My husband had two mechanicals, one of which was quite old and loud. It could be heard if you were close to him, even in a crowd. Sometimes when he was in a group of people, one would say, "what is that ticking noise, do you hear it?" and they would come over to him to see if it was him. He would always say. "What ticking noise, I don't hear anything?"
He worried a lot of people, I am afraid. They thought there was a bomb somewhere. Many thought it was his watch.
He enjoyed that. It was his little private joke.
He did get used to the sounds. But also did use a sound machine at night because the mattress just made it louder when he was trying to fall asleep.
