In principle, I agree with you 100%. In my professional environment, I often meet people who could be described as ‘very rich’ and none of them flaunt any status symbols ... rather the opposite. But maybe that's a ‘German thing’, in other countries it's a bit different - especially in the Arab cultural area.
But with the very special RM watch brand, I would even make a distinction. The watches are so outrageously expensive that the probability of finding them in the collection of a ‘small business owner’ is probably close to zero. And yes, the love of RM and expensive sports cars does indeed often seem to go hand in hand ;-)
But does that bother us? Anyone who drives an old Golf or Corolla, for example, and wants their neighbours to believe that they are wearing a genuine RM probably has a completely different problem. Don't even get me started on our dear Instagram influencers with Gucci caps and clutch bags - they scream ‘fake’ anyway and no adult believes that anything on them is real.
If you absolutely want your watch (not necessarily an RM ;-)) to be considered genuine, you should - as you rightly say - not pay attention to the watch, but to yourself; and by that I don't mean clothes or car, but appearance and overall package. There are guys (also here on RWI ;-)) who could wear a Gen and everyone would think it was a Rep. Then there are guys (also here on RWI) who could wear a AAA and no one would have any doubts, he´s wearing a Gen ;-)
