Still out of favor, or are the tides shifting? I’m in the under 40 club (barely), and find that my eyes are drawn more and more to gold watches. I love the idea of dressing down a gold watch, too.
I used the hate gold watches but recent time i grown up to like them more and more. Rolex day-date in full gold, speedmaster in FG and many more... I can see FG come back real strong in a close future.
I am 36 and in the States too, and I can't think of one friend my age who even has a gold wedding band. Mine is Tungsten and cost $75, but I wear a silicone one every morning to exercise in and mostly on the weekend unless I have a social happening.
That said, I do have a certain affinity for certain gold and two tone watches. I'm intrigued too by bronze sport watches, but I have read some negative forum posts about the durability some bronze watches after being worn in salt water, which wearing it on holiday is the primary point of wanting a bronze watch anyways.
I'm going to be 32 next month and I had ZERO desire for a gold watch....until I got one. My grandfather gave me his 14k filled Seamaster, a watch that I thought I would never wear, but have actually grown quite fond of after taking off the aftermarket gold stretch band that was on it and replacing that with a leather one. I can say the same. I have a couple of friends with gold bands (tungsten here for myself as well), but gold watches? Definitely not. I don't even have any friends my age that are "into" watches actually... But I'm with you guys. I felt that gold watches were a style of the past, and still currently worn by older gentleman who still happened to have those watches from when they were "in style". But like I said, since owning one, I've changed my outlook. And for what it's worth my 30 year old wife sometimes wears an all gold Concord bracelet style watch she inherited from her great grandmother. But she likes other gold jewellery to go with it.
Gold watches are never out of style, what makes it difficult for people is the price premium which many can't/don't want to spend, understandable.. But there is very different feeling in putting on a gold watch vs a stainless steel watch of the same model. Heavier, warmer feel on the wrist, just a more luxurious look in the way it is polished and reflects light, gold looks different than steel, even in white gold. Have had many gold watches in my collection, always a nice experience when a gold one comes up in the rotation.
I lusted after a yellow gold Day-Date shortly after I bought my SS Datejust at age 31 (18-19 years ago). I had a few bucks at the time, and with the low Euro vs $ in '02 it was a pretty good deal at the time. So, I bought a Day-Date 118238 on vacation in Europe. I still love it, though only wear it occasionally. I couldn't swing a new one now, so glad I did when they were more reasonable.
Funny as have seen 5-6 young guys since Christmas with these style watches wearing them proudly. The second one was on a young security guard fella driving me through a gas plant and he actually swapped the one his Wife got him that was black for the gold one.
I just consigned my last gold watch... Even in an office environment I just can't wear gold and feel good about it. I also never wear a gold belt buckle and my wedding ring is platinum so it always feels off. Thst said... I do feel like it's coming back. And to me the John player special Paul Newman or the gold Daytona the Davidoff Brothers had on their ig today are just some of the all time great watches. But I couldn't pull em off...
What goes around comes around.... There will be a time in the future when Daytonas and steel Speedmasters are worth peanuts and gold Devilles and the like are revered and worth a fortune
To me, it’s about the amount of bling. Understated gold dress watch, with a nice brown leather strap looks great.
I love gold watches as much as I love steel but the gold ones have a special feel to them that the steel will never have. Oh and I don't give a and wear them wherever and whenever I feel like it