if you compare this zoom with the jacob pasted above you can see it's that watch without the diamond bezel. based on the orientation of his wrist, the yellow triangle is in the correct location. as well you can see a circle above and diamond to the right of it.

it's kinda cute that you're projecting your hero's watch to be one from a brand you clearly admire.. sorry it turned out to be a jacob. heh

ivey is wearing an ap royal oak skeleton perpetual calendar. there's a sick ap eot early in the vid (00:23) and a nice rd tourbillon (2:25) too..

yeah he overpaid assuming he was telling the truth. Also it wasn't even 20k dollars, it was like 20k pounds retail which he paid 16k.

Yeah, can get a gold sub w/ blue face for 20k USD... brand new. Which is more than 16k euros OR pounds.

ok, rewatched video, he said 16k Euro, which is still too much.

Thanks for the picture pokerplease. I wasn't able to get a good picture at the watch and yes it quite clear what it is now. Quite a disappointment imo. I was kind of excited that it had the chance of being some sort of IWC but then now the yellow is quite obvious. The red seconds hand is also a good match. hahaha. He probably actually uses the different time zones to find out what time is it for all the fish he plays HU.

Pause @ 21 seconds in the video and you can see a a very similar watch to that Jacob one that Viktor is wearing...lol

Haha the guy with the rolex paid 16k euros on a USED watch.

Same exact model, just a different color.

Although he wasn't in this video, John Juanda has been at some final tables wearing some very high end and tasteful watches; I know he had a Nautilus on during the Player's Championship FT at this year's series.

Edit: Also, Ivey's watch is more specifically this one, although it's not a great pic b/c they're rare:

It's a ROO Perpetual Calendar.

God, I'd love to be Phil Ivey just to wear his watch collection. Anyone have a link to the video on High Stakes Poker where he is wearing an A Lange (or was it Poker After Dark?).

I've followed this thread for a while and have been seriously considering a first nice watch, probably in the 1-2k range, perhaps a small amount more if I found something I absolutely loved.

My main issue is that I would feel a bit dumb wearing it (I'm 20, in University and none of my friends have any money) and also quite worried about losing or damaging something so expensive.

I'm not really sure what my question is here but does anyone have similar feelings or suggestions as to figuring out whether it is worth it if I will potentially be feeling quite self conscious wearing something so expensive? Thanks for the great thread.

Being 20 an in college and wearing a nice watch is perfectly fine. Especially if you are a poker player. I am 21 and my daily wearer is an Omega Seamaster on black Zulu strap. It retails for 2.3k but you can get it used an in excellent condition for 1-1.2k. Do I feel worried about losing or damaging it? Definitely not. I wouldn't really consider a 1-2k watch expensive, but you may. As long as you take care of it and don't run into table corners with your watch it should last for years to come. It probably would be very hard to lose a watch once you drop $1k-2k on it. You will be constantly wearing it or leaving it in a safe place. Automatics do need maintenance every ~5 years depending on the model/make. That will probably run you between $200-500. As far as wearing it around in college...let me put it this way. Your average 25-30 year old probably has a very limited knowledge of what a watch costs. Imagine what a busto college kid knows about watches other than Rolex is #1. I am self conscious of it? Yes, but not in the way you are probably thinking about though. It really comes down to whether or not you love the watch you have purchased.

I might sound like a total watch nerd for saying this but I match what clothes I wear with what watch I wear (although my collection is limited), or I just don't match my clothes with my watch at all. So make sure you aren't do this as a fashion statement please! Save that for the douches who buy fashion brand watches.

What watch are you looking for/at? If this watch is a daily wearer I would recommend a Omega Speedmaster Moon which you can probably get used for ~1.5-1.8k online. It has a hesalite crystal so you don't have to worry about the crystal shattering as much. The downside is that it does scratch so you need to be a little more careful (A tube of Polywatch should fix it up though). An Omega Seamaster (Professional, Planet Ocean, Aqua Terra) is another great way to go-these are diver watches but it doesn't matter if you dive or not. Try to look for Omegas with the Coaxial movement. TAG watches are very common in college as well (Aquaracer etc etc).

