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

I have a few sightings in the past few years:


-50s to 60s gentlemen was walking out of a Whole Foods with a 1861 Speedmaster
-Saw a guy across from me on the plane with a 16600 SD (SDs are rare to spot, most have Subs)
-I swear one guy at the New Orleans Airport was wearing a Newman Daytona. Looked just like it!
-Handful of 16610s whenever I’m in the airport/lounges
-Saw a Casio rangeman on the wrist of a server at a Thai place
-Fellow that walks his dog near a park I’m near wears a 1675

Actually in this year I can think of maybe 4-6 total I’ve seen at Work and other places (Sales in Upper middle class suburbs)
A customer and I had been talking about his Work as I was doing his estimate ,Then after the sunlight hit his shirt cuff enough I got a look at a Datejust. I asked him about it’s details, Only his reply was “Not sure, it was a gift from previous job”.
Another customer had a Sea Dweller with a 100k Truck, and before I finished the sentence of “That’s a nice Wat… “ He whips it off and hands it to me. Beat to hell, wore it everyday,everywhere.
Seen other customers with nice luxury watches….

Was at a Fall festival and got a glance at a Modern Omega Seamaster 300… briefly spoke to the guy.

And one day at Costco I watched the Stocking guy loading paper towels… mid 40s maybe- He had a Older SubMariner. I leaned over and said, “Sub?” He just raised it up to me with a smile.
Same day ,Same trip to Costco, I seen a customer with a Batman Rolex… In line next to me. Friendly guy.

At breakfast in Bob Evans, doing paperwork quietly at a table, group of regular guys next to me. One healed and other with a SubMariner. Just friendly guys.

Then going to a amusement part…. 18 yr old kid selling tickets with a Presidential Gold Diamond bRolex.

They are out there… yet many are subtle and some are a Showy as possible.

I like my nato strap, low key, under the radar …that’s worth a good bit modern Seamaster. I don’t think it will get noticed, and that’s how I like it…. To blend in.

Saw a Rolex GMT Master a few weeks ago. It was the guy's father's from the 1979. He had sent it to Rolex for a complete service a few years ago but the dial and hands looked like they were older. It was dark and I didn't ask to look any closer at it. The Pepsi bezel caught my eye.

I had an hour consultation meeting with an attorney who specializes in international law a few days ago. In his 40s. Sharp and smart dude. Dressed in a very nicely cut suit and shoes, albeit a little flashy, he was the complete GQ package. About 10 minutes into the meeting, I noticed his watch. Hard to miss, I was surprised that I did not notice it earlier. It was a 100 grand Royal Oak rose gold. I think the picture I am posting is the right one. The only thought I had through the rest of meeting was, "I think this guy over charges his clients".😒

Rarely - not many around town here, barely any at work ( work in a hospital- meant to be bare bellow the elbows) Always see a lot more when travelling - airports etc but mainly modern rolex to seiko, rarely see anything vintage sadly

same same: dinner with several "elder men" (they own beautiful houses und drive but BMW, Porsches and Mercedes): one SEIKO diver and one YEMA superman (both not vintage) . I should make "une balade" tomorrow at Ferrari-town St Tropez 😗 to get some inspiration 😁......

Saw a two tone black Rolex Sub whilst walking around at the Australian Open children's day two days ago. As for me, I couldn't stop myself from flying the Omega colours in "enemy territory" 😁

If you go to a Dunkin’ in Cincinnati, OH, there is a good chance that you will see the @ChuckMK23 and @Mad Dog action figures wearing their 1861 Moonwatches…but you will probably see their “PI Special” belt buckles first…

All the time here in Japan. I have a fellow watch nerd friend here that will constantly ping me with stuff like, "Gold Day Date spotted on the Yamanote line". When I am in the Bay Area, rarely see anything besides Apple watch and fitbits, although I tend not to wear my watches much there as you hear some crazy stories these days.

I almost never see Omega. I've had a few ask me, "Hey, what kind of watch is that" when I wear my vintage goods. I did however see two recently. A salesman at the fly fishing shop I go to had a really nice explorer that he told me was his dad's; white with a creamy lume. And I bought a car privately off of this guy who was toting a newer sub - black and ceramic - when we did the exchange.

I hadn't given it much thought until I saw this thread and it made me realize I've been a watch lurker for a long time. Mostly scoping for watch styles I might like.

Rolexes are easy to spot because most of the guys wearing them often make hand gestures to show it off. I don't like Rolex, except for a few Oysters - besides those, the Rolex style is too antiquated to me but mostly I dislike them because of the snob stigma they carry which is the reason why I'll probably never buy one.

Most of the guys I see at my local watering hole (it's like a real-life hybrid between "Cheers" and Moe's Tavern in the "Simpsons") have spent considerable time comparing their Invictas (which they are thoroughly convinced are high-end watches that will eventually be collectors) when they are not wearing their smart watches. But sometimes one of them wears something appealing.

Most of the high-end nice watches I spot are at the marinas. Some are interesting, some quite appealing but if I owned some of the watches I've seen, I just couldn't fathom wearing it on a fishing trip. Maybe someday I'll have enough financial reserves to where I wouldn't care either.

I ended up buying a cheap plastic Casio with fishing mode (predicts best fishing times) for fishing and that's mostly because I worry about scratching my high-end fishing reels and that one has probably garnered more conversation that my nicer watches.

It's nice when I run into other lurkers and we open a conversation about watch pieces - it seems we are few and far between in my neck of the woods. But yeah, I don't see Omegas too often either, which is rather surprising.

I saw a black Submariner Date on a guy today. I noticed it after I had put handcuffs on him. He had a warrant out for his arrest. That was definitely a first for me in my 20 years on. I usually come across Apple Watches more than anything. Oh well. Guess I can check that one off the list.

That's a surprise. I would have thought the overlap between the community likely to wear handcuffs and the community likely to wear Submariners would be larger...

Saw a guy wearing a Tin Tin at a bar in the Chicago W Loop one Sunday afternoon. Blew my mind.