Horological Meandering

Baron - Mr Red
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Watch collecting - what if you cut a collection to the bare minimum

One of the most consistent conversations I have with fellow collectors centres on the concept of concentrating a collection into fewer watches. I think when someone starts collecting watches, their respective pattern of collecting goes through potentially predictable cycles. It takes a few years for the various cycles to play out, but I think similar cycles develop for many collectors. Towards the latter part of these cycles, a collector often takes a look at the collection of various watches in a collection and wonders whether a collection has lost focus, grown too big and includes watches that rarely get wrist-time. Equally, a collector can look at a collection and decide that respective tastes have changed and that certain watches no longer ring the bell of approval that they used to do. And thoughts of rationalisation come to the fore. I spent some time with Nicolas and Blomman where we touched on the idea of what would we do if we had to cut our collections by 75%. For me, that would mean owning around a dozen watches. What would my dozen be and why would i make that selection? I thought this would be an interesting theme for a thread. Now, I will say from the off that I have about 5 watches that are just purely sentimental. They would be the very last watches that I would sell, and for that reason - sentimentality - I am excluding them from my thinking. Four of them are JLC and one is Omega. 

So, with a capacity to keep just 12 watches, what would they be and why? Well, I will start off just giving my list and then go through each of them, one by one, to explain my rationale. As you can imagine, this list excludes many watches that i adore. The JLC Reverso Rouge, for example, is a watch I adore but does not make it onto my final dozen. I hope to never see a situation where I need to rationalise to this extent, but still, the exercise is a healthy one, right? 

In no particular order, my final dozen;

1)  Patek 5070P

2)  JLC Tribute to Polaris 65 (Paris edition)

3)  Blancpain Fifty Fathoms AM 

4)  Panerai PAM 36

5)  Rolex 6239 Paul Newman Daytona

6)  Rolex 5512 

7)  Rolex 6200 Submariner

8)  Rolex 1665 DRSD Mk2 Patent Pending

9)  Rolex 6610 Red Depth

10) Rolex 16660 Sea-Dweller

11) Rolex 1665 Oman

12)  ?

The list is Rolex-heavy, but I guess that is not a particular surprise. Also, I have deliberately left the 12th spot vacant. One can never tell if a new addition would find a place!

First, some rationale for the split of manufacturers. Each manufacturer brings something quite unique to the table. From the very beginning, I have adored my 5070P. It brings something totally unique to my collection. It is the only platinum watch in the list. It is the only blue-dial watch in the list. It is, of course, a chronograph, and just one of two chronographs in the list. I could not envisage a situation where the 5070P was not in my collection. If the list above was just 5 watches, then the 5070P would be in that list too. I have argued before that when Rolex made the Daytona Paul Newman, they created something that was impossible to replicate. In the 5070P, Patek have their equivalent of a Paul Newman. For so many reasons, the 5070P is faulted. It doesn’t carry an in-house movement. Its case size is, to an extent, too big for the movement. For a Patek, the case size is atypically large. Yet, it is one of the most extraordinary watches to wear. It has something about it that cannot be captured in words. I called its dial, the “Mona Lisa” dial as that was apt. The Mona Lisa is, technically, not a great painting. Yet, it has something that is magical…it has captured something special. The 5070P is the same.

The JLC Tribute to Polaris 65 is also a watch for my top dozen. It is the only watch from JLC in the list (though to be fair, i cheated a little here as I have 4 JLCs in my sentimentality list!). It is the only watch in the dozen with an alarm function. The elegance of the Polaris 65 is evident. Indeed, I once owned an original, yet it gives me greater pleasure to own the Tribute than it does the original. Why? Because when I think of the original, I know it serves its owner with a greater purpose than it could ever have served me, and that makes me very happy. To look at the Tribute and love it AND at the same time derive pleasure from knowing where the original is combines to give a double boost to my enjoyment. The Tribute to 65 is, in any case, much rarer!!! It also brings a great diversity to my overall list.

