Go to most watch collector hangouts and you’ll be faced with a gang of 50-something-year-old men who love nothing more than to obsess over rare references. I know that because I’m one of them. Well, I’m slightly younger, but you get my point. As far as most people are concerned, that’s what a watch collector is. But head onto social media and you’ll find a very different story.
It doesn’t matter your social media of choice – Instagram, TikTok, Facebook should it still be a thing – you’ll see influencers bucking the trend of what it means to be a watch collector, proving that fine timepieces don’t need to be as stuffy as they sometimes sound.
I spoke to three annoyingly good-looking watch influencers to get their views on watches, their collections and the stories that spurred them into the horological sphere.
Watch collector: ANDREA CASALEGNO
We like to think of London as a pretty mature market for watch collecting, but compared to the Italians, we’re still taking baby steps. Ever wondered how the Rolex hype started? Ask them. But for watch comms entrepreneur Andrea Casalegno – better known by his Instagram handle @iamcasa – watch collecting started as just one part of an outfit.
“Trying to differentiate myself from the crowd,” reminisces the suave Italian, “quickly made me look at vintage clothing, vintage photos and, of course, vintage watches. They made me feel different, more interesting than the rest of the people who only cared about price tags. From there I started buying some really cheap vintage watches and social media did the rest: I saw a Mercator from Vacheron Constantin on Instagram and realized that there was much more than a Submariner in the world.”
Fortunately for Andrea, he wasn’t the only person in his family who saw more to life than Rolex and he has some serious horology in the not-quite-proverbial attic.
Watch collector Andrea Casalegno at the Hublot store
“A huge part of my collecting journey was fuelled by the fact that I found vintage watches in my grandmother’s house, one of which was an Omega De Ville with floral dial, which needed restoration. That was a turning point. Then, after some conversation, they told me about the Speedmaster.
“I was 15, rich in enthusiasm but not in money, but a Speedy became a dream. I was astonished by its purity, its strong and reliable look, its story… Eventually I bought a super simple and classic one, the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch from 2007, used, for €1,900, which I still own and wear today.”
It’s a relatively accessible success story, but a success story all the same. What’s more fascinating, however, is that watches in Andrea’s life seem to be a generational success story, too.
“My grandfather was a simple man from a small town in the south of Italy, a town of 2,000 people, far from everything and almost forgotten.
“In the 1950s he left for South America to change his life. Years later he made it: he made enough money to come back and start building houses and much more in his town, and, before leaving, he bought himself something as a reminder – a yellow gold Longines Conquest, which I also still wear today.”
Andrea says he has grown as a watch collector over the years
With such a love of vintage – and such a wealth of horological history to draw from – it’s no surprise that Andrea has a halcyon era of watchmaking to look back on. Or more accurately, two: “I’d say either the 1920-30s or the 60-70s: there was creativity and the courage to expresss it, with many less numbers involved, way less attention to Ebitda and more burning passion…”
Despite being only 27 years old, Andrea has an incredibly mature collection, ranging from wonderful, eclectic vintage pieces from Tissot Antimagnetiques and his Longines Conquest, to more serious archival stuff. But even so, if he could do it all again, he says he’d make sure he had a much stronger collection.
“The one piece of advice I’d give my younger self is ‘borrow money, sell your stupid stuff and buy more and more and more’, so I’d be 27 today with €1m collection, not to make money, but to save it. If you like something and you feel it’s rising in price, buy it now, because in five years you’ll have to buy it for the new price.”
Watch collector: COURTNEY BACHRACH
Some people are bitten by the collector bug when they get their first proper paycheck; others when a watch is handed down from a relative recently deceased. Courtney Bachrach, however, was born into it.
“My father, who passed last year, was a collector, so watches have been woven into family lore and some of my happiest memories. One of my earliest memories is visiting vintage dealers with him in London and by high school, I’d unintentionally built a collection.
“My taste leaned toward black diamond TechnoMarines, so my dad would give me a Tank or Pasha when he’d grown bored of it. Around then, I learned the basics of complications from Sol Meller at Feldmar in Los Angeles; he was much more patient than my dad.”
Watch collector Courtney Bachrach has a varied watch collection
So even before Courtney turned 20, watches were a big part of her life. They were evocative, intriguing and a bit of a family pursuit. But once she graduated past TechnoMarines, it turns out that Courtney – whether intentionally or otherwise – had curated that most ephemeral of traits: good taste. I wonder if one watch in her collection stands out?
“The Rolex Daytona 116505 in Everose with an ivory dial, a 21st birthday gift. I’m fairly certain I’d unintentionally asked for the Daytona of the moment. At the time, I was working at a talent agency in Los Angeles and exclusively wore oversized men’s watches, mostly passed-down 1990s Cartier pieces that I paired with different colored rare-skin straps from Jacques at Progressive Shoe Repair, the legendary Beverly Hills shop.
“It’s a reminder of that era in my life – that watch was the first time I understood the hunt that came with collecting.”
