Can you remember the exact moment you realised watches were going to be more than just a passing interest?
Yes, probably around my fourth birthday. I should preface this by saying that, like many people I’ve met in the horological world, I’m a high-functioning non-neurotypical. Alongside ADHD, my particular affliction is eidetic memory. I retain information at an annoying rate. It’s great for academia and professional life, but an absolute curse socially. I can relive every embarrassing moment I’ve ever had in Dolby 5.1, IMAX UHD, 4K resolution.
Explanations aside, in 1990 I received a Timex Wizzard Quartz for my birthday. I still have an Argos catalogue clipping of it. I loved that watch, and it fuelled my passion from an early age, alongside a lifelong appreciation of Back to the Future and science in general. In the same vein, I’ll shamelessly admit that I currently own a very significant mid-90s collection of Casio calculator and Data Bank watches.
When it comes to proper watchmaking, that influence came from my grandfather. He was a former RAF man, stationed in Gibraltar at a very difficult time, and an official tool-watch user during his military career. Privately, he was a pocket-watch fanatic. He would bring out cigar boxes full of pocket-watch components, and we’d build them together. He was absolutely essential in my pursuit of horology.
Which watch in your collection has the best story behind how you acquired it?
I really started buying watches seriously around the age of 16, just after the millennium, when watches that are wildly popular today were completely unfashionable. My best find was a yellow-gold Rolex Day-Date with a yellow Stella dial. I found it via a guy on eBay and met him in a greasy spoon café at Potters Bar station, where I handed over £6,000 in cash.
At the time, he was collecting Stella-dial watches, which in the early 2000s were deeply unpopular. That exact watch went to auction about six years ago, sold for over £150,000, and ended up on the cover of David Silver’s book.
In the same era, when yellow gold was generally disliked, I bought a lapis-dial Submariner 16618 from a jeweller in Blackburn for £5,450. Look at their values now.
I don’t really have just one story. After more than 22 years of collecting, every piece carries its own narrative. What I can say is that I still own that lapis 16618, and it will never leave my collection. I bought it when no one liked it. It was considered gaudy and tasteless, but it has always clicked with me.
Is there a watch you regret selling or passing on, and why?
My university years aside, I had to eat and buy medical textbooks at a time before the internet and ChatGPT removed all possibilities for real learning from society, I almost never sell anything. My collection is a memoir of my experiences.
That said, I do regret selling the few COMEX Submariners I had at university, as well as the two 16710 GMT-Masters I sold when I bought my first house.
If your collection could say something about you as a person, what would it say?
Unresolved mental health issues.
Is there one watch you own that other collectors don’t “get,” but you absolutely love?
Possibly my IWC Da Vinci Ceramic. Or my collection of small 1970s yellow-gold Cartiers. Or even Richard Mille, which frankly does not suit me at all.
What do you look for in a watch?
Easy. Rare, unpopular, and well-made. That’s the way.
If you had to focus on one brand only, which would it be and why?
Independent brands. They are accessible, ingenious, beautiful, and consistently show the big brands how to innovate. That said, vintage Cartier is my jam.
What would your younger collector-self be shocked to learn about your current collection?
Nothing really. My younger self was still me, just with less knowledge. I’ve collected things my entire life, and my approach has always been excessive and slightly stupid. That said, he would probably be shocked at what COMEX Submariners are worth now.
If you had to start over tomorrow with no watches, how would you rebuild your collection?
I would follow the exact same philosophy: rare, unpopular, and well-made. That applies to everything, including relationships, food, furniture, and knowledge. We’re living through a global brain drain where everything is worshipped and nothing is valued. This approach gives me a genuine edge over the hype merchants.
What is your ultimate grail watch?
Honestly, it probably hasn’t been made yet. I don’t lust after grails. I think that says a lot about someone’s motivations. I’m not driven by status. I’m driven by passion.
That said, if I could own one watch, not just a reference but the exact watch, it would be John Lennon’s Patek Philippe 2499.
Music plays a huge role in my family. I’m surrounded by professional musicians across multiple generations. I’m personally musically useless, but my appreciation is deep and eclectic. The Beatles were a formative influence in my childhood, a level of talent that has not been replicated since. While I arguably rate Paul’s artistry higher than John’s, there is an undeniable mystique to Lennon. His life, his worldview, his raw genius.
That watch would be a totem for me, something personally, horologically, and historically significant.