I have a great passion for diving watches. The Blancpain makes it onto my list with ease. It is the only Blancpain, but it is so clearly different to the Rolex divers in the list. It adds an overtly vintage feel to the list and with that has a touch of mysticism regarding the AM feature on the back. Marcello and Nicolas know this watch well. The Blancpain exhibition in Paris provided a certificate for this watch stating that it had been issued to the US navy. Nicolas would argue that about 5 or so AM-issued watches have surfaced with respective serial numbers running between 1-150. The watch looks fabulous to wear and has that issued-history that so appeals to me. This is not hard to include in my dozen.

The Panerai PAM 36 inclusion is somewhat controversial. Only two years ago, I put the watch into an auction only to see bidders queue up. I withdrew it from the auction. I changed my mind. Again, this is the only Panerai in the list and it offers no particular complication. It is on my list, however, because there are days when nothing other than a Panerai will do. And, on those days, nothing feels much better to me than the PAM 36. One of the very first Vendome special editions. Just 200 were made and the allure of the titanium case and chocolate brown dial is astonishing. It offers something totally different to my collection and for that reason it is included in my final dozen. Adding diversity to my collection is a major factor for me.

But now, onto the Rolex. That is a much harder task to break down. My 1665 Rail Dial, for example, is not on my list. I sat and thought about it and rationalised that I just wouldn’t sell my 1665 Rail Dial. On the other hand, if i am only to keep 12 watches, would i sell my DRSD MK 2 Patent Pending ahead of my Rail Dial? Of course not. On my hypothetical list of 5 watches, it can safely be assumed that the DRSD Mk2 sits comfortably next to the 5070P. Yes, the first Rolex on my final dozen would be the 1665 Mk2. I have adored this watch from the moment I first saw it. It is my favourite Rolex by a margin. With the dial tropicalised to a gorgeous chocolate hue with the red print standing out against that backdrop, the watch is stunning to my eye. It also represents a key part of Rolex dive history. The prototype dive watches issued in this era were the pioneers of what was to make Rolex iconic. The 1665 represents, to me, the tool watch that broke Rolex into a new era. I take the Mk2 over my pair of Mk1s simply because of the breathtaking tropical Mk2 dial. 

With one 1665 in my list, why then select another 1665? So much about the final dozen is about having diversity and bringing something different to the table. Why include the 1665 Oman? Answer - I just couldn’t NOT include the Oman. Yes, it is the same reference as the DRSD, but it is so different from the dial. It has a pure black dial with no lume on the markers. That makes it really stand out. It also has the Sultanate crest on the dial - one of just 4 known to exist. I will be honest, that scarcity when it is sitting on my wrist sends a frisson up my arm!! Could i do without that feeling? Further, the history behind the watch is fascinating. A batch of 10 were issued in the 1970s, and Rolex have confirmed at service that the special order was from the Sultan of Oman and that the watches were issued to reflect acts of valour. Can i link the watch to a specific act? No. Does that matter to me? No. It was awarded, most likely, to a soldier involved in the Omani civil wars in which UK soldiers were involved. (Full review of this coming soon). Would this make it to my final 5?

Uhm, the 6200. A contentious addition? I found this watch by luck. To be fair, I was actually hunting a 5510 when a dealer approached a friend of mine who happened to be standing next to me at the time. The dealer had just bought the 6200 as part of a trade for a Patek and just wanted to turn it into cash as quickly as he could. He was not really a vintage dealer and definitely not in pieces like the 6200 - he had taken a gamble in trading for it. My friend, on the other hand, has been dealing in vintage Rolex for over 30 years. He looked at the 6200 and told me it was a no-brainer…a must-have addition for me. I bought it. To be honest, I didn’t love it, but it was the big crown addition that would fill the gap until a 5510 arrived. Slowly, but surely, i came to realise I had the best big crown I could possibly find. When Nicolas saw it, he took it to bed with him. Seriously. Literally. LoL…I started to grow much fonder of it. Fondness that has grown to the point that it now sits easily in my top dozen. The very first big crown issued by Rolex. Many believe 6200s were issued heavily to the military. Certainly a fair share of those that have surfaced had military provenance. Some argue that the 6200 is the very first Submariner. Nicolas, Marcello and I had an interesting debate on this. Three Submariners came at almost the same time. Could the 6200 have been the very first Submariner? Plausibly yes. Gilt dial. 3-6-9. Big crown. Massive presence on the wrist. It stands out like a king. Definitely could not let this one slip off the top dozen. Is it in my top 5? Uhm. My review of the 6200 will be sent very shortly, and i will insert a link in due course.

