After staring at that image for ever...I must say I am not totally convinced that man behind the counter is the same man. Look at his height. On one image he appears to be barely waist-high to the counter, and on the other image, he is leaning over it with height to spare.
Nope! I still have one of those old fashioned phones and I just tried it out. There was no way the cord went around my arm unless I deliberately wraped it around my arm.
I think you are correct--the black may not be the phone cord but you can see the bump on his wrist that is the watch--and it is in the usual position on top of the wrist.
These pictures are all the same taken on the same day in 1990 or 1991 (December-January) when they are getting on an airplane to go somewhere to get married. And it needs to be a long distance away because it is way too early to be going there for a wedding on February 2.