I went to a large party recently and, after a while, noticed I felt out of place. I didn’t know why, it was a nice party and I was wearing appropriate party clothes. Then I got it - I was the only one I could see wearing a plastic watch.

At first, I worried that this stamped me as some sort of fiscal under-achiever, everyone was wearing expensive watches. Then, I hoped that my plastic OVA Ironman stamped me as something else, a triathlete.

In a room full of people with watches designed to make a personal statement of affluence, I thought my watch said something else about me. Or maybe posing as someone who swims, bikes and runs all the time is just a different way to say the same thing.

Nonetheless, the anti-bling of my $55 watch made me feel left out. Would two carats in each ear plus the Timex equal the dress for success impact of a Rolex, or don’t gentlemen wear jewelry?