The 6239 Paul Newman is the second chronograph in my dozen. I remember very well taking my teenage son to Monaco with me to meet up with the seller. It was a fabulous father & son trip. we had such a ball. Of course, as a result the 6239 I bought there carries some fabulous memories for me. In this sense, it should probably be in my sentimentality list. But actually, even if it wasn’t sentimental, I would include it in my dozen. The Paul Newman just has something special. It carries that history and racing panache all at the same time. I used to own several Daytonas, but over time all have been sold barring two 6239s. I keep the Paul Newman version. There is nothing in my dozen that looks anything like the 6239 and it adds dimension for that reason. Is it in my Top 5 (excluding sentimentality)?

The 6610 Red Depth is one I have had in my collection for a while. It has been my avatar for a long period too. It is certainly the case that nothing much looks like the 6610 in my collection. To have a final dozen without a Rolex Explorer would also feel wrong. This Red Depth, of course, has the added advantage that it was one I came across by fluke - albeit I was on the hunt for one. I have researched this watch in a lot of detail. Marcello has similarly chronicled the various history of the watch. So few of these Red Depths exist, having been in production for maybe just a year. To find one in this condition certainly makes me happy. I have been looking to add to my 6610 red Depth for about 4 years now. In that time, I have seen just one other Red Depth that was free from “issues” but its condition was very poor. If i had to find another 6610 Red Depth, I could no be sure of managing to do that. For a watch like the 6239 Paul Newman, if I needed to buy another, I could do so inside a month easily. 6610 Red depth? That would take definitely longer. Of course, that makes it special, but for a Top 5 slot, is it more special to me than the 6239? This is where passion takes over……

Rolex 5512 makes it, perhaps surprisingly, into my top dozen. The first protected crownguard Rolex. It typifies what most people conjure in their minds when they think Rolex. It is, to be fair, the archetypal Rolex. That makes it an appealing addition to my top dozen. However, when you find a 5512 with a perfect gilt dial and original bracelet (Gay Freres), it adds to the poignancy of the watch. I get enormous pleasure wearing this 5512. Although it would not be in my Top 5, it would equally not be near the bottom of my Top 12.

Finally, the Rolex 16660. If I wanted to find a 16660 by the end of the week, I could do so. This is not an especially rare watch at all. However, finding one with the sort of patina that this one has is pretty hard, especially if you are going to be picky and demand original box, bracelet and punched papers. I adore wearing this watch. It is most definitely one of my favourite watches to wear as it is so versatile, with such a strong personality. I am guessing that many will think it a tragedy that I don’t include either of my Mark 1 Patent Pendings in the top dozen, but include a simple 16660. My rationale is easy. This list is not about monetary value. It is about having a collection that I am passionate about wearing. To look at, there is not a big difference between the Mk2 and Mk1 1665, and i prefer the dial on the Mk 2. Hence, no point in having two almost identical watches….so the Mk1s don’t get a slot….the Mk2 does….as does thee 16660!

So, if i narrowed it down to just 5 watches, what would they be? I think it is easier to pick 5 than it is to pick 12. Top 5, in no order of preference; 5070P, 1665 Mk2, 6200, 6610 and the final one on the list would be my Blancpain AM.  I would throw in my 16660 as the beater!

With these five (+1), I am not sure I would need any others. Perhaps I am missing a yellow or rose gold dress watch, but wouldn’t the 5070P work fine for a dressy occasion? A tool watch beater - what better than the 16660. The overtly classy but powerful icon - the 6200. Rolex history - the 1665 Mk2. I am covering three styles within Rolex; Explorer, Sub and Sea-Dweller. I am covering the chrono and dress(ier) watch with the 5070P. It was a true tear between the Blancpain and the 6239. The Blancpain won solely because I already had a chrono in my Top 5. I am sure others would take a different path on Top 12 as well as Top 5, but that is the beauty of our hobby - personal preference has no arbiter.

But now, I lay the gauntlet down for others. If you had to narrow down to 12, or 5, or just 2? Nicolas/Blomman....we had the detailed discussion. Now it is my fun.... let's see how you deal with this exercise?!?!?

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