuge and thick despite being “dress” (I usually wear it a polo for semi formal situations anyways though).

Ya fr. On god lol

I agree as a 34 year old

This is the great thing about looking just awful no mater how I dress. I can just hang the sense of it and just wear whatever I like. If I have not figured how to dress like an adult in 58 years on planet dirt I never will.

Yeah, I think the rules are gone. They were a way for people "in the know" to be able to see who else was also in the know. But these days, the number of people who have an actual awareness of such "rules" has diminished to the point where the chances that someone might disapprove of your watch choice based on such rules is basically like worrying you might be hit by a meteor. Not quite literally impossible, but not worth devoting any attention to.

Of course, people might make judgments of your watch choice based on other things, but that's another matter - and also not worth worrying about.

Maybe complete the look with white athletic socks?

U option l

I commented about this recently. One silver lining of Apple Watch becoming ubiquitous, is that any other watch will really stand out. In that spirit, I think the “rules” are way relaxed.

I would agree that the rules are more relaxed now, but that makes things more complicated. It's similar to wearing a business suit on the East Coast, but a form of business casual during meetings on the West Coast, with the latter being harder to dress for, as there are far more options.

And I agree that a watch stands out more these days, so one will have to put a little thought into what the watch may convey.