For me, growing up before cell phones means that wearing a watch is such a habit that I feel not properly dressed if I do not have one on my wrist. And yes, I do use my watch to tell time instead of fishing my cell phone out of my pocket.
I also grew up before cell phones and usually wore watches, but the band on my last $20 Casio broke three or four years ago and I’ve yet to replace it. Probably won’t. Was never into expensive watches.