How My Wine Cellar Primed Me For Watch Collecting

During a lengthy career in the wine trade, I came into possession of a number of wines. Enough to fill a walk-in closet and then a stand-alone cooler. Not to mention various wines in closets and fridges. Some of these wines I’ve held onto for 30 years or longer. In that time, I’ve learned a few things about collecting, and about myself. So, when I started to acquire watches, I knew a little about collecting things.

Disclaimer: Collecting wine and collecting watches have some distinct differences. Namely, that wine is a consumable product, which once you open the bottle, it ceases to be part of a collection. Watches are more similar to art or coins or cars or anything that doesn’t have as short of a life span as wine, which is a living product and prone to mortality. Watches, as my first post noted, can be passed down to heirs. Wine can be too, but the clock is still ticking on every bottle of wine.

Barolo winemaker Roberto Voerzio reminding
me that time here on earth is finite.

That said, there are a few things that wine collecting can provide insights into for watch collectors. I’m fairly new to this past time, and I also am not a young man. My clock is also ticking. So, when this chapter of my life appeared, I realized that I had to collect timepieces a little differently than wine.

For one, even though a well-made watch might have a longer life-span than someone of my age (70), my expected life-span gives me a greater sense of urgency. In other words, I don’t have time to amass a pile of worthless junk. One can go into any number of estate sales and see what I am talking about. I am not into jewelry watches. I like watches with particular movements. And I like to try different watches with different movements.

The first watch that I bought was the Bulgari OctoFinissimo, which I wrote about last week. It was a bit of an extravagance. But seeing as we were in the middle of the Covid pandemic and we weren’t going anywhere far, I took funds that I’d saved for travel and applied it to purchasing a significant watch. One would think it’s all downhill from here, that is, unless something even more rare and unobtainable would present it self to me. But I don’t think spending $175,000 for a Patek Philippe Nautilus, Model 5711, will ever be part of my decision-making process. I’d sooner spend that kind of money on an Aston Martin or Ferrari. And I sure as hell am not going to do that, in any case.

I don’t want to get into too many particulars with this post, as I will ultimately break down all or most of the watches I have amassed in subsequent posts. In this moment, I’m thinking about a philosophy of accumulation. Much like when I was deep in the building of my wine cellar.

One word that keeps popping up is “gravitas.”   I’m definitely searching for watches, like wines, which have a certain seriousness. In wine, that serious quality allows for long term ageing and development past the primary stages to secondary and tertiary ones. I’m not sure a watch ages in quite the same manner. But as it does, it probably does it on a different time schedule. And again, time isn’t something I have a surplus of. So, I must find serious watches that I can afford and enjoy. Like an Omega Speedmaster or a Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight.

But, and this is a big but, I also want to have some fun watches. The equivalent of a nice fresh Italian white wine, or a Chianti Classico. Something I don’t have to pay too much for and can enjoy early on. And what I realized then was that the watches I have collected in my short time as a watch lover, can be broken down into three categories. They are:

•   Watches with Gravitas
•   Practical watches – Tool watches, etc.
•   Fun watches

I’ve talked a little about the watches with gravitas. And also the fun watches. The practical watches round out the middle for me. So far, they have been diving watches, GMT’s and world timers. Reminding the reader that I’ve also sought out diverse and interesting (to me) movements, the calibers that run those watches. And this category reminds me of wines I have collected which, even though they are not first growths or grand cru’s, they are solid, well-made wines which could age well for 10-15 years, or opened earlier. Versatility in wines for sure. In watches, in my opinion, most definitely.

The matter of scale also comes into play. Because when one collects wine, it is primarily so that one can eventually consume and enjoy them. So, one might have 300 or 30,000 bottles in a typical cellar. Watch collecting rarely encompasses those numbers, unless it is a museum, and that doesn’t seem to be part of the reason I am collecting watches. Which is so that I can wear them.

Look, there are folks who collect wine as asset accumulation. And there are folks who do likewise with watches. Investments from which one might double or triple (or more) their money on their initial purchase. But that’s not my reason for doing this, any more than it was when I acquired wines. It was, and is, for personal enjoyment. Wine certainly has filled that goblet. Watches are starting to, as well.

The key, in my delving into horology, is simple. I don’t have infinite time or endless funds. I want to wear the watches I buy and I strive to find watches that scratch a particular niche. So far, I’m pretty happy about where I am, thanks to patience and moreover, to the sage advice of my watch guide, Il Doge di Orologi.

Not the Doge, but the Barone

 

 

written and photographed by Alfonso Cevola - limited rights reserved