A MATTER OF CUSTOM
THIS LIFELONG LOVER OF WATCHES FAVOURS CLASSIC STYLES THAT STAND THE TEST OF TIME.
This lifelong lover of watches favours classic styles that stand the test of time.
STARTING YOUNG:
“There’s a photo of me at three years old, and I’m wearing a watch. I asked my mum if she and my dad had bought it for me and made me wear it. She said, ‘No, we passed a watch shop and you refused to leave until we bought it for you.’ I’ve always been into watches. During primary school, when we were at shopping centres, I would hang out at the watch shops and tell my parents: ‘Go get your groceries first. You can come and pick me up later.’”
HAUTE- ING UP:
“I studied economics at the University College London in the late ’90s. That was when I really became interested in fine watches. I would pass these jewellery and watch shops in Old Bond Street, and I’d be looking through the windows. The shop that most caught my eye was Cartier because I liked the finishing of its watches. When I graduated, I bought myself my first serious watch – a Cartier Panthere in steel.”
IN THE FAMILY:
“One of the watches I brought along today is a hand-wound Omega De Ville from the 1970s.
It used to belong to my mum. She gave it to me 10 years ago, after having it refurbished. I have a photo of her carrying me as a baby, and wearing this watch. I usually wear it for evening occasions, like when I attend SSO concerts.”
LANGE LOVE:
“I’ve known since 2006 that I would one day get an A. Lange & Sohne watch. After working in investment banking for a couple of years, I went to business school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I was on my way home from the US when I saw a Lange 1 watch in a store window, and fell in love its clean, asymmetrical style. But I had no money to buy watches then because business school was really expensive (laughs). Last October, I saw this Saxonia Annual Calendar (pictured) at the Lange boutique. I bought it because I’d been wanting an annual calendar – and because I had been waiting for a Lange for 13 years.”
FEMALE FOCUS:
“The way many watchmakers create ladies’ watches is rather lazy.
They often take a men’s watch, make it smaller and slap diamonds on it. While I like my Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet, I’m aware that it’s a masculine watch every time I wear it. I wouldn’t pair with it with a dress unless it was very casual. A good example of a feminine watch that isn’t a cop-out is the Audemars Piguet Millenary. I don’t have a Millenary yet because most have diamonds, and I don’t like diamonds on my watches.”