Just chipping in my 2 sen. I think that generally, the watch that we wear does influence others' treatment towards us, but only in limited circumstances only. I travel regularly for work duties, and it was all too common that the rest of the biz class passengers would be sporting Rollies on their wrists- the most common being the DJ and Sub. The stewardess tend to treat us in a similar manner with smiles and a twinkle in their eyes, never mind the fact that I sometimes wear affordable throw-about Japanese watches. In fact, given my friendly nature, they have even given preferential services to me (let's not elaborate further there) disregarding the watch that I may be wearing then.
Having said that, I did notice that other fellow passengers tend to open up more during the times when I was sporting a Rollie. Tried with other Swiss brands (Omega, B&R, etc) but Rollie seemed to be the preferred currency to open up doors with strangers mid-flight, and I have made many good networking along the way. Businessmen especially, may see that a fellow Rollie-wearing person to be a pragmatic, reliable, and down-to-earth type of person- someone whom they could internalise with. And it's all thanks to Rollie's marketing efforts. If they had engaged pop personnel like Kim Kardashian or Marilyn Manson as their brand ambassadors, then it'd likely be the opposite ball game altogether.
The above would not hold true for WIS though. There was an occasion that I had on SevenFriday (it was not readily available in Malaysia back then, and certainly not replicated like mushroom after a rain, as per today) and another passenger in another seat sporting a Pam, specially requested for my permission to sit next to me to have a look at my watch. And from the conversations that follow suit, we met up to talk about watches whenever we travel to each others' country; and we helped each other to get more contacts in the industry.
In hotels, restaurants, etc, I found that the service personnel may glance at your watch to get a general feel of whom were they liaising with; as would they glance at your clothing, luggages, etc. At the end of the day, I have gotten many free upgrades to suites, etc but that was more attributed to having a friendly nature. Customers tend to treat service personnel as punching bags sometimes, and these front liners do appreciate some friendly conversation and cheeky banter at times. And they sometimes requisite by getting you better tables, better rooms, etc at no additional charges.
The watch that we wear was but an extension of ourselves. When I wear my Rangeman, I normally feel more adventurous. When I wear my Stop2Go, I may feel a bit cheekier and relaxed. When I wear my Sub, I simply want to blend in with the crowd. When I wear my SD4k, I feel just that bit better and more confident in my negotiations, especially when my counterpart was wearing a Sub. Silly, I know, but if works, it works.
If you really want that special treatment in Malaysia, luxury watches still get seconded by titles.
