How often do you see ANY nice watch in the wild?

JTridesbikes

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

The Good:

My first exposure to Omega watches was when my roommate 07 received a 2500 Aqua Terra (White dial, rose gold hands, leather strap, steel case). I have one other friend who's husband has a newer model Speedmaster on steel that looks quite sharp. I also know one other person in our circle of friends who has a gold on gold, blue dial/blue bezel Sub.

The owners of my company wear Rolex Datejust's, Breitling Super Ocean, and sopme kind of Tag.

I was jealous of my friend's Aqua Terra and the others for over a decade until my wife surprised me at our wedding a couple weeks ago with my very own dream watch - 2016 8500 Aqua Terra (Black laquered Rio Sidewalk wave dial, steel on steel, rose gold hands 231.10.42.21.01.006).


The Bad:

My Dad had a 95' Rolex Cellini (had to have been quartz because of how thin it was) gold on black leather and a 2009 Datejust midsize. Both were stolen by the movers when he moved houses back in 2013. The gentleman was caught and stated that he couldn't recover them from the people he sold the stolen goods to. The moving co. covered the costs and he pocketed some of the $$ and wears a Cartier Roadster now.

The Ugly:

I suppose my friend (who is among my absolute best friends) never truly grasped the level of prestige on his wrist and that Aqua Terra of his sits in a drawer, unwound, un-cased, and with the second hand having fallen off (never took it in for service of any kind). He now wears a "Samsung Galaxy Plus" watch or something like that.

lillatroll

One of my students walked into my class today wearing a Richard Mille. He has a solid gold AP and and his everyday wearer is a Hublot. Quite a few students wear Subs and one or two Seamaster divers. Another student has a 50 fathoms and quite a lot of low end Tag watches. One student has asked me to help him find a vintage watch that he can wear everyday.

larryganz

I suspect we have a fake or two in the collection, or the last name is Trump or Bloomberg.

larryganz

I suspect we have a fake or two in the collection, or the last name is Trump or Bloomberg.

vbrad26

I know a 25 year old with an AP Chrono.
His family has the money. I've never asked but I assume it was a gift of sorts.
I say that because they also pay for his condo on Miami beach.

lillatroll

One of my students walked into my class today wearing a Richard Mille. He has a solid gold AP and and his everyday wearer is a Hublot. Quite a few students wear Subs and one or two Seamaster divers. Another student has a 50 fathoms and quite a lot of low end Tag watches. One student has asked me to help him find a vintage watch that he can wear everyday.

iamnuts

I work in a heavily industrialised environment, so I would never dream of wearing my speedy to work and I cant say I've ever seen any nice watches there. Ill keep an eye out next time the BIG bosses come for a visit though. However I will recount a little story.

A chap I used to work with Charlie (RIP), came into a little money, and always wanted a Rolex Sub. So he promptly went and bought one from a local AD. He handed over the cash and asked the the AD to put on an old battered oily & frayed nato strap of his current cheapy watch. He said the guy in the store looked at him like he was mad. Charlie then wore that watch daily to work until they day he died. Never damaged it at work, but did manage to rip off the bezel at home in his kitchen. Beer probably paid a small part in that happening 😀

borre

What do you teach?

drhombus24

I wouldn’t be so sure. I’m a university student, and I’ve seen some nice watches around. I know someone who is a big Tudor fan. I worked in a group project with someone who had a IWC big pilot, and have worked with an international student with an AP ROO. I got to talking with him and it turns out he’s got quite the collection of APs. Passed by another student with a sub ( ok this one may be fake) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

KeithS

hmm, looks rather familiar...

Kmart

The best part about this story is him being able to just walk into a local AD and buy a sub. Those days are long gone.

Nice profile picture, by the way. I approve. 👍

any4xx

I think I must just hang out in the wrong places.

Granted, my post-retirement job is driving a dump truck, so I never see a nice watch being worn anywhere I go except what is on my own wrist.

Last night my amazingly beautiful wife and I attended her HS reunion. It was at a nice place in Monterey and there were a few hundred people there. Many financially successful folks among them. As is my usual habit, I looked harder at wrists than at name tags. The nicest watches I saw were aluminum Apples.

In the past year I spied one Sub on a friend's wrist at a barbecue at my brother in laws house. That's my sum total of finds in the wild.

Am I just a low-class rube who hangs out with the wrong crowd, or has the world really gone 99.9% G-Shock and Apple?