Collecting Together with Shahendra Ohneswere

If you don’t yet know Shahendra Ohneswere, you certainly know his work. As Senior Vice President of Content Development & Co-Head of Digital Marketing at Columbia Records, he’s worked behind the scenes on some of the music industry’s biggest releases. Driven by an insatiable curiosity, Ohneswere is both a student and creator of culture, connecting the dots between art and passion. 

“I’m fascinated by all aspects of design, technology, and culture. I’m fascinated by how things work together and how they don’t,” he said when asked who he is. “The thing that I really enjoy is permanence and things that outlast me, ideas that last a long time.”

On our recent visit with Ohneswere in Brooklyn, we discussed collecting, his appreciation for timeless design, and the watches that fascinate him. 

Tell us about your background, your foundation, and where you come from. How has that influenced who you are now and your love for watches? 

I was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, which is a country in South America. I lived there as a kid and then moved to the states. I was six years old when we came to New York, the Bronx specifically. And obviously, that was a culture shock. You’re going from a tropical country to a hard edge New York City in the ’80s. So, the shift was radical for me. 

I lived all over the states, from New York to Miami, to Minneapolis, and Los Angeles. That shaped my view on culture overall. I think a lot of it has to do with how my curiosity is piqued by that. 

What do watches mean to you? 

I think they represent, at their core, time. It’s a time-keeping asset. 

As the world has evolved with digital technology, things are easier and more accessible. There’s something really cool about the analog element of a watch; winding it, knowing that it’s mechanical. They haven’t really been affected wholistically by the advents of technology. 

How has your taste in watches evolved over time? 

My first nice watch, probably like most people, was a Rolex.  I continued to collect Rolex for a while. I remember watching James Bond; there’s that iconic scene in Dr. No, where he looks at his Submariner, he smokes a cigarette, he looks back at it, and you’re like, “What’s that? Why is he looking at that watch?” 

And I remember getting interested in the Submariner, I’d seen the one with the date circle. But that’s not the one Sean Connery had. So then I called my friend, George, over at Govberg, and he said, “No, there’s one with no date.” I didn’t realize they made that.

Eventually, I got into Audemars Piguet after I spoke with Benjamin Clymer at Hodinkee. It was many years ago, and I was like, “Okay, so Rolex, cool. What else?” And he was the one who told me I should learn about the Royal Oak.

And so every time I accomplished something or set out to accomplish something, getting a watch that represents the milestone becomes a goal. It isn’t the goal I’m working towards, but it almost supplements the true goal. 

I wanted a Jumbo since the first time I saw a picture of one. It took a long time to get there. Not even price, just getting it; the process of getting it is complicated. 

The gold 15300 was another piece that represented an accomplishment.

Similarly, the Chrono represents the start of a new chapter in my career. I had a big birthday recently and the Jumbo was a celebration of that. 

Talk about the 15202 for a bit. Tell us about your journey to that watch. 

My first AP was the 15400 white, which at 41mm, is a bigger watch; this was over 10 years ago. It’s one of those watches that you see and think is cool. So I worked hard and I got it and I felt like, “Boom, I made it.” And then, I discovered this other watch that looks just like it, but different. 

The journey to get to the 15202 was honestly just thinking about it. It’s not like I went out every day and tried to get it. It was just something I kept in the back of my mind and paid attention to. 

There’s no other watch that I have the same level of interest and passion for like the 15202. It took almost 10 years of just getting financially right, building a good relationship with AP,  making sure I had all the other aspects of my life correct before I could jump into something like that.

How has the music industry’s perspective on watches changed since you’ve been involved? 

I think, for the most part, everybody’s gotten really educated in their palettes. I think there are artists now, across the board, across genres, that through research or through their own connections, are understanding that there are certain pieces that are signifiers, and they know there’s a value attached to them or there’s a rarity or a scarcity, and so they’re now collecting them as true timepieces, as opposed to just getting any expensive watch. 

Yes, there’s always the hype watch; the Richard Mille that’s $3 million, that’s fine. But I’m seeing more people get into Patek and F. P. Journe, and all these higher-end brands that have great lineage behind them, as opposed to just Rolex, AP, Cartier, and brands like that.

I think the future of watches and entertainment is like anything; it’s discovery. You have more access to information now than you ever did before, so when you see something, you can go, “What is that?” We’re in the era where you could just DM somebody or hit somebody up and ask them about a watch and they will respond.  

Are you into high complications? 

Yes, I think they represent an advancement in time. They represent an advancement in design. It’s technology from the 1800s that’s still working today. Obviously, the process has gotten more refined, but you have to find an artisan who takes thousands of hours to put those things together and I think that’s what’s cool.

So you appreciate aesthetics and detail and high-level watch-making. 

I know as much as I know based on reading and researching and spending time on forums and collecting books, and honestly just talking to people. There were a lot of things I didn’t know, and it just came from conversations and having good people like George Mayer and Ben Clymer. I didn’t know much about F.P. Journe before I had a conversation with George and he broke the brand down for me. 

I went to Miami and it just so happened there was an F.P. Journe boutique inside the hotel where I was staying. I got to spend time with the watches and realized the value. 

It’s like looking at art. All the variables about how much something is worth, it’s all relative. But really it’s like, “Do you really appreciate it?” That’s what is interesting to me.

Where do you draw the line between personal taste and hype?

I only like what I like. I was in another store in Miami; it was a mixed retail watch store, so they sold many different watch brands. The salesman kept showing me different pieces and saying, “This rapper wears this or this singer wears this or this actor wears this.” He couldn’t tell me anything about the watch. He couldn’t tell me what made it special. All he could tell me was which celebrities were wearing it. I’m not saying those people who wear it don’t have an appreciation for it, but that’s not what pulls me into a piece. 

I think that’s the one thing that’s interesting about the watch world;  there is a big storytelling element. Everybody has a story. I can tell you every single story of every piece I’ve ever gotten or admired and where I was when I saw it first. 

It’s like sneakers. If you’re into sneakers, you know exactly what you were doing when you bought your first Jordans or when you got your first Air Maxes. I think everybody in the watch world who’s really into it, has a very similar thing.

How has your love for timeless design influenced your collecting? 

I can vividly remember the first time I was captivated by the design of something. It was 1993. My cousin’s friend had a red BMW 8 series, the one with the shark slant nose. Those things stood out like crazy, wedge-shaped cars. And I remember being like, “Wow, that’s such an interesting thing to look at. I need to know more about it.” Similarly, sneaker designs like the Jordan 4 stood out to me because nothing else looked like them. 

When I was in high school, I was a DJ like everybody else in my generation, but I had to have Technics 1200 and it wasn’t because there was any sort of hype behind it. Everything else, even if it was a better or more expensive turntable, just didn’t compare. I still have them to this day. They’re the thing I have probably held onto the longest.

When I started getting into watches, for the most part, a lot of things looked like well-designed cars. 

I remember seeing the Royal Oak and thinking, “This is very angular. This is different and the screws are exposed. And there’s something unfinished about it, but also really finished about it.” There was balance and duality. 

As a lover of Audemars Piguet, what are your thoughts on the AP  Gérald Genta design from 1972 as a staple in the AP lineup? 

It was something radical. That radical thinking is what gets you there. It’s either going to be really good or really bad, and we don’t know but can appreciate the risk-taking. That’s the thing that speaks musically, too. People talk about Kanye West’s Yeezus. It’s polarizing. And that’s what makes great art—when it’s polarizing.