My carrier (Verizon) rep tells me my new watch is locked and he can't see which carrier that the watch is locked by. How do I find out who the carrier is?

I bought a new Apple watch from Sam's Club. I saw no cellular carrier associated with it. I want to have the new watch activated for me, but my wife wants my old watch (tech phobia). We both have Apple Iphones. When I spoke with the Verizon rep, he told me that according to the IMEI the watch was locked, but that it didn't show what carrier it was. Can someone provide me with some clarification on this?