Reverse psychology or function over fashion?

It's definitely part of a fashion cycle, but there is more to it. The smart watch connectivity, and health stuff also contributes.

I suspect as the economy gets worse "flex" culture will go from cool to uncool faster than it normally would have.

Ah, anecdote, the best sort of evidence. I thought it was a mediocre article.

One thing to note. As much as watch influencers would have you believe otherwise, watch wearing is deeply cyclical. It's been really in fashion for about 6-8 years now and the wave is beginning to recede.

That's natural. The economy is a little worse, inflation still sucks and a lot of the marginal buyers are just going away. I imagine we will find Rolexes much easier to obtain in the coming years.

And ten years from now, it's probably going to be back in fashion.

Fine by me. Less demand = cheaper watches for us.

The article is beyond a paywall but never mind.

I sincerely doubt that interviewing a bunch of rich people can point to the emergence of a global social trend. I believe that it's possible that some people who bought a Rolex watch to flex their wealth are switching to wearing a Smartwatch, and I'm even willing to believe that they are more numerous than those that did the opposite (something that FT obviously didn't check). If it's true we may even see the sales number of Rolex declining in the next financial quarters.

But all it will tell us is that Rolex is falling out of fashion. It doesn't tell us that wealth flashing is becoming less popular unless FT can also prove that these people are also flying less, moving to more modest mansions, buy cheaper cars, and such. So far they didn't and the cynical me prefer to believe in the communicating vessels principle - these people are now spending their money on other things that display wealth.

Oh it's nothing more than clickbait as far as I'm concerned. But what I found interesting is that amidst all the "top 5 luxury watches you should buy" articles this one popped up.

I haven't been in the watch game long enough to have gone through a cycle. I have however seen it happen on the guitar side of things.

This is my secret hope as well.

Yes, this is not a scholarly article by any stretch. My experience, also anectodotal, is that there is a bit of a trend right now on going against flex culture or what is perceived as "wasteful wealth".

Another example was an article I read about an airport in Amsterdam (I think?) that is going to start banning private flights because the GHG emissions per passenger are so much higher than a normal commercial flight. So is this an ecologically conscious move? Is it a slight against the super wealthy? Is there a less virtuous economic reason for it? Maybe all of the above?

I'm not suggesting any of this means anything or that it is evidence for a social shift. More than likely the algorithm is just feeding me more of what I click on. But good for "chats by the water cooler" here on WC.

I was just listening to a Blamo! episode yesterday that relates. For those unfamiliar with the podcast, it primarily focuses on fashion and style (which include watches). In the recent episode, a fashion reporter was saying that the wealthy are all dressing down now days. They are often spotted wearing athleisure wear instead of clothing from expensive fashion houses. Casual is king… and smart watches are very casual.

Two random things I've come across which fit with what you've said.

Firstly is that the buzz word in women's fashion at the moment is 'quiet luxury'. Buying high quality items that are timeless and will last, usually without any fashion label displayed, rather than overtly ostentatious pieces.

Secondly, when I read about the Cartiers they spoke several times that there were periods in history where the display of wealth went out of fashion. Ladies would take their huge diamond necklaces into the jewellers to be taken apart and made into something more diminutive. This seemed to be linked with periods of recession, but who knows if it's related to no longer wishing to display wealth during periods of general financial hardship, or just the wax and wane of fashion. 🤷

Weirdly I posted about this exact point before the FT article was published. Maybe the journos are watch crunch fans.. (I doubt it as the FT writer calls it a rolex day-to-date 😬)

https://www.watchcrunch.com/Justingalore/posts/the-death-of-luxury-watch-wearing-by-gentleman-31841

yea stumbled upon it too.. i guess there’s a lot of peepz having those handle bars bulging from a few mm to inches!!😂🤣 Cant blame them as there as need to burn those carbs!!

Maybe there is a shift in consciousness happening whereas people aren’t taking material objects as seriously as we discover the nature of material reality and in conjunction with a bad economy, best not come off as a capitalist pig to the Zizek crowd . Click bait yes , philosophical pot stirring, provocative, most likely …. Not my monkey not my circus….

Hmm, won’t open, paywall. But it sounds like it’s kind of an article written for the purpose of justifying a viewpoint ?

like FT asked ChatGPT to “write a FT article rife with anecdotes that supports idea that luxury watches are going out of favor and smart sports watches are in”

I’m a manic athlete and feel crushing guilt when I miss a single days training. I’ll wear my beautiful automatic watches 100% over my Garmin for daily life stuff. Only structured training needs the detailed metrics.

For HRV, sleep time and resting HR (recovery metrics) put on a Garmin for sleep, or wear an Oura 24/7 !

I think I’ll get the new 965 soon, amazing watch and technology… but, Regular life - I’m keeping my GS!!

I'm gonna say something crazy. For the 89% of people regular watches quartz and mechanical are pretty useless. With the new watches already hitting the 200m WR, titanium build, sapphire glass. For a non watch enthusiast is obvious. I think as fashion is becoming more popular with sneaker heads etc. I think slowly you start to see a Garmin or an apple watch does not fit well with a suit or a nice jacket. A nice dinner out. Once you wear something on your wrist you become aware of watches I think.

Great opening sentence and spot on. It must have been a slow news day when they decided to publish this article!

Anecdata, the best sort. Somehow Louis Vuitton has survived the ups and downs of conspicuous consumption. Bling will be back.

