Dan Tanenbaum
“I think your first watch is the most conservative watch you buy—the fun ones are the second, third, fourth, fifth...,” says Dan Tanenbaum, a Toronto technology entrepreneur and artist. Early on in his collecting, Tanenbaum focused on vintage Rolex sport models like the Submariner; he acquired the same style famously worn by Sean Connery in Dr. No—a circa 1958 Reference 6538—when his son, Oliver, was born, with the intention of it becoming a 21st-birthday gift.
Today, Tanenbaum’s eclectic collection encompasses predigital jump hour watches and Casio G-Shocks as well as pieces from TAG Heuer, Jaquet Droz and Patek Philippe because he sees watches as a way for men to express their creativity and personality. Though his first acquisition was an Omega Speedmaster Calibre 321, his collecting philosophy “has evolved into strategizing purchases in terms of ‘bucketing’ styles—a chronograph, a dive watch, a dress watch, a novelty watch.” Lately, he’s been drawn to expressive and novelty watches from lesser known makers like Azimuth (he has its Crazy Rider model) and Urwerk. “Urwerk is brilliant,” enthuses Tanenbaum. “Its minute mark is fixed along the bottom, and the hour mark is along the discs that rotate and make their way along the minute track. It’s like taking a car and questioning the engine logic. It’s revolutionary and gutsy—I like that in watches.” Tanenbaum’s other hobby is making assemblage art from watch parts, and that, too, enhances his inside-out mechanical knowledge. One of the less famous Nacar watches in his collection houses a calibre movement identical to that of a vintage Rolex Cosmograph Daytona—engineering cachet to delight a watch nerd but without the big-name price tag. “It’s like having a Pinto with a Porsche engine,” he says.