Asked not to wear a Rolex to work…

I had a boss once who moaned in a meeting about how hard it is to do a kids Easter egg hunt on her yacht. 😂🙈. She literally had a yacht in the south of France and would fly there for a weekend.

Unless you work with the OP why does that matter?

My work is doing OK financially so not an issue but people definitely talk about others new cars, holidays etc and I think they would clock an expensive watch.

Send her an email saying you were too embarrassed to tell her at the time but it’s a knock off you bought from the looky looky man In Tenerife so you’ll carry on wearing it as it cost £20.

Keep wearing your Rolex but I’d advise you to start looking for a new job. My reading of the situation is that the watch isn’t the problem. Your new boss is insecure and has identified you as a threat.

I work in beauty and fashion. C-suite.
It's a fine line. The juniors love to talk bags and clothes. It's interesting to them and inspirational. Women need to be seen to be successful.
I remember my first boss wearing Jaegar and Escarda with Cartier. Was I jealous? No. I just made sure I could afford it by 30.
However your director is out of order.
Law is a well paid career (my family are lawyers), you are dressed appropriately for your level. If you were turning up in a Marks suit I would suggest you would be under dressed!

I would tell your manager you have to install a safe at home if you are not wearing the watch (which is probably true).

I suppose you could (a) ignore her (as she's not got the right to tell you what to wear unless it is unprofessional or there is some sort of workplace health and safety issue, which doesn't sound like there is), or (b) think about if what she said could have a point and act accordingly (even if the delivery of the message was odd and most definitely could be done better - they cannot "command" you to not wear it, even if it's for morale or whatever).

She should buy a whole new watch - the irony!!!

I don't think she has a point at all. An expensive watch is often a very considered purchase or a gift. I bought my husband an expensive watch as a wedding present and he bought himself one using money left to him by a deceased relative. They are both relatively expensive but he loves them and wears them daily.
If he was told not to wear them he would actually need to find the spare cash to go out and buy another watch and ironically at the moment our finances are not so great so it would be difficult.

Her premise is stupid anyway. People worrying about being laid off has nothing to do with your watch.

Would they insist on expensive engagement rings not being worn? No difference, even if it is a family ring passed down.

Buy a white gold or platinum one so they won't notice it's expensive.

So what?

This trend for having to 'do' something because someone doesnt like something needs to stop. So what if someone has commented or doesnt like it or is offended by it, they have the right to feel how they wish dont they, and thats all there is to it

Firstly OP I’m a senior lawyer and would be totally blindsided if a board member said that to me and would probably have agreed to remove it as you did.

on reflection however I’d be raging. If you take a view that overt displays of wealth are inappropriate then you need to pull that through across the board. What’s the situation with engagement rings, cars, handbags etc?

Assuming you work in a commercial entity it’s absurd to suggest that most senior people know not to wear expensive items. You own what you own and everywhere Ive worked there’s been plenty of status symbols across all levels of the organisation.

the only exception is I’m a trustee of a charity and if I’m attending a board meeting or meeting the employees/service users I’ll ensure that jewellery and clothes are subtle and I wouldn’t use an expensive designer handbag. I still wear my Rolex and engagement ring though.

Hardly merited a deletion. Fair point if anything.

I'm a senior lawyer and I'm also taken aback. That's a nuts as fuck meeting.

Whilst I'd be tempted to not wear it and tell this person that if anyone asks where it's gone, you'll say you pawned it because pay is so bad... I'd just continue to wear it and see if she's got the balls to schedule another meeting about it.

Thing is, if you don't comply and there are redundancies already, you'll be next.

She told me it was inappropriate and insensitive, given both my seniority and the company’s current situation, and ultimately requested that I stop wearing it to work. She essentially said that "most senior staff already know to avoid wearing expensive, flashy items to work”.

the reason she gave, that it's insensitive to wear the Rolex to work, because of the company's 'current situation' - she's off her rocker. Many people wouldn't recognise a Rolex or differentiate it from other brands if it bit them on the backside. That isn't snobbery, it's just that people aren't obsessively staring at other people's wrists and seething with rage about their choice of time-piece and creating some weird association about its cost and worth. Utterly ridiculous.

It's probably the last thing on their mind if they're scared about losing their job. She's the one who's out of touch not you!

Thank you!!

@Hydrangeajp sitting here and reading this, while wearing a 24k pound diamond solitaire, after shopping in primark all day, while wearing an old pair of jeans and eating an all day breakfast in a greasy spoon cafe. no airs and graces and i wear my ring all day, every day, just like you wear your watch. it is safer on than sitting in a drawer, where it is liable to get lost!

Just because some else has maybe talked about it, it doesn't follow that the OP should change what she wears. As a pp said, she's not the personal representative for the company's finances and her wealth doesn't make any difference to whether or not there are redundancies. OP (and the new manager) will still continue to be paid well.

Some people are more concerned with how things look than with how things are. New boss doesn't give a shit about the redundancies - she's just chosen to join a company which is shedding staff. And I bet she's well paid for it too.

The deleted post was "Is this a wind up?"

Oooo nooooo.

I wear a rolex. I don't give two tiny shits what anyone asked, I wouldn't stop wearing it.

People spend money on all sorts of things I wouldn't value, but I wouldn't ask them to stop because it offended me.

There were delayed redundancies at my company and colleagues were still putting their holiday destinations in the location of their OOO which was visible to many.
Others and I included still wearing our fine jewellery, I don’t think it would have ever occurred to not do the above. Big corporations are making people redundant to boost their end of year operating profit and someone can’t wear a watch. Ridiculous!

If that's what's going on she should say so, but any decision on wearing it should be yours. I can't stand it in work situations when people don't speak plainly and you're supposed to figure out the coded message.

Give her an idea for bring your kids to work day , that should fool those pesky employees

OP ignore everyone who’s telling you not to wear it because others have less. You can spend your earning however you wish. Also how do they know it wasn’t a gift from a dying aunt?

I’m sick of this new craze for pulling everyone down because others have less. Ridiculous to think people expect you to keep a lovely item in a box to wear on special occasions only.