Woman Gives Best Friend His Dream Watch, But His Girlfriend Complains That She Was “Outshined”

Getting a friend a special gift you know they have been dreaming of is always a great feeling, but apparently it can also start some pretty serious drama!

Gift-giving should be a source of happiness, but when someone feels like their gift was overshadowed by a grand gesture, feelings can get hurt very easily.

This user found that out first-hand when she decided to get her close friend an expensive watch he had been wanting, causing his partner to feel like her gift was “outshined” by the flashy present.

Check this story out and see if you think her anger was justified!

My guy friend, “Tom,” has been one of my best friends since college. We’re in our mid 20’s now and are both currently in committed relationships with long term partners. I have never had feelings for Tom nor has he ever had feelings for me.

Since college, Tom has been a huge watch fanatic. Two months ago, he was showing me this stunning vintage watch and made an off-handed comment about how he would die of joy if he somehow got his hands on one.

I was in NYC a few weeks ago and stumbled upon this watch store that just so happened to have the exact one Tom wanted.

It was expensive, I won’t lie, at about $2,500, but I decided to get it for his 25th birthday.

My boyfriend and I do very well financially so this was something that I could personally afford and wanted to buy for Tom, especially knowing how happy it’d make him.

When his birthday dinner rolled around, she was psyched!

Tom has a tradition of hosting a dinner party at his place for his birthday and then following that up with cake and gift opening.

I told him before the dinner that my gift was a huge surprise and asked if he could save it for last and he agreed.

His girlfriend ends up going first and she gets him this gorgeous sweater that she crocheted for him and a book that he’s been wanting, which I thought was super thoughtful and lovely.

Last, it was my gift. When he opened it and saw what it was he literally screamed, hopped over a bunch of people, and squeezed me in this huge bear hug.

I was SO happy to see him happy, it genuinely filled me with so much joy.

But his girlfriend didn’t seem to be as thrilled as he was.

He also said that it was the “best gift he’d ever received.” The whole time, his girlfriend was only slightly smiling and stayed quiet.

I get a text from his girlfriend that essentially said that although she appreciated my thoughtful gift, she thought that it was a bit out of touch and lacking awareness.

She admitted that Tom had also told her about the watch and she wanted to get it for him, but it was way out of her budget.

She accused me of knowing this (I had NO idea) and still getting it to rub it in her face and to “outshine” her.

You’d think she would be excited for her boyfriend, right?

I responded and told her that while I could see her POV, I was just trying to do a nice thing for a close friend of mine.

I asked her, wouldn’t you rather he gotten the gift and seen the happiness that it brought him than him not getting it at all?

She responded that that happiness was “only shared between [me] and Tom” and no one else and that she felt hurt by my actions.

While OP’s boyfriend was on her side, she started having second thoughts about her gift.

Only my boyfriend knows about this and he’s on my side.

But thinking through it all again, I do see how I could’ve overstepped, but my boyfriend says that it’s not my job to apologize for her insecurities.

So AITA here?

From the sound of it, this is about a lot more than the watch! The girlfriend is clearly threatened by OP’s friendship with Tom, but in all fairness, it was a little showy to make him open the gift last and turn it into a spectacle!

Reddit was split on this one, with many commenters like this one agreeing that the problem wasn’t the watch, but the girlfriend’s insecurity.

Some users were more sympathetic to the girlfriend, saying she had a valid reason to be upset, and OP should have found a way to make the watch a joint gift from the both of them.

And some were flat out against OP, like this one saying such an extravagant gift should have been given in private to give everyone’s presents a chance to be appreciated.

This user said they would be uncomfortable receiving a gift of that value from anyone, regardless of their relationship to the giver.

And finally this user was reminded of a scene from The Office, and felt that OP was just trying to flaunt their wealth.

Listen, jealousy is just a bad look.

Don’t do it.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.