A lot of people wear speedmasters because the Apollo astronauts wore them. This is mostly in jest, but if people really wanted to emulate those Apollo astronaut icons, they would choose the most practical options which would be quartz watches, not mechanical watches. They’d be brighter, have better battery, keep better time, more durable, etc
But in seriousness, I totally respect the history and craftsmanship of these watches, just not their practicality in modern day.
I just want to say that people who are over 40 grew up when everyone wore a watch. And, you know, in the 80s, everyone wore a digital Timex or Casio or Seiko or whatever. There is a LOT of revisionist history from Rolex fanboys of all ages and a lot of younger people who simply did not experience the watch world pre-mobile phones. Sure, there was always people wearing super high end dress watches, but that’s ALL that high end watches have been for a LONG time. Those divers, sports watches, GMTs, whatever are all dress watches and have been just dress watches since the 90s, probably the 80s for most people too.
I don’t care what the overweight Rolex fanboy that dives 2 times a year in Cancun with his Sea Dweller. Serious divers use dive computers. Hikers, rock climbers, explorers use Garmins, Apple watches, etc. People exploring caves have watches with backlighting, etc.
It’s all dress watches, all just dress watches.