If I were you I would save 14k and get an A Lange & Sohne though. It will impress any WIS out there.

you get over it..

i don't agree with solsek's advice (saving 14k, etc).. find something you love, make sure you get a fair price, buy it and don't look back.

I wouldn't feel so self conscious about it since most likely 99% of the population won't know what are you wearing and how much it is worth. The other thing you will have to get accustomed to if you do end up buying a nice watch but not one that is a big brand like Rolex, Omega, Tag, Breitling is that you will rarely get compliments from people who don't know watches.

That said, I would actually take the opposite approach.

First I will assume you are going for a mechanical watch as in this price range, I think a quartz watch would be overpriced.

Find something you like, then get a real beater that is similar in size and style and winding type (hand wound vs automatic). When I say beater, I mean like less than $100. Since your nice watch will probably stay around with you for a bit, you don't want to run the risk of you buying it, wearing it, then getting bored of it in a month. So you wear the beater around first to see if you really like it and also to get you accustomed to the peculiarities of mechanical watches if you haven't owned a mechanical watch before. In the process of wearing your beater watch, you might find another nice watch that you like more that replaces your original and by that time you'll be more attuned to what you really want.

I'd feel pretty out of place wearing a nice piece in college, would almost be like wearing a suit imo.

I was kidding about the 14k btw haha. Going with something cheaper is also a good route if you plan on upgrading in the future. Hamilton/Oris/TAG etc etc have cheaper mechanical watches than $1k and you can get great value while still learning about watches.

Nah, I don't agree with this. A watch is way more subtle, especially since most won't know what it's value is.

+1 for the Hamilton Jazzmaster line. You get a lot of watch for the price

99% of people in college are wearing watches which cost <$100, you're telling me people won't be able to tell the difference?

For those micro-ballers here, anything worth notice in the <$200 range?

Citizen, fossil, ... ?

Heard invicta is kinda shady.

For under 200 Seiko and Citizen are the way to go imo smurg.

And re: watches getting noticed in college, at school I didn't even have anything I would consider expensive yet, but I had a rotation of 3-4 watches that were 3-500 each, and I received a LOT of compliments on my Seiko and my Seagull.

Check out orient, they make a lot of mechanicals, I have two of their watches and I really like them. Each cost less than $100, as they regularly have 50% off deals running.

Yeah, Orient is a good option for under $200 assuming you are going automatics. They are owned by Seiko now but they still make their movements independent of Seiko.

I would definitely check out Hamilton and Oris if you are looking for a solid starting watch. Honestly, who cares what the price is if you like it? Do kids feel out of place driving a BMW or Mercedes in college? Not in my college cause tons of kids drive BMW/Mercs even though none of them likely purchased it on their own. Do females buy ugly designer hand bags that cost nearly as much as a watch? See them quite often on campus. A watch will be the last thing someone will "recognize" as being expensive. If you wore a Zenith or JLC (something less recognizable but very expensive) they would probably notice it but not know how much it would cost. I doubt something in the 1-2k range would be ridiculous.

Tyresias, maybe you're just a sexy bitch and people had to think of something to say to you in order to just talk to you.

Just do what you feel is best when you choose your watch. If fitting the "busto college kid" bill is your target, then you should probably go with a <$200 watch.

I disagree, but that depends on what we mean by "nice piece". Some kind of omega would in no way be out of place in college. A really high-end 'snobby' watch or something nice but somewhat obnoxious like Hublot probably would. But even then I would just wear it.

doesn't college have alot of situations where there's a crowd people cramped together in tight spaces? if you're worried about damaging a nice watch then i wouldn't get one, you'd be too conscious of it. i wore a raymond weil in college and thought i was the ****!

Thanks for the advice everyone, especially solsek- great details. Yeah, I really like the look of the Omega Planet Ocean on a rubber strap, think I'm going to try to find one to try on at somepoint. For some reason having the date at 9 o'clock on those TAGs tilted me way too much.

Yeah, I'm looking for it to be daily wear, just something smart and not too ostentatious. I don't think I will ever be able to rationalize spending 10k on a watch, I don't have the interest to that level. I just want something reasonably nice and long lasting.

Pretty hot imo