Three Questions from the DMs

I opened up a question box on Instagram and the responses were good enough to build a series around. Some questions deserve their own posts, and those are coming over the next few weeks. Today, three that pair well together: what makes a conversation piece, the watches that pulled me into collecting, and a fragment about Breguet numerals from a buddy who knows exactly what he's doing.

Let's get into it.

What is a "conversation piece"?

Asked by @azzz.nomad

To me, a conversation piece is a watch that initiates a conversation all by itself. No prompting. No wrist angling. Someone sees it and has to ask.

By that definition, I don't own many. My lane is understated luxury: pieces that don't scream for attention and tend to blend in. The whole point of the lane is that it doesn't invite conversation. These are iykyk watches.

And yet three have broken through.

H. Moser & Cie Pioneer Centre Seconds Spiced Aqua. I was at dinner with friends at a local sushi spot. One of my buddies wears massive Panerais (his build supports it, he's very muscular) and he glanced over and noticed the bold Spiced Aqua dial on my wrist. He asked to see it, turned it around, and found the HMC 201 automatic calibre through the caseback. He was extremely impressed. It may have been the first independent watch he'd ever seen in person.

Behrens Navigraph. If you looked at my Rothwell SF 24-count watch box, this one sticks out like a sore thumb. It looks nothing like anything else in there. When I wear it, I get a ton of DMs when I post it, people initiate conversation in person, and frankly, I stare at it more than any other watch in the collection. It's just so different. And awesome.

Zenith Chronomaster Triple Calendar Lapis Lazuli. The only watch I own that people have commented on over Zoom. It often gets mistaken for a blue Daytona, and when I explain what it actually is, people are extremely intrigued. The boldness of the lapis lazuli stone against the silver subdials just works.

Notice the pattern. None of these are loud in the gold-Nautilus-at-the-valet-stand way. The Moser is a color. The Behrens is an architecture. The Zenith is a material. My buddy didn't ask about the Moser because he recognized it. He asked because he didn't. Conversation pieces, at least in my box, run on curiosity rather than recognition.

There's a second version of this answer, though. When I'm sitting with collectors or people who appreciate haute horology and they ask about my swimlane, the lane itself becomes the conversation. The understated luxury moniker has intrigued more people than any single watch I own. It often gets mistaken for old-money visuals, and it's not that. It's simply pieces that don't scream for attention.

So among civilians, the watch starts the conversation. Among collectors, the thesis does.

Either way, I don't choose watches because they're conversation pieces... the conversation finds them anyway.

What watch got you more interested in collecting?

Asked by @thatdavidmerlin, who noted that Teddy talks about the Max Bill

I had to look up "gateway watch" because I'd never heard the term. Apparently it's the watch that draws you into collecting. For me there were two, for very different reasons.

I grew up buying Fossil watches in high school and college. Their colors and designs are what stuck out to me. I loved accenting my outfits with a watch, and I remember a silver and lime green one that got a ton of wrist time. That was my entry into the watch as a piece that complements an outfit. It was my version of jewelry. I knew nothing about movements, calibres, or complications. Didn't matter.

Then I got my first internship at a digital media company in NYC in the late 90s, and I noticed all the successful people were wearing big Panerais. I thought that success was a big Panerai watch. I strived to own one and finally did, on the sale of my first company. I even bought one for my business partner.

The Panerai was my gateway to the watch as motivation. Candidly, I do well with motivation. Knowing there's a prize at the end of the workflow works on me, and I'm not sure why, it just does. So I've used certain watches as milestone watches for achieving certain things. My wife will tell you I rarely wait and just buy the watch anyway, and that may be true. I do not have the most patience in the world. I consider that a feature, not a bug.

So: the Fossil taught me watches as style. The Panerai taught me watches as milestones. Both threads still run through the collection today.

And yes, I clocked the irony. My gateway was a big Panerai, and the buddy from the Moser story above wears big Panerais today. The lane changed. The instinct didn't.

Breguet numerals for the clock or dates.

Asked by @chr0n0mncr

Technically a fragment, not a question. He's a buddy, so he gets away with it.

My answer: I don't mind Breguet numerals when the watch is right for them. I don't have religion around them like I do some other things. Used well, they absolutely work. The Breguet Classique line is the obvious proof, since that's where the numerals came from and where they still look most at home.

Here's the honest footnote, though. I went through my collection in my head and I cannot think of a single watch I own with Breguet numerals. Forty slots, years of buying, none made the cut.

No religion against them. Apparently no devotion either....draw your own conclusion.

More from the question box coming in the next post, including whether I'd ever start a watch brand. Short answer: it's complicated, and the long answer is worth its own piece.