Asked not to wear a Rolex to work…

[Hydrangeajp]

I've been with my current company for several years in a senior legal role, managing a team. The company's struggling lately - redundancies, pay freezes, and bonus cuts. My own manager recently left, and their replacement (board level), joined last week. After a positive initial face-to-face meet, she scheduled a meeting later that week about the Rolex watch she noticed me wearing into the office.

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”.

I’ve had this watch for years and wear it daily. I’ve never given it any thought and would think most people wouldn’t even notice it's a Rolex. Am I the completely deluded and inappropriate one here? I was so taken aback and put on the spot that I simply agreed not to wear it, but since then I can't stop thinking I should’ve stood my ground (not because I’m desperate to wear the watch, rather, the whole ask felt excessive and inappropriate?) WWYD? I’d really appreciate an honest outsider’s perspective.

My first thoughts! However, unless it's in a uniform policy/contract, just wear it unless you feel morally obliged not to.

"most senior staff already know to avoid wearing expensive, flashy items to work”.

How do they know? Is it in some kind of training manual or handbook? Because it doesn't seem like it would be an obvious rule to "know" about.

You should continue to wear the watch - it has nothing to do with the financial situation your work is in. What if you have a flashy engagement ring - would you have to take that off too? I also agree with PP that things like this are always focussed on women - look at how much female politicians are criticised for how much their clothes cost (I remember an article in Theresa May’s leather trousers years ago) - how often are male politicians criticised for their suits which probably cost the same amount?

I think there is a time for sensitivities around money, especially during times of redundancies. For example - don’t be bragging about an expensive holiday or big house purchase when folk are being laid off, but you should continue to wear a functional item you’ve worn for years.

As an aside I've found your thread quite helpful OP. I also have a HR meeting tomorrow due to my low standard of dress. I'm very clean I may add, but apparently too scruffy for a senior role. This thread has given me excellent material and I will claim to be not parading my wealth in line with all the recent layoffs at our company. The low dress standard is because I set myself a target of no new clothes in 2023 (which I stuck to bar 1 item) then extended it to 2024 (which so far I have also stuck to).

Meh. I own a Rolex. Currently work in a minimum wage job. Wore it every day to a job whilst I worked in a warehouse. Mine was a 21st birthday present. Would cost £9k to replace it with the like for like model.

They can F right off. You bought it. You're wearing it. I honestly can't see the difference between that and taking 3 holidays a year (which let's be honest could easily cost £9k). You've just chosen to buy something worth keeping.

I actually forget I've got mine on. I doubt anyone notices it. For that price, it needs to be worn every day so it doesn't cost anything! I wouldnt be keeping it for best.

I would tell her it's inappropriate and insensitve to put you on the spot like that. Speak to HR!

Agree, they have spoiled a brilliant piece of repartee from MorrisZapp.

I would think it pretty crass and insensitive if a senior manager was wearing a watch like that, which most junior staff could likely never afford, when there is a pay freeze and redundancies to be honest. It would make me feel that they didn't give a shit.

Just keep asking what the time is constantly until your manager gets really fed up of it.

Failing that you could keep a small clock upon your person like this Mantel clock and keep pulling it out randomly to check the time. If anyone asks about it just say you were going to buy a new watch but didn’t have time and were getting ticket off 😂.

Not in my place where senior directors wear their Moncler jackets, LV bags etc... but most of us plebs acknowledge that they are paid a shit load more money than we are! And are not stupid enough to feel put out by it.

and add to this - Why would they know?

A watch could be a gift from a wealthy partner, or a 21st birthday present from parents or inherited from a loved aunty.

It doesn't follow someone seeing an expensive watch would judge the owner as rolling in cash and flashing it about.

I think this is very very odd. INcluding that it was noticed. I definitely think this woman is covetting a Rolex, can't afford one or won't spend on it and doesn't want other people judging her as Rolex-less. Jealous. It's just too odd.

FFS do MNHQ not know the difference between a pun and troll hunting? 🤦‍♀️

Drat, I missed what Swiss precision battery was in response to!

@Hydrangeajp I wouldn't notice. I think it's silly of the manager to ask you not to wear it.

MNHQ you can’t delete the post…..otherwise @MorrisZapp’s amazing joke no longer makes sense! If was extremely quick witted and we need some laughter now ans again!

