Collecting Together With Mark Cho

At the helm of his global retail outfit, the Armoury, Mark Cho is redefining the world of bespoke men’s tailoring, ushering tailored menswear into the 21st century with a refined but always easy-going style. With unpadded shoulders, tasteful pattern play, and a laissez-faire view of some of last century’s most central fashion tenants, Mark’s approach embodies a sort of studied ease that feels both timeless and utterly contemporary. A style that, unsurprisingly, mirrors his own laid-back temperament.

“I’ve never had a specific person I tried to emulate,” Cho says of his influences, “I think that always struck me as inauthentic.” He did, however, immerse himself around the rules of classic menswear, specifically learning everything he could about tailoring. This self-guided education laid the groundwork for understanding color and proportion and helped him define an aesthetic of his own within the framework of menswear’s past.

He is a consummate collector and constant student of watches. Sparked by a well-documented encounter with a vintage Omega Chronostop, Mark’s passion for vintage watches soon turned into a full blown collection, an enviable mix of vintage and vintage-inspired pieces. An early Daniel Roth, a special order F.P. Journe Chronomètre A Résonance designed in collaboration with the watchmaker, an abundance of vintage Patek Philippe timepieces and one of Christian Klings’s last bespoke watches .

We caught up with Mark on a recent visit to New York City and tagged along for a busy day of meetings around the big apple to talk watches, style, and how he maintains a singular vision in a world so crowded with noise.

Try your best to be considerate. For customers, pay attention to specific details of their life and let them know that you are thinking of them. It can be something simple like seeing on the news that they completed a milestone project and then sending them a congratulatory note. Or remembering that they get cold easily, looking for super-heavy knitwear and then making some practical suggestions for them. For partners, understand what challenges they might be facing and offer support where you can, even if it’s to your short term disadvantage. Ultimately, it’s best to strive for a long term, mutually beneficial relationship.

Also, never underestimate the value of time spent together. Back when travel was easier, I would regularly visit all my suppliers to say hello and share a meal or a drink even if there was no business to discuss. The same goes for customers. One of my favorite ways to get a good hour of conversation is over a cigar. It’s more calming than a coffee or a drink and more engaging, too. Once you’ve chosen your cigar, you and your guest can be left alone without any issue.

People’s attention these days is completely saturated. It is important to make efforts to stay top of mind for the people who are important to you.

Collaboration is a central component of a lot of the work you do. What’s the secret to fostering strong collaborative relationships?

Before I even embark on a collaboration, I consider if I can get along with the collaborator on a personal level. No collaboration is an obligation, it has to be something that both parties would enjoy and find fulfilling.

Next, both sides have to bring some strengths that the other lacks to the table. The result of the collaboration has to be something that neither party could achieve on their own.

I try to have a lot of patience with ideas that are not my own. Also, the perspective behind the idea is as important as the idea itself. While the idea might not fit in with the final product, the perspective can be hugely useful as another line of thinking that might yield something better.

Finally, I try to look after my collaborators and the people I work with. I try to make sure everyone’s effort is recognized, appreciated and attributed correctly.

We were lucky enough to meet up with you during your recent visit stateside. Can you walk us through a day in your life when you’re in New York?

I’m usually a little jetlagged when I’m in New York which means I tend to wake up quite early. The people I have to see generally fall under three categories: journalists, my team and customers. I will usually try to get breakfast meetings with journalists. My team gets anything during the day and then customer appointments are usually late afternoon if they need help with their wardrobe from me or drinks, smokes or dinner. Since my visits in New York are only two weeks or so, I try to work at least six days a week to make the most of my visit.

My meetings with journalists are to keep them abreast of what’s happening at the store and our products. Nick Roberts, my PR agent, is good at lining stories for me and I always prefer to explain what The Armoury is doing personally to journalists who are interested in writing something.

My back office work at The Armoury covers a lot of different things. There is a lot of design work that I still do in conjunction with my creative director, Jim Parker, in New York. I check on the physical aspects of the stores regularly with the shop teams, making sure that our visual merchandising is up to scratch and our stores feel comfortable to visitors. I am close with my general manager, Bailey McKay, and we always have ideas about operating the business that need to be discussed.

My customer appointments are usually me taking care of wardrobe requirements for my VIPs. I say VIPs but really these people are my friends. I know them well and I have defined opinions on what would work for them personally. I’m always happy to give them whatever wardrobe advice they need. I also enjoy meeting new customers or fans of the store so I try to work the floor on Saturdays to get a better sense of how the stores are operating on a busy day.

You spend a lot of time on-the-go. Which watches do you generally travel with? How do you decide what to bring with you?

There is no set of watches that I always bring with me, it just depends on how I feel. The only exception to this is if there are certain people I need to see who might appreciate me wearing a certain watch, in which case I’d do my best to accommodate. There are pieces that tend to travel with me more than others. My Naoya Hida Type 1B, my Audemars Piguet 34mm Royal Oak in Tantalum/Steel, my Christian Klings and my Patek 96 are a few that spring to mind.

Can you tell us about the watches you showed us in New York?

I brought more watches than normal with me. I visited the L.A.-based watchmaker Josh Shapiro earlier this year and he asked if I could show some watches with interesting case shapes so I gladly obliged.

