Need Help Deciding Between 3 Watches

[HB]

Damn this back and forth has went on so long that I don't even remember what the debate was about. How about we agree to just wear what we feel comfortable with, and respectfully agree to disagree on anything else. 98% of people won't notice/care either way.


@Jason: Nice watch by the way. I agree with the in-between type style, especially for those who can't afford a variety of semi-decent watches. Here's mine:

[HB]

[jordan]

Conscious like wearing a double breasted blazer in a business casual work environment? Like I said, its all subjective.

[jason_carreira]

[email protected] it's MY style he has a problem with.


My work environment is very flexible. I could get away with jeans if I wanted to (and did for a couple years). I also wouldn't look out of place in a suit, as other groups right next to ours are suit / tie. I've played with and worn all of these as the whim moves me. I have that luxury.


Above and beyond my fondness for DB blazers, DB suits, blazers, etc are also "in" right now.


By all means wear whatever you like. I'm sure your boss / client / others will take the time to engage you in conversation about your diver watch with your suit and come to the realization that you understand the incongruity but it's your style, and they won't at all just assume you don't know any better.

[jordan]

nice double standard. You're ok wearing clothing that is several leaps and bounds more formal than anyone else in the office, without a hitch, but wearing a certain style of watch is absolutely proposterous and may get you fired.


Awesome.

[jason_carreira]

1) I never said you'd get fired for wearing a dive watch. No one said that but you. You would also not get fired for wearing a polyester suit from the 1970's. There's a whole range of reactions between getting compliments and people laughing at you, though.


2) As I explained, I can wear whatever I like on the business formality scale and not look out of place in my office. When I first changed my style I got comments about it, but people are used to me dressing nicely now.


3) The reason I KNOW that people judge these things is that my boss, who doesn't choose to dress up but DOES know the rules of style, gave me shit (in a good natured way) for my cheap Fossil dive watch when I started dressing in sportcoats and ties. It's not a bad looking watch, by any means, but it didn't go with the look as he pointed out. It was my impetus for getting my Orient.

[Focuspants]

"You're ok wearing clothing that is several leaps and bounds more formal than anyone else in the office"


"My work environment is very flexible. I could get away with jeans if I wanted to (and did for a couple years). I also wouldn't look out of place in a suit, as other groups right next to ours are suit / tie"


"may get you fired"


JC- no mention of getting fired.


Jordan, I think youre getting a bit more backlash, because you come off as somewhat arrogant. The community on this board (from my few months of experience) are here to help each other. The criticism is always constructive, and the people are generally nice and just trying to be helpful. I know I have learned a lot from people here. Most of your posts are about how other people are wrong, you are right, you know whats best, you would never do this or that (this thread and the flip flops discussion are prime examples). Nothing here is meant to be a personal attack, I feel you get too defensive, and you end up lashing out and people come back at you.


In the words of the greatest artist known to man, The Black Eyed Peas, "Where is the love?"


Nothing wrong with disagreeing, just dont get all personal and high-horsey about things.


On topic: I am looking for a dress watch with brown leather straps in the 100-150ish range, and the nicest ones I could find were Seagull. Any reviews on seagulls, or any other suggestions?

[jason_carreira]

Sea-gulls were on my list as well. They're supposed to be pretty good movements made in-house by Sea-Gull in China. Definitely a good bang-for-the-buck watch.

[jordan]

The proposition that wearing a dive watch with a simple suit ensemble is reprehensible and will get you made fun of, while wearing a double breasted blazer/suit while everyone else is in jeans is perfectly OK is absurd. I promise you I could find at least a handful of those jeans wearing guys that think the DB blazer in that environment is pretentious as hell. Those same guys would have no clue that the next guy was wearing a dive watch over a dress watch or that there was anything out of the ordinary with it.


Focus - I try to help, when I can. The problem is a lot of people don't like to be told there is an opinion that doesn't line up with theirs. I don't tend to sugarcoat things, though. If I posted a picture of what I was wearing and it was atrocious, I would rather hear that than someone play it off and me thinking it was OK. Having said that, obviously the diver isnt as good a look with a suit as a dress watch, but I think its been way overbown as a major fashion faux pas that will get you ridiculed publicly.

[jason_carreira]

Did I say everyone else is in jeans? No. Now most people in my office wear ties (mostly because I went from being the most casual to the most formal and upped the ante).


Did I say anyone would publicly ridicule you for wearing a dive watch? No. That was in reference to the polyester 70's suit.


You read too much into what people are saying. Also "The problem is a lot of people don't like to be told there is an opinion that doesn't line up with theirs." Yes, that does seem to be the problem.

[jordan]

and yet, im the one being accused of insulting. Riiigght.

[ChrisW]

Jordan, I think you are being accused of being insulting because you are not reading things properly and then presenting them as facts.


FWIW I agree that you can totally wear a dive watch with a suit. I think what is more important is which watch, which suit, and which occasion.


Also, in my mind if it doesn't have a turning bezel marked with numbers it isn't a dive watch, because you can't time dives with it.

[Big_Scooter]

You are getting accused of insulting people because you said this:


"There are certain folks I take their "style" advice with a grain of salt. Not calling anyone in particular out, but i'll dress how I want to and you can dress how you want to. You might be following all the rules to a T, but that doesn't necessarily decide the best look at the end of the night."


during a discussion about a style faux pas with people who were talking about traditional style rules. Saying "there are certain folks" and "Not calling anyone in particular out" during a time such as this indicates that you are either talking about the other people in the discussion or want them to think so. The addition of quotation marks to the word "style" denotes that it is the word of another. This indicates that you may not consider it to be "style," since otherwise one would use his own words rather that quoting.


To further illustrate the power of convention, the people responding were able to read between the lines to understand what you were implying based on how our culture uses these sorts of writing tools, though you did not say the insult outright. Similarly, your watch selection follows convention or doesn't and either way, something is said by the choice. I don't particularly care about watch choice, myself, but I am aware that there are others who care very much about it. If you don't understand how deeply these conventions affect people's perceptions of the world and each other, then you probably aren't paying attention.

[Big_Scooter]

"There are certain folks I take their "style" advice with a grain of salt. Not calling anyone in particular out, but i'll dress how I want to and you can dress how you want to. You might be following all the rules to a T, but that doesn't necessarily decide the best look at the end of the night."


I changed it for you, to take out the direction of the statement at unspecified people, and thus, perception of belligerence:


"I take style advice with a grain of salt. I'll dress how I want to and you can dress how you want to. Following all the rules to a T doesn't necessarily decide the best look at the end of the night."

[jordan]

You can read into what I said any way you want, but what was typed is that I wasn't naming any one in particular.


Sure, I later cited a real-world example of Jason's dress in a later post, but only to draw comparisons between that situation and the one he is so adamently admonishing here.


and if people make assumptions about the entirety of your persona and being based on what type of watch you are wearing....well those aren't people i spend my time with. A lot of the best people in my life are ill-dressed. That doesn't mean i think less of them, that means they are doing what they want to do. They might value funcion or comfort over looks, and thats their choice.