Nothing more practical than a dive watch keeping good time!

Yes, this theme also ties back to an older post from @HotWatchChick69 on how wealthy people have nothing to prove to anyone so they don't feel the need to be flashy. They are "rich enough to buy cheap things".

"We are not rich enough to buy cheap things" AND buy a watch, help save the world? #20 | WatchCrunch

I've also seen several on here post (I think maybe even yourself?) on how they feel wearing an expensive watch, or even anything at all, in certain settings may be inappropriate or not well received. For example, if one has a line of work around charitable organizations or supporting those less fortunate in society.

So it's definitely not a new concept, but since the wealthy do tend to be the trend setters for the not-as-wealthy I can't help but wonder if in 2-5 years it will just be enthusiasts talking about luxury watches until the next fashion cycle brings them back to the front. Who knows?! Maybe this will help you get your Explorer sooner than later.

haha definitely, the fact they think smart watches have exclusive rights to be called "Sports Watches" is another giveaway. Funny enough my experience is still the status-quo. All the execs I've been in meetings with are wearing the top luxury watch brands still. My boss just bought a two-tone day-date only weeks ago. Will report back in a year once the older board at my company begins to retire.

Ditto. Many hooligans in history wore nice watches.

But to be fair, some of it may have been to pretend they were gentlemen. Most of it was more likely to display power.

I think it's more so gravitating to not having a flashy personal appearance. But the "sporty millionaires" still have crazy expensive cars, mansions, boats, etc. So I think the materialistic consumer mindset is still there, but just in a way that it's not literally hanging off your body.

Yes, the article was pointing to a shift in fashion trends which may be guided by a moral shift. But to your point it mentioned some of the smart watch users are "addicted" to the data they get from their watches. So they like knowing just to know.

One of my co-workers is like this actually. He has a fitbit but he likes mechanical watches. We told him "wear both!" but he doesn't like the look. I asked him "why do you wear the fitbit?". He said "because I need to know what my heart rate is at all times". To me it sounds like a good way to keep a healthy amount of anxiety in your daily life, but that's just me haha.

I'm still not into smart watches myself, but I am not anywhere near athletic, though I should exercise more...

If I was forced to only have one watch it would be a dive watch. Honestly, possibly even a quartz! Recently bought a Duro, been wearing that and an SKX for the past few days.

Yes, I work in areas with high levels of deprivation, so I wouldn't feel comfortable in a super flashy watch.

And yes, I hope you are right about watches going out of fashion!

Funny that article and one saying the opposite popped up in my feed. I don’t know, but for me I change. Sometimes I want my nice watch, sometimes the cheap one. Sometimes digital, sometimes mechanical. Sometimes I stick with one for a while, sometimes not. I think people’s taste change and just want to experience something new.

That FT article really doesn’t go into reasons. If one thinks of smart “watch” as a merely a battery powered sport watch with cardio, oxygen, pedometer, etc, then it’s easy dismiss novelty interest in that as a fad. However, this overlooks the connected aspect and integration with other functionality. If I click exercise sharing, then I see and share workouts with my sister, friends etc. When you’re in it, and get a ping that sister did pilates over lunch, Susie went swimming, Bob for a walk, … it’s a tiny back of the mind nudge…that, yeah, maybe I’ll go for a walk now and get my steps in to make that silly goal. Not a big deal, but the reality is, one just gotten the tiniest (but still effective) nudge to do something that will make one feel better, be healthier, and maintain some commonality with friends and family. The nudge is effective for some people. People with plenty of disposable income are no less attracted to improving their health or social connectivity. Combine the above with instant and silent/subtle connectivity with news, stocks, message at work, message at home, instant tornado warnings, social news, current and future temp, when it’s going to rain, coffee french press count down timer, calendar schedule for the day, GPS to mark the morel mushroom patch found on a hike, continuous atomic clock accuracy, music controls, remote setting for house lights, listening digital assistant that I can ask current and historical questions, etc, all on my left wrist. None of these things are a big deal since they can be done other ways (e.g. smart “phone”), but when you make them convenient and put them all together it starts to add up. Further, the features and functionality are growing with each semi-weekly software update.

The reality is, I want an Evolution 9 spring drive dive watch on my left wrist, but I would have to give up the combination of all of the life enabling functionality above. I don’t think it’s a fad, It’s a growing disruption for the left wrist real estate.

Regarding showing off wealth, I think that’s a dying cultural thing which are at various stages of decline depending on different cultural pockets. In the techie world, showing off wealth in personal adornments is just not what you do. Among tech geeks, a cool Nixie tube watch has infinitely more street creds than a fancy name watch chosen for the purpose of displaying wealth status.

Sounds legit your reasoning, yes humans still have to have the biggest pile of bananas 🙂 . Yes

Eh, but you can't deny, that the Apple watch has indoctrinated people into wearing something on the wrist again. For the longest time, our phones became like pocket watches of old. Instead of a world war fashioning a way to put the "pocket watch" back on the wrist, Apple and others did it this time around. I still have a soft spot for the Pebble Watch, as it was likely the first real smartwatch.

I've never completely understood flex culture. I've grown to be too much of a contrarian to subscribe to what they think someone should wear. I wear what I like. For those old enough to remember, just reference Rodney Dangerfield's Al Czervik in Caddyshack. Not completely me, but I could adopt him as my spirit animal.

Yes, Macron would have fared better with an F-91W on his wrist.