Yeah like the first intuitive response would be smth like sorry but f.. off i wear what i wear
And that said, it makes me kind of wonder bcs it is hard to imagine like a workmeeting when your boss is seriously saying smth like that... to me its difficult to picture.
However such things are very cultural as well. In Germany or some other parts of Europe you will see that people sort of downgrade their stuff on purpose like millioners just choose like the usual Toyota and live in an average area jsut to sort of blend in etc. In Japan you will see such kind of blending to a larger extent and generally somebody sort of showing off is viewed like very judgmentally..

And that said, i think it all depends on the situation as well. Like yeah you should be able to wear any jewellery you'd like. Then again, somebody showing up with like a golden princess crown and ornaments all around would be tad weird.
Regarding dressing, there's also like a fine line actually.
But in any way all these comments should be given privately more as a little hint from a friend-colleague, official workmeeting would be just off.
I got one weird situation where like we had like a miniconference-meeting and it was part of our working day and the director came to me right after saying like why i'm wearing a dress/skirt. I'm working in medicine so there is liek a choice of formal uniform - pants and jackets. But like i had a knee-high dress with labcoat and totally just shut him down bcs there was no actual reason to demand everybody to wear pants. So it ended right there. And that was like the only time.
That said you will often see people sort of lacking taste. There's like a whole etiquette, but most people just go around it. I think most Rolexes are not very high taste it's just my opinion sry. Most of them are kind of very flashy and overburdened. Lots of people also don't know the difference between different watch style and what to wear when and it actually looks gives off that B.A Baracus impression from the A-teams where you sort hand all your gold to yourself.
And sorry i kind of went totally off track it was not meant to hurt anyone.
In the describe case, i would semipolitely just tell that it's a stupid requirement and is not based on anything realistic. Not only bcs it's like the only watch i like to wear, but more of a principality issue. What next, they will comment on your tie or smth? Set your boundaries

It's a bit OTT but to be fair my daughter doesn't wear her Rolex to work so people don't think she's too flash

Options
Ask the business to pay for a watch for you to wear.
Ask if there’s a clothes / accessories policy
Ask if you are allowed to use your phone instead. Assuming it’s a pricey one of course.
Check out the cars in the car park ( is there one ). Suggest Anything less than ten years old and held up with string should be banned.
Suggest everyone gets a pay rise.

Sounds like jealousy to me.

I remember my ex-CEO turning up to hold a company meeting to tell us revenues were down and we would not be receiving our Xmas bonus.

Some staff relied on the bonus to buy their children's Christmas presents.

He arrived in his chauffeur driven Bentley Coupe.

I remember feeling utter contempt for his crass insensitivity.

OP, I think you are underestimating how much resentment and ill feeling you could provoke. A little tact wouldn't go amiss.

I think I would say that it would be ridiculous amd wasteful to have to buy a new watch rather than wear the watch you've had for years, just to look like you don't have money!

It could.

But people who are concerned about losing their jobs or pissed off that pay has been frozen/bonuses stopped aren't going to think of the most generous-interpretation or be in the most rational state of mind, are they?

They're just going to see rolex and think "fucking great for her".

Junior staff can see it as a motivation to work hard.
Work hard and you get rewarded. ⌚️
Lol

She’s being weird. I’ve never noticed or cared about any watch worn by my colleagues. I couldn’t even tell you which of them wear watches. She’s making an issue out of nothing and being patronising to your colleagues by assuming they would be jealous and petty.

Start wearing it again.
if it’s questioned either say it’s a fake
or
that on checking your policy it’s only insured if you’re wearing it

I have a Cartier watch which some very generous and wealthy relatives clubbed together to buy me for a significant birthday. I am not rich. I work in the public sector in some very deprived areas and some of my support staff colleagues earn very little. I don't wear the Cartier to work - it cost just under half what some of my colleagues earn in a year and it would just feel like a total dick move, to be honest.

I have a Casio watch which at a distance looks a tiny bit like a Rolex Datejust. I've seen people look at it askance and someone did actually ask me outright once. I was quite happy to show him the Casio branding; rightly or wrongly it would have changed his view of me if it had been a Rolex. That's in the public sector, however, in a very straitened budgetary context. I don't have enough experience of the corporate world to compare.

A nice watch always stands out.

I don’t think they are unreasonable to ask. It’s showing that they actually care about how their other staff feel with possible redundancies looming.