Funnily enough, it’s not the only moment in Courtney’s life signified by a Rolex. To celebrate her birth, her father bought her mother a 1986 DateJust. On presenting it to his proud wife, he dropped the precious timepiece, almost bludgeoning his newborn in the process. “Naturally, his matching Day-Date President was waiting back at his office,” says Courtney.
With all that in mind, it’s not hard to see why Courtney still considers Rolex the hottest brand in the world.
“Rolex just has this cultural gravity and brand identity that no one else can touch. Seeing an actor or athlete become a Rolex ambassador has meaning, even the most cynical collectors can’t deny that the ‘Reach for the Crown’ shorts [a documentary series featuring Rolex partners] makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy.”
Access has changed everything. The internet and social media gives younger collectors the knowledge that used to require years of relationships with dealers, retailers and auction houses
Not that she’s only about the latest Crown drop, of course. When asked whether she prefers something shiny and new or with a little bit of life behind it, her answer is emphatic: “Vintage, always. I need something that not everyone else has seen. I want something with a story. I don’t see a friend wearing a new Panthere or new Royal Oak and expect them to have a lot to say about it.”
Fortunately for Courtney – and anyone with a passing interest in archival watchmaking – it’s now easier than ever to educate yourself about older references. As she says:
“Access has changed everything. The internet and social media gives younger collectors the knowledge that used to require years of relationships with dealers, retailers and auction houses. That democratisation has produced a wave of collectors who are incredibly well-informed and much more opinionated about what constitutes value. My father loved watches, but if he forgot a reference number or saw something new to him, he couldn’t exactly pull it up with price history on Wrist Check.”
But it’s not all about access: it’s what you do with it that counts. If you really want to know your uncommon pieces from your holy grails, Courtney’s advice is to ask. “Collectors love to talk about what’s on their wrist. I’d tell my younger self not to confuse access with understanding.”
Watch collector: RAMSEY ZAHLAN
As one of the few, big Tiktok watch guys that doesn’t live or die on cringey Rolex negotiations, Ramsey Zahlan is the jumping off point for many a future watch collector. That means an emphasis not on the super rare, auction-headlining stuff, but a more monetarily restrained, accessible philosophy. In fact, it was cool, accessible watches that gave Ramsey the taste for watches.
“Whenever I went shopping with my parents they’d get me a Fossil watch. They were always affordable and I loved the random designs. When I was younger they looked super elegant and clean, and I was obsessed from that point.”
From there he started noticing his grandfather’s Rolex – something most of us can identify with. The watch in question was a 16013 DateJust with a Tiffany stamp, the kind of watch to get students of the Crown’s archives hot and bothered.
Ramsey Zahlan says watch collecting has taught him to be more discerning and less impulsive
“It was on his wrist for decades and he wore it every day. When he passed, it came to me and honestly, it’s something I don’t really wear because it’s incredibly valuable – in sentimentality as much as money.”
In fact, unlike many influencers who love to show off their wrist candy, Ramsey keeps a lot of his upper-echelon pieces out of sight (almost like he’s visited Central London recently). It makes sense, then, why his first proper watch purchase for himself had an accessible, distinctly American bent.
“It was a Hamilton Khaki King with an automatic movement and steel bracelet. I was learning all about watches at the time and I thought it was so cool to have a brand that used to be made in America, and it was super affordable for what it was. I loved it… until it got stolen from my parents’ car.”
In fact, for the majority of Ramsey’s collecting journey, value-for-money was at the forefront. It makes sense; when you don’t have a six-figure income, you want to make sure you’re spending wisely. But what that means, exactly, has changed for him in recent years.
“When I was younger I used to be obsessed with specs. Automatic movement, solid links, sapphire crystal, I had a checklist to decide whether a watch was good or not. Now the number one thing for me is design. The specs are still important of course but now it’s less of an academic thing. It’s about what speaks to me.”
So, what speaks to him?
Ramsey adds affordable pieces with which he has an emotional connection to his watch collection
“The best I can think of is a watch I ordered three days ago, the Timex and Noah collab. It’s actually kind of overpriced for the specs, but I loved the design. It reminded me of some vintage Pateks (as much as a Timex can) – but more importantly, it had Noah on the dial, which is my newborn son’s name.”
Of course, Ramsey still has an eye for the bigger brands – and there’s no surprise Rolex is still at the top of the pile. “Rolex is still the king but Cartier is super hot right now, partly due to social media, partly because that kind of old money aesthetic is coming back. I’ve been wanting the Santos Dumont in black lacquer since it came out.”
It’s a pricey proposition, coming in at £7,200, but Ramsey’s no longer the kid that bought a Fossil watch every weekend. With age comes experience and with experience…
“…comes confidence. Most collectors starting out go for hype and impulse buys, what’s hot whether or not it’s for them. You see queues for microbrands just because they’re cool at the time. Then you start to realise what you like, what you want on your wrist, and that it’s worth waiting for the right watch to come along.”