And particularly so at this time of year: bonus season. In the City, it’s always been a sackable offence for bankers to disclose to their colleagues the size of their remuneration. But it was hardly coincidental that come April, new “kettles” would be on show from the trading floor to the C-suites. (For our international readers, kettle and hob = fob, as in a fob, or pocket watch. One of the more confusing pieces of Cockney rhyming slang.)

“It didn’t mean anything outside the Square Mile, but in the banking world it was a status symbol,” says MR PORTER Style Council member Mr James Marks, former banker and hedge funder, now head of watches at Phillips auction house in London. “It was never a show-off culture, but it was a uniform of success.”

Today, as last year’s deal-making frenzy ushers in what’s reported to be a record-breaking bonus season, both the uniform and the culture have changed immeasurably. In the Square Mile, ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) and compliance are the order of the day, long-term stock bonuses have replaced giant cash payouts, ties (Hermès or otherwise) are things you break out for weddings and the office itself is a part-time feature of the working week.

As for wristwear, one watch-collecting banker I spoke to, who, like many, made his first step onto the horological ladder after closing his first big deals back in the day, recently made the mistake of turning up to the office sporting a gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. “I got asked what the hell I was doing wearing it around London, but it was only because I thought there would be no one in the office,” he says. “I thoroughly enjoy wearing it, but I really don’t like the attention it attracts. It’s not the right statement now.”

So what is? Well, take a look, for example, at the genial Mr Charlie Nunn, appointed group chief executive of Lloyds in 2020 (replacing sharp-suited, gold-watch-wearing walking headline Mr António Horta-Osório) and you’ll know that you’re as likely to see an Apple Watch in the bank boardroom today as you are something finely-crafted and Swiss.

For those who do appreciate fine watches – a market, after all, that enjoyed the kind of growth in 2021 that could make a Bloomberg terminal overheat – the game has changed, but it’s still in play.

“The kinds of watches that used to make those big statements are almost impossible to get hold of anyway, so my friends and I have been looking to other brands instead,” says watch collector Mr Anthony Kane, a financial services consultant, whose office is in Canary Wharf. “You’re less likely to make assumptions about someone on the basis of their watch, but if you know what you’re looking at, you’ll still notice something special.”

For Kane, subtlety wins out over ostentation, but that hardly means a lack of horological nuance – the opposite, in fact. Recent acquisitions include a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute with a green dial and, on the sportier side, a Bell & Ross BR05 GMT on a steel bracelet. “I always thought Jaeger-LeCoultre watches were too small for my wrist, but I’ve been wearing the Reverso on business trips recently and found it really satisfying. It’s understated, but it has a lot of character.”

For Mr Andrew Carrier, a communications director in the financial industry, IWC Schaffhausen’s Portuguieser watches carry just the right mix of elegance, classic design and watchmaking gravitas to satisfy. “They’re beautifully made and very solid, but they fly under the radar,” he says. “IWC has that appeal and provenance of being a tool watch brand in the same way Rolex is and you get the nod from people who know what they’re looking at. A watch like the Portuguieser doesn’t shout and it fits under the cuff, but it’s recognisable.”

Besides which, for a little more in the way of horological extravagance you have only to head over to Mayfair, where those in the hedge fund and private equity worlds are not bound by the same protocols as City bankers.

“In the City, people are keeping their high horology in the sock drawer for the weekend, but with hedge fund guys, there isn’t that stigma in wearing a high complication to the office,” says Marks, whose Phillips HQ sits at the heart of Mayfair in Berkeley Square. “There’s still a lot of pride here in showing some success.”

Nevertheless, even here the codes of style and success have shifted. A classical slice of haute horlogerie from brands such as Vacheron Constantin or Jaeger-LeCoultre has lost none of its power, says Marks. But he says Ressence, the adventurous brand from industrial designer Mr Benoît Mintiens, whose watches exhibit a satellite system of rotating subdials that is complex, ingenious and subtle, is more the ticket for today’s high-achieving hedgie.

“People want to express themselves individually, but with a lot of sophistication,” says Marks. “With something such as Ressence, it’s independent, low volume and there’s scholarship in there. For people who want to remove themselves from this uniform culture, but still have something with quality and uniqueness, it’s an instant hit.”