THE JOURNAL
Photograph by Ms Valentina Valdinoci/IMAXTREE.COM
To an outsider, the world of watch collecting might seem a niche backwater of an occupation. To those caught in its nets, it is a deep, deep ocean to be discovered. No two individuals go about it the same way. In the earlier volumes of On My Watch – 01, 02 and 03 – we heard from nine collectors, each with their own tales of success and failure, of bargains and grails, of waters explored and hidden depths yet to be revealed.
For volume 04, we speak to super-collector Mr Patrick Getreide, whose collection of rare and unique watches, mostly from Patek Philippe, was deemed so world-class it merited an exhibition at the Design Museum in London. Alongside his tales, we hear from Mr William Massena, founder of Massena LAB and well-known collector in his own right, whose philosophy is as eclectic and cultured as the watches that bear his name. Finally, we speak to Mr Ben Dunn, founder of Watch Brothers London, the vintage experts with whom MR PORTER has recently partnered on an exclusive edit of watches for the UK market. From flea markets to pie shops, Napoleon to Churchill, eight-figure auctions to untapped potential stars, these are their collecting stories.
What was your first watch?
Mr William Massena: When I was eight years old and I was getting ready to go to boarding school, my mother gave me a 31mm green Omega Seamaster 120 from the 1960s. I still own the watch, but have not worn it for nearly 40 years.
Mr Patrick Getreide: It was an Omega. I can’t tell you exactly which one, because it was 55 years ago and I lost it. I have no idea where it’s gone – that’s the worst. I think it disappeared when we moved house. I was 12 years old when I got it. I must have looked in the shop window 50 times and the 51st time I went in and asked the salesman if I could buy it, but I said I can only pay by the week because I have a weekly allowance. He laughed and said yes, OK, but I didn’t get the watch. He put it aside for me until it was paid for in full. After two or three months I spoke to my father and said I think this is going to take years, so he came and bought it for me. It’s a real shame I don’t have it any more.
Mr Ben Dunn: It was a Mondaine watch on a steel mesh bracket, lovely clean dial, modelled on the official clock for Swiss railways. It was a 21st birthday gift from my grandparents and you may say this was the watch that kickstarted my journey. It is thankfully still in my possession, although I must admit the battery stopped a little while back and I need to get it fixed.
What was the last watch you bought?
Massena: I cannot tell you because that watch has not been publicly released yet. In this market you sometimes have to make a purchase before the watch even goes public. Sadly, it is very much becoming an insider’s game. So technically, the Ressence x Alain Silberstein collaboration is my latest purchase.
Getreide: It was two days ago, a 5270 Patek Philippe chronograph with an orange-peel dial. I was there with my sister, who wanted to buy a watch, and I couldn’t help it. The temptation was too great.
Dunn: A Blancpain Perpetual Calendar Minute Repeater reference 5335 in yellow gold. This is a truly special piece with a case by the legendary case maker Jean-Pierre Hagmann and produced during the reign of [Mr Jean-Claude] Biver and [Mr Frédéric] Piguet at Blancpain. Interestingly it was produced at a similar time, if not the same time, as the Patek reference 3974, famously regarded as the first perpetual calendar minute repeater, so you could say this Blancpain was a close second.
“Infinite watch wisdom is my holy grail and that means being content with what I have”
What’s the one watch you’d save from a fire?
Massena: Whatever watch is on my wife’s wrist. If she happens to be wearing my early F.P. Journe tourbillon, that would be a happy coincidence.
Getreide: Probably the Patek Philippe 2523, the world timer with a blue centre, like a Klein blue. Only three have been made. One is in the Patek museum, one I own and someone else has the other one. It’s in top condition, like new.
Dunn: The one that isn’t insured. Just kidding! Well, slightly. I would save my 33mm Royal Oak in yellow gold reference 56175. I got married wearing this watch, so it is irreplaceable.
Do you have a “one that got away” or a watch you regret selling?
Massena: Non, rien de rien. Non, je ne regrette rien. I was never forced to buy or sell a watch, but hindsight is 20/20. I have noticed that when collectors do have regrets, it is usually about the scale of their profit, rather than the watch itself.
Getreide: The Patek 1518 in steel. There are not many of these. [There are four, worldwide – Ed.] It went up to CHF15m at auction. I had decided I would go to around CHF10m to 12m, so I let it go. It was a difficult decision because I’m a buyer at heart.
Dunn: I will never forget a gorgeous first-series Patek Philippe reference 3940 that sat for months in the window of a London shop. At the time, I wasn’t as passionate about this style of watch and the opportunity slipped by. Now, years later, I’m yet to get my hands on a first series – an incredible reference, I now realise – in such good condition.
Have you ever paid too much for a watch?
Massena: Absolutely and on many occasions. And I always know why. The heart has its reasons.
Getreide: Yes and no. My father told me if you want to have the best, pay the price of tomorrow. It’s too much, but that’s the reason why I have so many fantastic pieces. I broke many records because I paid a lot. That is what got me the collection I have today. I saw a friend a few days ago in Geneva, one of the richest men in the world, who came to see my collection, and he says, “Patrick, this one, this one and this one, you beat me at the auction.”
