As the watch-collecting community continues to grow, more and more 20-somethings — young millennials and older Gen Z-ers — are becoming passionate about horology.
For many of them, the internet, with its huge amount of information about watches and its access to brands and dealers, has helped fuel that interest — and sites such as Instagram are particularly popular among young watch enthusiasts. As Jorge Moss, the host of the YouTube program “Watch Yourself, Jorge,” put it, “social media is everything to me.”
Recently, The New York Times gathered four such collectors at the Broadwick Soho hotel in London, and the discussion turned to their reliance on social media, the TikTok generation gap and the significance of vintage.
In addition to Mr. Moss, 26, who wore a vintage Omega De Ville, the group included Iranola Folorunsho, 23, who works in artificial intelligence and wore a Santos de Cartier.
The other participants wore Rolexes: Isaac Kizza, 28, a founder and co-host of the horology podcast “The Time Keepers,” who works in software sales; and Giovanni Prigigallo, 28, a founder of EveryWatch, a website that tracks resale watch prices. (He also brought along the timepiece that got him started as a collector: the Swatch Irony that he received when he was 6 years old.)
The conversation has been edited and condensed.
You collect watches at a time when many of your contemporaries choose not to wear them. How do your friends feel about that?
JORGE MOSS They do have the mentality of “If I need to check the time, I can look at my phone.” My response is, “It’s not just about knowing what the time is.” It is one accessory that can say more about you than anything else. It can say a lot about what you value, what your style is. And plus it can show an interest in history, art, engineering, jewelry — all of these things.
GIOVANNI PRIGIGALLO Exactly.
IRANOLA FOLORUNSHO I have a lot of friends who are into watch collecting and I definitely have an avid interest in it. They to go to events and read up about it and we discuss it, group chat about it. So yeah, I have friends who accept that I might wear a nice watch here and there.
What role does social media play in your watch collecting?
ISAAC KIZZA Especially for us being the younger generation, I feel like it’s huge. People don’t watch TV anymore — the new medium is on the phone and on Instagram.
MOSS It’s my whole watch world, really.
FOLORUNSHO Likewise.
MOSS Because I review watches on YouTube, I’m constantly interacting with people. Even when I reach out to brands, 99 percent of the time it’s on social media — I’ll send them a message through Instagram because it tends to be where they’re most easily accessible and more receptive as well.
I’ve met so many people and communicated with most of the people I know in the watch world through social media, bar a few people who I’ve happened to meet in person at events and stuff.
PRIGIGALLO It’s really important for me — mostly, I would say, YouTube. More than anything I like to inform myself.
FOLORUNSHO So longer-form content?
PRIGIGALLO Yeah, it’s a little more rich. Or I might see something on social media and then go to YouTube and learn more about it.
Of course I started, I guess, earlier than you guys, where Instagram was just coming up and blowing up, and there was already some watch stuff on there. I had a few pages that I was following and then, of course, [the luxury-watch resale website] Chrono24 was coming up at the time. Also using the platform to see watches and understand about the prices maybe has to do with, as well, the business, EveryWatch, that I created later.
Do you use TikTok too?
FOLORUNSHO I do.
KIZZA He’s Gen Z. I’m a millennial.
What type of watch content do you watch?
FOLORUNSHO TikTok, for me, is really used for information gathering. For instance, when I’m looking for a particular type of watch, if I can’t find it via Google search, I’ll just put the name into TikTok and see a bit about it. And then I’ll see maybe a video about someone who found it at an auction house. I’m like, “OK, I found a bit about the specs of the watch — now I can look.” I go onto YouTube and do a bit more research.
So for me, TikTok is almost like a search engine.
Do you shop for watches online?
KIZZA Yeah, yeah — the majority. A lot of the initial watches I had were bought off eBay because you start where you don’t have as much money and eBay increases accessibility — there’s a ton of great vintage Omegas and various other brands. I have bought some watches in Watches of Switzerland too, so it kind of varies. But vintage is online for me.
PRIGIGALLO My Instagram is filled with vintage dealers and dealers from all over the place. Whenever I see something I like, I just inquire about it and it’s easy.
When you’re shopping for watches in physical stores, does your age work against you?
PRIGIGALLO One hundred percent. It’s happened to me before. I was in sportswear and I had seen that there was a watch, a Rolex, in the window that was available. I wanted to buy it. I came back an hour or two hours later, not super well-dressed and so on, and I got those looks like, “What are you doing here? Are your parents coming?”
FOLORUNSHO I think the best advice I’ve been given is that if you are serious on buying, either wear something impressive or go with someone who has something impressive.
Watch theft has become such a big issue — is that something you think about?
PRIGIGALLO Absolutely. I wouldn’t wear this watch with the full metal strap — that’s why I put it on this strap, just because it flies under the radar. It’s not immediately, “Oh, that’s a Rolex. I’m going to go after it.” I tend to wear certain types of watches when I travel that just don’t call the attention — it’s harder to see what it is.
FOLORUNSHO It’s peace of mind, isn’t it?
PRIGIGALLO Yeah, yeah. It’s peace of mind, absolutely.
KIZZA I think some people can be a bit smarter in how they conduct themselves or how they move. I mean, it is a shame because you should be able to wear whatever whenever, but then we know that the world is different, so we just have to be a bit more aware. Same with our phones — glued to your phone and it gets taken. Same with your watch.
How do you feel about collecting vintage watches versus more modern pieces?
FOLORUNSHO I think the vintage guys are definitely a little bit cooler. That’s what I think, because I’m trying to be one.
MOSS It’s a whole thing.
FOLORUNSHO It’s true.
KIZZA I’ve realized it’s sartorial, maybe, what you’re into. I think it’s that whole collectible thing, and then it goes into cars. That’s a huge thing I see in Italy, certain Porsches or certain pieces of art, and clothes. It’s the whole thing. There’s definitely a connection I think between vintage watches and then other kinds of things.
MOSS For me, it speaks to a deeper appreciation for that history and that you want to wear what is essentially a piece of history on your wrist.
Newer is more … you’re more of a spec beast. You want something that’s the most accurate, you want something with the most water resistance. I can be guilty of that as well. I mean, my first luxury watch is water-resistant to 3,000 meters and I love that about it. When are you going to use that?
But sometimes I’m in a different mood: sometimes I want to wear something that is understated, with decades of history. Sometimes I want to wear something that is just the best and most modern thing.
PRIGIGALLO I’m guilty of buying new as well, but I think vintage tells a lot because you need to do research to buy vintage. You can immediately tell, “OK, you had to go through a research process to get to the conclusion that I want to buy that watch.” It’s not just, “I like that watch. It’s vintage from 30 years ago — I’m just going to buy it,” because there are so many nuances and so many things that you need to consider.
