Xi Wang
My actual watch collecting journey has been short. However, since Anthony didn’t give me a word limit (very brave of him), let’s start from the very beginning – before I started collecting, before I started sketching watches, and before the world of Instagram.
Rado Jubile
Watches were always present in my childhood, even though at the time I had no interest in them, and the only brand I could name was probably Omega. My mother went through different jobs as I was growing up, but her side gig was always to do simple watch repairs. I have a distinct memory of her teaching me how to open a watch caseback and change the battery on the coffee table. I think I was 7 or 8 at the time.
As a child, I thought of watches as something that adults needed to wear, it represented ‘adulthood’ because, somehow, being an adult meant you needed to be able to tell the time with something other than a Nokia or a Blackberry. For my 20th birthday, which was considered a significant birthday in my culture, my father offered to gift me a watch and I accepted.
This led to a two-to-three-day excursion to Hong Kong, during which my father took me watch shopping. Fortunately, he let me choose my first watch. Unfortunately, when I pointed to a lovely rectangular Longines in the display window, he said: ‘buy that yourself when you get a job.’
“Fortunately, he let me choose my first watch. Unfortunately, when I pointed to a lovely rectangular Longines in the display window, he said: ‘buy that yourself when you get a job.’”
My first watch was a black dial rectangular Rado Jubile on a bracelet with four tiny diamond markers. It was small and sleek, and I felt elegant while wearing it. For the following few years, it was my only watch.
[This is also a good time to mention that I suspect my father was an Omega fanboy, but I have never been able to truly prove this. My mother, on the other hand is a proud Rolex fangirl.]
Cartier Tank
About three years after I started working, a colleague of mine got engaged, and was gifted a Cartier watch from her mother. She talked about how Cartier watches were like a family heirloom that could be passed down to the next generation. I spent the next hour or two in the office secretly looking up Cartier watches on their website. Then I saw it. A Cartier Tank in gold.
This was before I knew that Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, andAndy Warhol wore the watch, before I realised just how iconic the watch was. But I was already in love. The price listed on the website was one that I couldn’t afford at that time. I don’t remember which model of the Tank it was, only that I was in love, and I didn’t have $8,000 to spend on a watch. So I called my father and told him that for my thirtieth birthday – because planning ahead was important – he may gift me a Cartier watch. It was at that very moment that his Omega fanboy nature finally revealed itself and he said something along the lines of: ‘buy from a brand that focuses only on watches, like Omega.’
“It was at that very moment that his Omega fanboy nature finally revealed itself and he said something along the lines of: ‘buy from a brand that focuses only on watches, like Omega.’”
It would take another 10 years before I bought myself a Cartier Tank.
[Andy Warhol said: ‘I don’t wear a Tank watch to tell the time. Actually I never even wind it. I wear a Tank because it is the watch to wear!’ There is something satisfying knowing that the artist – whose studio was known as The Factory and whose artwork spoke about mass marketing and mass production, but also about icons and what it means to immortalise an image – wore a Cartier Tank but didn’t care to wind it.]
Reverso
Fast forward several years later and I decided that it was time to buy myself a watch. The decision was not to celebrate any particular milestone, it was more a validation that I had reached a point in my life where I could afford that luxury piece that I had wanted for years. In preparation for the purchase, I spent more time diving deeper into watches than I had ever anticipated – and narrowed my choices to the Cartier Tank and the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. Both were iconic, both were elegant, both had great origin stories, and both were rectangular.
In the end the decision came down to fit and the dial. On the day I visited Cartier, they only had the Tank Solo in stock, which was flatter than I had anticipated and didn’t sit well on my wrist. The JLC boutique was only a few doors down and I had a wonderful experience in the store. The classic Reverso in small fit me perfectly. It was beautiful and comfortable, and I loved everything about it. Most importantly, it made me look forward to wearing it every day, and I enjoy the feeling of winding the watch each morning.
Even now, I catch myself looking at the Reverso and marvelling at how attractive it really is. It remains my most worn watch and the favourite watch in my collection.
Instagram and watch art
Despite all its faults, Instagram made me feel like I was part of the watch enthusiast community.
I initially made a watch account because I wanted a feed that was full of watches. I couldn’t really talk about watches with my friends because (most of the time) they simply weren’t interested. I didn’t need to explain why I had more than one handbag but would often be asked why I needed more than one watch. I knew I had found my crowd when I posted a story of me trying on a Grand Seiko watch and several people dm-ed me with the reference number. I was also fortunate to have connected with several friendly women watch collectors not long after I started my account. To chat with other women with the same hobby has been so amazing.
The watch art aspect of my Instagram stemmed from pure lockdown boredom. I think one of the first sketches I filmed was of me holding my Reverso in one hand and drawing with a brush pen in another. I drew and painted watches that I owned as well as watches that I wanted. It was quite cathartic.
In October 2021, I took on the Inktober challenge. It was a challenge that I had attempted in previous years but never finished. I guess it’s a true testament to my obsession with watches that I was easily able to draw a watch every day for an entire month – and enjoy it. I started drawing lessons at a fairly young age. It was something I had always enjoyed and fortunately for me, my family was supportive of this hobby. Some time in my teens I took lessons in Chinese painting but this was for a relatively short period. In high school I threw myself into oil painting and then I studied art history in University. Over the years, I managed to find a good balance in having a day job that kept me intellectually stimulated, and maintaining an appreciation for art in my spare time.
“I didn’t need to explain why I had more than one handbag but would often be asked why I needed more than one watch.”
Now that I have found a way to combine my love of art and watches – I can’t help but want to paint every beautiful watch or movement that I come across. I find myself looking at watches in more detail and thinking about how I would depict it and what medium and style would best capture the essence of what really attracted me to that particular watch and its charms. Often, I finish a painting or drawing and find that I have even more appreciation for that watch.
I am grateful to the watch community for providing me with a stress-free platform to experiment, and to improve my art and my watch related knowledge. It has made this entire journey so much more enjoyable.
Getting to Know Xi
Vintage or modern?
This is difficult for me to answer. If vintage was easier to purchase, I would choose vintage.
Automatic or manual winding?
Manual winding.Favorite complication?
GMT.Leather strap or bracelet?
It really depends on the watch. If I had to make a choice, a good bracelet can be super comfortable.Favorite watch in your collection?
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso.Favorite dress watch on the market?
If we are including vintage, Patek Philippe 3940.Favorite sport watch on the market?
Explorer 1. I am also very fond of watches with sports related origin stories, like the Vacheron Constantin 1921 and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso.Favorite chronograph watch on the market?
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Chronograph (sector dial).Favorite integrated bracelet watch?
Vacheron Constantin 222.What is your grail/exit watch?
I don’t have one.
A big thank you to Xi for sharing her time and watch journey with the community. Please make sure to follow her on Instagram at itselevenxi.