Dunn: I do this a lot for vintage Rolex and my friends know it. For me, the history, charm and pure functionality are sometimes irresistible. It’s got the better of me a few times.
Have you ever snapped up a total bargain?
Massena: I have been collecting for more than 30 years, so I have been lucky a few times. Bargains are not only luck, but they are also a combination of factors that you create for yourself by not following trends, being opened-minded and being relentless.
Getreide: Not many times, but yes. I bought a Patek Philippe 130 stainless steel chronograph with a pulsometer dial at a flea market in Paris. It was for sale for $1,000 – this was at least 25 years ago – but still it was a bargain. The man was selling jewellery, he had only one watch. I wanted to buy it immediately, but I thought if I don’t bargain, he will be suspicious. I said $800, he said $900 and my instinct was to pay very quickly and run away.
Dunn: To be honest, I see them more as opportunities than bargains – brands and models that meet the conditions to be future collectibles, but just haven’t been discovered or accepted by the masses yet. Examples include a number of 36mm perpetual calendars from Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet, also Blancpain complications from the 1980s and 1990s. The market for them is still developing, but if I like something, I trust my instinct and go for it.
“As long as the watches bring a smile to your face, don’t worry about the rest. It’s your collection, not someone else’s, so build and enjoy at your own pace and pleasure”
What’s your holy grail?
Massena: Infinite watch wisdom is my holy grail and that means being content with what I have. The nature of the beast is that the quest is so much more important than the grail.
Getreide: The Patek Philippe 1518 in steel. That’s the one I’d save up to buy. Now maybe it’ll cost 20 million, so I have to save. Or make more money. That’s better.
Dunn: Having bought and sold some wonderful models and variants from Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet, the one that really made an impression is the Vacheron Constantin Perpetual Calendar Skeleton ref 43532 in yellow gold with diamond bezel. I think for my current taste and how it makes me feel when wearing it, this is about as close to a grail piece as it comes.
Have you ever acquired a watch in unusual circumstances or a watch with an unusual story?
Massena: I once bought a black Rolex Milgauss reference 1019 in a movie theatre – the film was a documentary about Leonard Cohen – but usually, I only do business only with people I know and trust.
Getreide: I have the Rolex that was given by the secretary general of the communist party in Italy to the doctor who saved his life. I thought it was very interesting for the communist party leader to offer not even a steel watch, but a Rolex in gold. Do as I say, not as I do.
Dunn: I wish I had, but sadly not, although I do like to buy and sell over dinner at my favourite pie shop here in London [meat pie, not sweet pie, for our US readers]. A rather unglamorous location, but it has a classic English charm. If you’ve done business with me in person before, I’m sure you know where I mean.
What is the biggest mistake people make with watch collecting?
Massena: I don’t think there are many faux pas. You can wear your Patek with a Nato strap, you can wear a diver with a tuxedo, wear a huge Panerai if you are a petite lady and a tiny LeCoultre 101 if you are an MMA fighter. However, there is one thing I cannot stand, and that is when you try a watch on your wrist without removing the watch you are already wearing. To me, it is rude and it will damage both watches.
Getreide: I have made a couple of faux pas myself. At Only Watch, I bet and won a watch that I didn’t want at all. I made a mistake. It was a Vacheron Constantin I wanted. I got something else. I won’t say the brand because it’s not nice to them, but the watch was not interesting at all. I was with four or five friends and they laughed at me for at least three or four years. One of them was Thierry Stern, the owner of Patek Philippe.
Dunn: As long as the watch(es) bring a smile to your face, don’t worry about the rest. It’s your collection, not someone else’s, so build and enjoy at your own pace and pleasure.
Do you collect anything other than watches?
Massena: The collector gene is within me, yes. I collected stamps as a child and Zippo lighters as a young man.
Getreide: I used to collect cars, but I stopped. I had 43 cars, but I sold them when I was stopped by the police. In the old days, if you drove at 250, 300kmph, the policemen would say, “Please don’t do it again.” Now it’s one week in jail, no questions asked. My favourite car was the Ferrari 275GTB.
Dunn: My wife’s family have a rather interesting rowing heritage, so you can find a number of vintage oars dotted around our place from Olympic to regatta-winning oars. They are rather cumbersome, but a little more affordable than watches.
If you could own any watch with legendary provenance, what would it be?
Massena: This will sound corny, but I am a huge Napoleon buff. The watch he wore at Waterloo, a LeRoy, would be the watch. I imagine that at 5.00pm on 18 June 1815, he looked at his watch contemplating his defeat, but still knowing that what he had accomplished was already legendary.
Getreide: Winston Churchill’s watch. I went to the auction and I didn’t buy it. I was wrong, I think. Dear Winston, I think he must have played football with it. It was scratched all over. There wasn’t one piece without scratches. It was a Victory pocket watch. There were four made, one for Churchill, de Gaulle, Stalin and Truman. I was wrong not to buy it because this man is my hero, even though I’m not English. I found him fantastic.
Dunn: I would pick [former Patek Philippe chairman] Philippe Stern’s reference 3940 Mk2 perpetual calendar with the rare gold doré dial and the unmistakable prototype X sub-dial. An incredible watch, worn by a true icon of the industry.