From left:

Early Daniel Roth Chronograph
A very unusual case shape and very heavy as well. There are a lot of nice details to appreciate, such as the T shaped end of the timing hand and the lozenge shape of the case, especially.

A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1
This was originally marketed as a ladies watch and sold on a pale grey strap. It’s one of the few pieces in Lange’s collection that has a guilloche pattern and I think they executed it very well. I knew it’d work well for me on a dark brown strap in textured calf. It’s one of my favorite pieces in my collection.

F.P. Journe Special Order Résonance
It’s a really long story how this made its way into existence, I’d suggest any reader check out the account of it I wrote for watchesbysjx.com. It’s still a bit of a shock to me that I had a hand in designing this. I’m relieved it turned out well.

Chanel Monsieur
A hugely underrated watch. A legitimately beautifully designed movement featuring a jumping hour and retrograde minutes with some very interesting details on the case itself such as a small recess to fit the strap. I recommend anyone spend some time with this watch, it’s much better than people realize.

Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 96
A very, very early platinum Patek 96 that Patek not only serviced but restored for me to beautiful condition. The restoration department is separate from the servicing department and so it took a few years for it to happen but it was well worth it. It features Breguet numerals and spade hands.

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar 1526
The first serially produced perpetual calendar that Patek Philippe made, in quite mediocre condition but the price was good and thus I never worry about wearing it. Some people get very obsessed with condition, but as long as the price is in line with the condition, I don’t mind.

Christian Klings
My first bespoke watch. I mocked it all up in photoshop and then worked with him to make it a reality. It features two guilloche patterns, a salmon and steel two-tone dial and an open-worked movement. I wrote a piece about it for Robb Report that’s worth a read. He’s an incredible bespoke watchmaker, now retired, based near Leipzig. The watch is like something out of a dream.

Grand Seiko SBGW039
If there was one Grand Seiko to own, I’d say this is the one. It’s a near identical remake of the original Grand Seiko from 1960 except this one is in platinum, with a modern movement and a sapphire crystal. To me, it is one of the most beautiful three-handed, center-second watches ever produced.

Naoya Hida Type 1B
Another favorite of mine, Hida-san and I became good friends over the years and I actually deal his watches in Hong Kong now. It’s a great example of handcraft mixing with modern production techniques. The dial is made the same way a pocket watch dial might be, with multiple parts to the dial and hand engraving for the numerals to give it a sublime charm. The case is made by ultra-precise CNC and it feels precise and robust as a result.

What’s your daily driver at the moment? What’s drawing you to it right now?

I’ve been wearing my Christian Klings watch the most. The man really sweat blood and tears over it, the least I can do is wear it a lot. I really like him personally and wearing it allows me to be reminded of him.

What advice would you give new collectors?

Buy whatever watch you like but also be prepared to sell it quickly and decisively if it’s not working for you. I don’t think you can really judge a watch properly without owning it for a little while. Nothing will hone your taste quite like a little financial pain from a bad decision. A lot of things that draw you to a watch don’t become apparent without a little quality time as well.

Don’t assume that any watch will be “the one”. Don’t assume that the watch everyone is talking about will be good for you. There are watches that make their way into people’s consciousness and people think they have to own it. They really don’t. You can always just walk away and you will probably find another great watch next week.

Don’t read into too much public commentary or discussion. Always keep in mind: how many people who are commenting on something actually own the thing they are commenting on or know what they are talking about?

In the grand scheme of things, watches are incredibly trivial and need to do nothing more than make you happy.

We noticed the Elliot Erwitt and Peter Moss prints at the Armoury. How does your eye for style and watches translate to art and photography? How has your taste evolved over time?

I can’t say my taste for art has evolved that much. I don’t spend enough time with it, especially these days. I have loved photography for a long time and collected wherever I could. I typically collect Japanese photography, though I also like a lot of American photographers like Elliot Erwitt and Saul Leiter. I used to shoot a lot more but sadly no longer have the time for it. My wife describes my taste for art as: anything that’s melancholy or geometric, which is surprisingly concise and accurate.

I keep a lot of the photography I’ve collected at the store. If you ever come by our Tribeca store, you can see some of it on the walls or hanging in our lounge in the basement, where my Saul Leiter and Elliot Erwitt pieces live. At our Upper East Side store, I have a huge piece comprised of multiple cityscapes by Naoya Hatakeyama who remains one of my favorite photographers ever.

Do you consider timepieces to be high art?

Yes, I think so. I think at its best, timepieces are very expressive both visually and from an engineering perspective. I think if you can glance at a watch and clearly recognize it as the work of a certain person or team of people, then it must have quite a lot of character. If it has such character, then I would consider it a very personal expression of the person who designed it.

In a time of information and image overload, it can sometimes feel like we’re being inundated with microtrends, style mashups and hype. How do you maintain a consistent vision amongst all the noise? How do you decide what to engage with and what to discard?

I’m quite terrible at that sort of editing. I am interested in so many different things but I don’t have a particular process for how to consolidate it or make it coherent. Naturally, some things just stick with you and others don’t.

I think as I got older, one thing that I became sensitive to is hype and I want to stay as far away from it as possible. For some people, hype is all about the excitement but to me, it also presents frenzy, desperation and bitterness. I want to be involved in things that make people feel good, not bad.

You can follow Mark on Instagram @markchodotcom

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