You can tell a man by the watch he wears. This is a statement that has been around for many years. Usually, when people make this statement, they mean you can have an idea of a person’s net worth by the value of the watch they wear. But how true really is it?

Take, for example, someone may have $10,000 and choose to buy a car worth $9,800, and two months later can no longer afford to fuel it. An outward appearance of wealth is not always a reflection of the reality.

A watch, however, reveals a lot about a person’s personality and even a bit of their character. Unfortunately, many, not aware of this, could unknowingly be sending out wrong messages.

For instance, a gentleman enters a gathering, and the leather strap on his watch is in such a horrendous state that, from his countenance, you can tell he has been wearing it like that for a while. If such a person is single, it would not be out of place for one to conclude that his living room would be untidy and possibly have cobwebs as old or even older than three months hanging around.

Some time ago, a bank, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), had its staff dressed in shorts and company-branded T-shirts join the residents of a certain neighbourhood to clean their environment. If you see someone in that kind of setting wearing a gold or gold-plated watch, studded with diamonds or stones, it sends a message… which, depending on other factors, could be that the person is a show-off or someone who lacks discretion.

Having an aftersales service center, we have seen people bring watches back for repairs less than a year from the date of purchase, with the watch so badly used you would be excused for thinking it was 15 years old. With such people, you begin to wonder…

When you think about it, you probably will remember scenarios where you judged people based on the wristwatch they were wearing.

Then, of course, there are those people that wear counterfeit watches. A note of advice: you are better off wearing an original Tommy Hilfiger Watch or a Guess Watch that costs $200 than wearing a $200 counterfeit of a watch that costs $10,000.

A person wearing a brand of a luxury watch, for example, a “Rolex” (one of the most counterfeited watches in the world), bought for $20 knows they are wearing a counterfeit watch. You know they are wearing a counterfeit watch; they also know that you know that they’re wearing a counterfeit watch. They are not deceived; they know you are not deceived, and they are not trying to deceive you. They probably just like the brand and are rehearsing for the day when they can afford the original.

However, a person who spends $200 to buy a very well-made counterfeit and wears it like it’s the real deal wants you deceived into believing what is not.

Unfortunately, like with every other situation in life, when people try to deceive us into believing what is not and we find them out, they lose our trust, and we find ourselves questioning their integrity afterwards.

Perhaps you are someone who wears a counterfeit watch. You might think you are getting away with deceiving people into believing it’s the original. You need to consider that you might already have been found out by some people, and even if not yet, that you will eventually be found out. You should understand that you are indirectly sending out a message that you cannot be trusted.

Too many people just wear a watch out of habit and do not give it much thought. Stop! 

Society no longer judges us if we do not wear a watch, but the moment we wear one, they begin to form opinions and pass judgments.

 So, give it some thought.