Your Watch Says More About Your Status Than You Think

AN OLD WORKPLACE adage says you shouldn’t wear a watch that’s fancier than your boss’s. For Tony Traina, 27, an associate lawyer in Chicago, however, it would have been difficult to find a more casual timepiece than the $399 Apple Watches his firm’s higher-ups tend to favor. He didn’t bother. As a watch-lover, he ignored protocol, showing up at work in a $1,500 mechanical watch by German brand Nomos Glashütte. But it barely went noticed.

In the past, one’s shoes, one’s suits and, yes, one’s watch spoke volumes about one’s place at work. Even though some believe status watches still send signals, today’s office has drastically evolved: CEOs wear sneakers and tell time with their smartphones; many people work remotely; wristwatches are less commonly remarked upon. “You’re more likely to get comments on a new iPhone” than a new watch, said Ryan Cecil Smith, 33, a designer at an animation studio in Los Angeles. In January, he purchased a Rolex and braced for snipes from his Apple Watch- and Casio-wearing co-workers, but so far no one has even acknowledged the pricey timepiece.