diff --git a/api/watch_ticket.php b/api/watch_ticket.php
index 40e9867..a9448f5 100644
--- a/api/watch_ticket.php
+++ b/api/watch_ticket.php
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 require_once __DIR__ . '/bootstrap.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/TicketModel.php';
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/AuditLogModel.php';
 
 $data = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true) ?? [];
 
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
         );
         $stmt->bind_param("si", $ticketId, $userId);
         $stmt->execute();
+        $rowsChanged = $stmt->affected_rows;
         $stmt->close();
     } else {
         $stmt = $conn->prepare(
@@ -50,9 +52,17 @@ if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
         );
         $stmt->bind_param("si", $ticketId, $userId);
         $stmt->execute();
+        $rowsChanged = $stmt->affected_rows;
         $stmt->close();
     }
 
+    // Only log an actual state change — INSERT IGNORE/DELETE are no-ops when
+    // the user was already watching/not watching, and that shouldn't show up
+    // in the ticket's timeline as a new event.
+    if ($rowsChanged > 0) {
+        (new AuditLogModel($conn))->log($userId, $action, 'ticket', $ticketId);
+    }
+
     // Return updated state
     $countStmt = $conn->prepare(
         "SELECT COUNT(*) as cnt FROM ticket_watchers WHERE ticket_id = ?"
diff --git a/models/AuditLogModel.php b/models/AuditLogModel.php
index dd691cc..001abcb 100644
--- a/models/AuditLogModel.php
+++ b/models/AuditLogModel.php
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ class AuditLogModel
     private const VALID_ACTION_TYPES = [
         'create', 'update', 'delete', 'view', 'security_event',
         'login', 'logout', 'assign', 'unassign', 'comment', 'mention',
-        'revoke', 'attachment_upload', 'attachment_delete', 'bulk_update'
+        'revoke', 'attachment_upload', 'attachment_delete', 'bulk_update',
+        'watch', 'unwatch'
     ];
 
     /** @var array Allowed entity types for filtering */
diff --git a/views/TicketView.php b/views/TicketView.php
index f84c4fd..3c65875 100644
--- a/views/TicketView.php
+++ b/views/TicketView.php
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ function getEventIcon(string $actionType): string
         'status_change' => '[!]',
         'attachment'    => '[^]',
         'delete'        => '[x]',
+        'watch'         => '[o]',
+        'unwatch'       => '[o]',
         default         => '[*]',
     };
 }
@@ -53,6 +55,10 @@ function formatAction(array $event): string
             return 'uploaded a file';
         case 'delete':
             return 'deleted a comment';
+        case 'watch':
+            return 'started watching this ticket';
+        case 'unwatch':
+            return 'stopped watching this ticket';
         case 'assign':
             if (is_array($det) && isset($det['assigned_to']['to'])) {
                 $to = $det['assigned_to']['to'] ?: 'Unassigned';