What does your watch says about yourself?

"As an indicator of one's status or taste – or lack thereof – watches have become the new shorthand. Since the Great Watch Revolution of the 1980s, when mechanical timepieces returned in force as a backlash against cheap-and-nasty quartz, and when vintage watches started to appear in auctions in greater numbers, awareness of the wristwatch has acquired a new significance.

As a result, one's choice of watch is as important as the quality of the handbag, the cut of one's suit, the appropriateness of a tie's pattern, the height of the heel. If such things matter, you might consider watches fitting both your personality and the occasion." WSJ Source Here

The first thing that comes to mind is that yes, recently, like a nice handbag or shoes for women, watches have become the de facto fashion accessory and status symbol.

Honestly, I don't really use my watch for time.  I'm more likely to double check the time on my iPhone than to only rely on my watch.  After all, some Panerai are hand wound, and sometimes I just can't remember if I wound them up in the morning or not.

I do have to disagree with their categorization of Panerai owners.  Most are middle age or old, balding professionals who are nowhere like the "Dare Devil" individuals the article describes.  Maybe we're just young at heart, I don't know.  I do have to give them credit for getting the history correct, more specifically:

"Designed for the Italian Navy's underwater saboteurs in the 1930s, Panerai's Luminor re-surfaced to become THE cult diving watch of the 1990s and onward. Its patron saint? Sylvester Stallone, who wore them in a number of his more macho films. Not only that, but he gave one to Arnie, who featured it in Eraser."

I guess the hope is if I wear a Panerai, I may become cool like Sly or Arnie.  Oh wait.

Anyways, the WSJ article does go through in detail the general categories of the watches and the personalities that gravitate towards them.  Reader beware though.