Can you remember the exact moment you realised watches were going to be more than just a passing interest?
There’s no specific time in my life I can point to, but I guess it was as soon as I started to see watches as beautiful objects of art that could be enjoyed and worn practically on the wrist. I don’t remember ever not thinking that.
Which watch in your collection has the best story behind how you acquired it?
Over time the emotional dimension of hunting for and acquiring a watch has become far more important than the acquisition and ownership. Each watch has come to embody a story to me, whether it’s the provenance, the people I’ve met along the way to acquire it, or it tells a bigger story, or it relates to something in my own life.
You can pick a watch from my collection and I tell you its story and meaning to me. A recent example is a rare double signed Patek 2429 Horovitz Alexandrie (Egypt) signed dial. In the first instance, it is special to me as it’s the first African signed Patek retailer I have (I collect retailer-signed Pateks), coming from the continent and my home town of Jinja in Uganda.
More than that, having posted it on Instagram I made contact with two members of the retailer family who reside in Geneva, including the son of the founder. I look forward to meeting them on my next trip and hearing the story about the founder of the business. Wolf Horovitz was born in 1883 of a Jewish Ashkenazi family in Romania and set up as watchmaker and jeweller in Rue Cherie Pacha in Alexandria, Egypt, and his customers included King Fuad himself, a passionate watch collector. It’s sure to be a great story.
Is there a watch you regret selling or passing on, and why?
Yes. As with all collectors. These included a Cartier London Maxi Oval that some friends thought looked too girly on my wrist. Never listen to others when it comes to watch choices was my lesson from that.
If your collection could say something about you as a person, what would it say?
My collection is very nebulous and eclectic in terms of the styles and design genres, and that’s something I hope and think of myself. I’m a mish mash of cultures and outlooks based on my life story and experiences, and I like to think my collection reflects that.
Is there one watch you own that other collectors don’t “get,” but you absolutely love?
I think when I started collecting some four decades ago, what I collected was definitely considered as being off the beaten path, if not odd, but in the last few years it has become more admired by the mainstream collectors.
I was buying watches that were unusual in terms of shape from whatever everyone else bought, and in those days the budget allowed for LeCoultre, Gruen, Hamilton, etc. If it caught my attention with a fantastic shape, I was interested.
What do you look for in a watch?
Aesthetics and beauty. Like in a woman – at least in the first instance.
If you had to focus on one brand only, which would it be and why?
That’s tough. I currently focus on four main brands: Patek, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, and Audemars Piguet. But I also have an eye for others, particularly pieces from 1945 to 1965, which I feel was the belle epoch of watch design in the Swiss valleys.
What would your younger collector-self be shocked to learn about your current collection?
Probably just where my collection has gotten to. I’m not sure if it’s shockable stuff, but go where your heart takes you in terms of collecting to avoid the herd mentality and you’ll get a serious collection, eventually.
Buying great watches is not necessarily about spending loads of money, and I started my journey with watches costing a few hundred on eBay. Now I have some serious pieces.
If you had to start over tomorrow with no watches, how would you rebuild your collection?
Pretty much the same, though I would have begged or stolen money to buy the watches that I sat on the fence about. A few of these will never appear on the market again in my lifetime and missing out can be painful.
What is your ultimate grail watch?
I’d love a Patek Cloisonné enamel reference 2481 but unfortunately that’s not going to be in this life as they are beyond me. So, a Vacheron Cloisonné from the 1950s (one of my regrets from the past), which is still up there but a bit more achievable than the Patek.
