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by: Amani Liggett

Recently, a neighbor of mine dropped by to show off a new watch he had purchased. At about $200, he was quite proud of it, and seemed to consider the accessory a status symbol. This female author, however, was only minimally impressed. Are luxury watches still really status symbols in 2012? An iPhone yes, but a watch? It seems like something more akin to Victorian times to want to show off your new watch.

The thought then occurred to me that perhaps my neighbor was bragging to the wrong gender.

A sharp man showing off his watch

In scanning the pages of any men’s magazine such as GQ, the watch advertisements always call to the male desire to display their status, power, and wealth.

As Geoff Strong of the Sydney Morning Herald explains, “the watch industry has discovered [that] young men who might otherwise be unwilling to buy jewelry or any other form of bodily adornment, are willing to spend thousands of dollars to be able to tell the time from a dial, preferably with a European sounding name on it.”

Men's watches, a power play?

As with many accessories, this status symbols has little to do with actually wanting to know what time it is. Any man willing to lay down thousands for a watch presumably also has the latest smartphone in his pockets, which will easily tell him what time it is anywhere in the world as one of its giveaway features.

The expensive watch is about a displaying outlandish consumption status. As Strong explains further, ”But while many forms of adornment are part of a subculture, watches are the reverse. They are very much about buying into the culture of a brand.” And a man willing to spend $20,000 on a brand name watch for himself will surely pay even more on a watch or other jewel for his lady. At least, that is what the male watch-wearer wants women to think. This status symbol may or may not be impressive to the ladies; it all depends on personal taste.

But interestingly enough, there is even an entire underground culture of watch elitists. One calling himself the WatchSnob boasts, “you may think you know watches, but let’s be real — you just don’t. Let me, a true horological aficionado, enlighten your plebeian minds as to what makes a real watch.” The WatchSnob doles out advice on askmen.com on everything from budget-friendly classy watches to how exactly your watch should fit on your wrist. It is all in the presentation, after all.