Abbreviation of “watch
idiot savant”—a term used by watch nerds to refer to themselves in all kinds of watch forums.
The typical way to determine if somebody is a WIS, is by loudly proclaiming that you are about to buy a <INSERT FASHION BRAND HERE> QUARTZ watch. A real WIS will furiously interrupt you, only to teach you three essential things:
1. <FASHION BRAND> is not a real watch brand. WIS will narrate a 20 minute story of
horology and how the only watches actually worth buying are from Switzerland, Germany, or Japan.
2. Only mechanical watches are real watches—screw quartz! If you don't need to routinely adjust the time
on your watch, you're not appreciating it's heritage.
3. WIS will advise you to start with a Seiko 5, now that you decided to start collecting watches …