Collection Building Your Way with Griffin Bartsch
How would you spend half a million dollars? What about a million?
This new column will offer our community of enthusiasts a forum to answer that question. Every month, a member of our community will establish a set of rules and poke through The 1916 Company’s inventory to build their ideal collection.
Today I get my go, and for this first foray, I’m going to “spend” $250,000 on five watches – no more, no less. I also can’t repeat any brands, just to keep things interesting. Other than that, I have no restrictions. Because everyone collects differently, each enthusiast who plays this game will come up with their own rules or guidelines for building their fantasy The 1916 Company collection.
As you spend time with watch collectors, certain questions seem to come up again and again. Sitting around at your local RedBar meetup, conversation abounds regarding the subtle distinctions between vintage Rolex references or what gin makes the best Negroni (if you ask me, it’s Ford’s). Still, the conversation inevitably comes back to one place – what’s next? What’s next is the driving force behind collecting because, as most enthusiasts can attest, there really is no being satisfied with where you are right now, at least not for long.
This is such an understood reality that I recently heard someone say they envied the man who decided he wanted a nice watch, went to a local boutique, bought something that made them happy and never looked at another piece of watch-related content again. While I’m sure it must be true that these people exist (though I’m not sure I’ve ever met one), I would guess that if you have ever heard the phrase “one watch guy,” you are likely far beyond being one.
This brings me back to the concept of what’s next. I’m always looking at what my next watch might be. Now, using the rules I established above, I’m going to attempt to answer that question, or at least suggest what an answer might be in a kinder world. With all that out of the way, onto the watches.
Patek Philippe Complications World Time Chronograph 5930P-001
$129,950 – Remaining Budget: $120,050 – Shop Here
My first pick in this fantastical shopping spree is the Patek Philippe 5930P. This was one of the first watches I got to go hands-on with when I started at The 1916 Company, and I can say unreservedly that it didn’t disappoint. My favorite watches from Patek Philippe always include a travel function, and pairing a world time with a flyback chronograph yields an incredibly compelling package.
Cards on the table, there was never a version of this list that didn’t include Patek Philippe. I have been fascinated with the brand since long before I was into watches – largely thanks to their ‘Generations’ ads, which seemed to be on the back of just about every magazine in my childhood home. I don’t own a Patek (and according to those ads, I never really will – though I hope to look after one for a few decades), but if I were to put my money down on any Patek currently available on the The 1916 Company site, this would be the one.
Coming in at 39.5mm in a platinum case with a stunning green hand-guillochéd dial, the 5930P embodies the younger and sportier design language that Patek has embraced in the last few years, without sacrificing anything that has made the brand special for over 100 years.
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Timezone 116.025
$44,950 – Remaining Budget: $75,100 – Shop Here
Continuing with my somewhat inadvertent theme of platinum travel watches, my second choice is the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Timezone. I genuinely believe that A. Lange & Söhne produces some of the most beautiful watches on the market today, and this piece is no exception. The proportions, finishing, and detail work on this watch betray a level of attention and care that are impossible to miss.
I have long been an admirer of the Lange 1, in large part because it manages to straddle a fascinating line between dynamic and sedate. The intriguing asymmetrical dial layout, with its Outsize Date and deconstructed dial layout, offers a wonderful platform to host myriad complications. This particular implementation results in an eminently practical, and undeniably alluring, take on the dual-time watch.
The under-the-radar color scheme of this first-generation platinum model is particularly compelling and feels like it would be at home on your wrist in any of the 24 time zones featured around the dial’s perimeter.
Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch “Silver Snoopy” Apollo XIII 45th Anniversary LE
$44,950 – Remaining Budget: $30,150 – Shop Here
What else is there to say, I want a Speedy, and this one fits the bill.
Okay, there’s a little more to it than that; after all, there are plenty of Moonwatches available on the The 1916 Company site right now, so why am I choosing this one? Well, this guy has everything you could ask for from a Speedmaster (except maybe a bracelet, but oh well). Introduced at Baselworld 2015 to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, this special “Silver Snoopy” inspired Speedy is replete with details that make it stand out compared to many of its peers.
I would hazard a guess that more digital ink has been spilled over various incarnations of the Speedmaster than just about any other watch, so I won’t even attempt to offer a comprehensive history here. Suffice to say that the Speedmaster is the watch that passed NASA’s stringent testing, went to the moon, and that Jack Swigert used to time a 14-second burn on Apollo 13’s fraught expedition. It is that last moment that this watch commemorates.
