Amid the whirl of an art business where everything is supersized – personalities, prices, art works themselves – appearances, even when on the understated side, can count for a crucial bit of soft power. At that Mr Neil Wenman, globetrotting director of the international contemporary gallery Hauser & Wirth (and member of the MR PORTER Style Council), is an old hand. “Being the art world, it tends to be more relaxed, but an accessory is one way to contradict that a bit,” he says. “I might be in LA in a pair of chinos, sneakers and an army jacket, but a good watch can really change things up a bit.”

Wenman picked up his first such timepiece, a vintage Rolex, in the early 2000s, and has steadily added to his collection since. There’s been some more Rolexes, and even a couple of watches from the French luxury stable par excellence, Hermès. Most recently came the addition of one of Switzerland’s most iconic watch designs, a Reverso by Jaeger-LeCoultre, purchased from MR PORTER. “In theory, I like the idea of someone buying me a watch as a present,” Wenman says. “But in practise, I think I’m too particular about it. I’d dread the idea of someone else choosing what’s on my wrist.”

“I think I’ve always had a love affair with this watch. It’s incredibly chic, simple and elegant, and I like its nod to the Art Deco style. It has a whiff of Howard Carter in Egypt – it ties to this idea of nostalgia for the machine age and the birth of transportation.

“Watches can be tricky. They can look too flashy or too sporty or techy. For me, personally, I like it to be very simple – the time and date is all I need. At the same time, perfect design decisions have been made. Even the spacing of the Roman numerals is incredibly clever. The watch is about balance and symmetry, but in actual fact those numerals aren’t symmetrical. They act as a counterbalance.

“It’s hand-wound, but that’s fine with me. I like that it’s old-fashioned. When you notice it’s stopped, that’s actually romantic. There’s no romance in an iPhone, is there?”

“I’m very interested in design and I trained as an architect, and the Reverso really plays to that side of me. It has this real quirkiness that appeals to me, and incredible ingenuity in the way it flips over. It’s wonderfully tactile and it allows you a kind of interaction with the watch that’s unusual.

“I like the functionality, too. It was designed in the 1930s for polo players – that’s not me, but I do spend time in the countryside doing country sports and this watch is perfect for that. I can flip over the cover and I know it’s safe for the day. Especially for those windy days in the Cairngorms, when you want to know how long is left until you have that gin and tonic in the bath to warm you up, my ultimate treat when I stay at the Fife Arms in Braemar. It’s fun to flip it over to check the time and flip it back.”

“I’ve toyed with Bell & Ross for a while. I thought about Panerai, too, for that more rugged and sporty watch, but it didn’t feel like me. I’m 6ft 4in – I don’t need to feel bigger by having a really big watch.

“So I came back to Bell & Ross and it feels like a bit of a modern classic. I like the simplicity and the strong stainless-steel bracelet. Most of my watches have a leather strap, but if it’s summer and you’re in the sea, swimming or sailing, you need something more robust. It only needs to do what I want it to do: handle sand, be waterproof, stand up to summertime exposure. But it really feels designed as well, and something that’s very contemporary.”