THE ANSWERS Nicolas Chow of Sotheby’s Asia

Nicolas Chow is on a roll: The Hong Kong– based chairman of Sotheby’s Asia has been inking major deals and scoring recordsmashing sales of ancient Chinese art for his auction house for years. But when the art aficionado isn’t helping to build the collections of others, he’s traveling the globe in pursuit of his own passions. Here, the peripatetic aesthete tells us what he’s after these days, from rare photo books to eyeglasses and unagi.

How often do you train?

Most days, I will do a short exercise routine in my bathroom—a few sets of push-ups, situps, etcetera—between brushing my teeth, shaving my head, and taking a shower. It is a very easy routine and therefore probably of no use whatsoever.

Where do you get your clothes?

I have been going to Lord’s Custom Tailors in Hong Kong for almost 20 years now, and they look after me very well. Otherwise, I occasionally buy suits and blazers from Tom Ford, or Isaia for a more casual look.

What’s your most important sartorial accoutrement?

I am obsessed with eyewear, and I have a weakness for thick, geeky frames, preferably ones that are handmade out of celluloid in Japan. Naturally, I am quite geeky about my geeky frames, and the slightest variation on a style can get me excited. My favorite source is Facial Index in Marunouchi [Tokyo], which has a great selection of frames by some of the best Japanese optical craftsmen, including Tai Hachiro, who makes fabulous retro frames, all superbly polished by hand.

Are you wearing a watch? How many do you own?

When I turned 20, my uncle gave me an old 1960s moonphase Omega that had belonged to my grandfather. It has great sentimental value, and it has brought me luck over the years, but it tends to break down. These days, I usually wear a Rolex Explorer, which is very solid and dependable, but I have no particular craving for watches.

Who is your dealer and what do they source for you?

I have a keen interest in vintage Japanese photo books from the 1960s and 1970s—the golden age of the photo book—a time when the book rather than the single print was considered to be the work of art. My favorite source is Komiyama-Shoten in Jimbocho, Tokyo’s vintage bookshop district. Keita Komiyama is among the most knowledgeable dealers in the field and always pulls out some obscure and exciting book that I have never heard of.

What is your favorite dish?

I love unagi3 and have tried it at quite a few of the most famous restaurants in Japan. My favorite remains Unagitei Tomoei, in Odawara, a small town near Hakone. I used to go there regularly to visit the late Gorō Sakamoto, one of the greatest antique dealers to have ever lived. He would often have the restaurant deliver lacquered boxes of unagi to his house. Sakamoto would drink half a glass of hot sake and splash the rest over my eel. Ever since then I have eaten my eel this way.

What’s the most recent thing you’ve added to your own collection?

I just purchased a 14th-century marble torso of the Annunciate Angel by Sienese sculptor Agostino di Giovanni from Sam Fogg in Mayfair.

If you could have any artwork in the world, what would it be?

The Egyptian Amarna period yellow jasper lips of a queen at the Met. For me it is without question the single most beautiful and sexiest bit of sculpture in the world.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

Home—whether in Hong Kong where I am based, Lausanne near where I grew up and where my parents live, or Taipei where my wife’s family is based.

What is your favorite hotel?

Nihiwatu on the lost island of Sumba5 in Indonesia. A couple of Christmases ago we stayed at this eco-resort, which is surrounded by wilderness, so there is a genuine sense of being on the edge of the world.

What skill do you possess that might surprise people?

Videography. When I was a teenager, a neighbor and I developed an interest in filmmaking and began shooting horror movies with an old Super 8 camera. At Christmas two years ago, I received a vintage Beaulieu Super 8 camera and started shooting and editing again. I have been making trailers for my own “Curiosity” sales, as well as for colleagues at Sotheby’s who occasionally let me loose on their pieces. There is definitely an underlying scent of horror to all these trailers—not everyone likes them.

Drive or be driven?

Driven. I do not have a driver’s license.

Bowie or Dylan?

Bowie.

Read the full interview online at robbreport.com/chow.

2Rolex launched its Explorer in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary andTenzing Norgay’s historic first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. 5Centuries ago, early Sumba settlers named the island Nihiwatu, which means “mortar stone,” for a rock formation that still stands on the resort’s beach. 3In case you didn’t know, unagi is grilled freshwater eel. The tender delicacy is big in Japan, especially at Michelinstarred unagiya(eel restaurants), like Chow’s pick in Odawara. 1Taihachiro Yamamoto began making coreless celluloid frames more than 50 years ago when he was still in high school. 4Dated to the reign of Akhenaten, the jasper lips may be all that remains of a 14th-century B.C. statue of one of the pharaoh’s queens, perhaps Nefertiti or Kiya.