While the facsimile of the Silver Snoopy Award medal on the caseback, and the fully lumed Snoopy uttering the apocryphal Gene Kranz quote, “Failure is not an option,” command most of the attention, what drew me to this watch is the accentuated reminder of those critical 14 seconds, along with the simple question, “What could you do in 14 seconds?” Other details like the white dial, black hand, and unique lumed markers give this Speedmaster a distinct character.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time “Deep Stream”
$21,950 – Remaining Budget: $8,200 – Shop Here
One of my favorite watches from the last few years is undoubtedly the Vacheron Constantin Overseas “Everest” Dual Time, made in collaboration with mountaineer Cory Richards. Produced in titanium in 150 pieces, this exceptionally rare, unbelievably cool travel time watch checks every box for me. Unfortunately, everyone seems to agree with me, so you don’t often see them come up for sale, and even if we did have one for sale, my remaining budget definitely wouldn’t stretch far enough to cover it.
Lucky for me, these watches have a big brother in the form of the vastly underappreciated “Deep Stream” models of the second generation Overseas. With a blasted titanium bezel, brushed anthracite grey dial, and blue rubber strap, this watch sports a vastly more aggressive character than its contemporaries in the Overseas line. That said, it still maintains the versatility and elegance expected of an Overseas.
That versatility comes down, in large part, to the ease of strap changes on the second generation Overseas. While it doesn’t share the quick-change system that would come to the Overseas line in 2016, using a single screw bar at each lug makes swapping straps a breeze. Oh, and once again, we have an excellent execution of a travel function, this time through a delightfully asymmetrical dual time display.
Rolex Explorer II Polar Dial
$8,950 – Remaining Budget: -$750 – Shop Here
Okay, before I start talking about why I picked the Rolex Explorer II as my last watch in this game, I should get something out of the way – yes. I went over my entirely made-up budget in my entirely made-up game, but I’m pretty sure I can get someone on our sales team to give me enough of a break somewhere that I can find the $750 along the way.
Having sorted my price dilemma, I can say that the 16570 Rolex Explorer II is my favorite modern Rolex. It also happens to be the actual answer to the question I posed right at the start of this adventure – “what’s next?”
If it hasn’t become apparent already, I really enjoy variations on the GMT complication. After all, there’s a reason this list is built around variants of the dual time watch. Travel watches are optimistic. A GMT watch reminds us to explore the world, even when we’re stuck at home, trudging through the monotony of day-to-day life. I don’t know when I’ll be able to pull the trigger on my own 16570, but I have a feeling it will be relatively soon – and I can’t wait.
Conclusion
Even with a tremendous amount of (fake) money, and a five-slot watch roll to fill, it turns out that it is very difficult to scratch every itch in a five-watch collection. As with everything in life, you can’t have it all, and it turns out that in this exercise, I am missing a handful of specific elements that I value.
Though I am very happy with the state of my list, I would love to have found a place for something in yellow gold, like this Privée Edition Driver from Cartier, or a dive watch, like this Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean. I started my collecting journey with a vintage gold dress watch, so it would have been nice to have one here, and dive watches have become a true staple in my rotation, so the lack of one here does sting a bit. The Omega would also serve double duty thanks to its connection to George Daniels, of whom I am a long-term admirer.
I also would have enjoyed having something quartz as a grab-and-go option for when I don’t feel like setting a watch, the Cartier could satisfy that role as well, or possibly something from Grand Seiko or a Breitling Aerospace. With all that sorted, the only thing really left would be something from an independent brand, any number of pieces from Moser, MB&F or Journe could have easily found their way into my collection had I come at this game from a slightly different direction.
The other thing that feels like a real hole is that I don’t have a perpetual calendar, or really any sort of calendar watch beyond a simple date. Something along the lines of this A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Datograph Perpetual would really fit the bill, in fact, it certainly would have made the cut had we had one available in white gold or platinum.
Second-guessing and rethinking are part of the fun of picking out watches, or so I’m telling myself to justify my own hedging in these last few paragraphs. I’m still pretty satisfied with my new five-watch collection, and I look forward to seeing what my friends, colleagues and members of our collecting community come up with when they have a chance to take a crack at this in the months to come.