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If you know about status symbols, you know about watches — some of the most prized collectibles of today’s day, able to transcend time, trend, and circumstance. And if you have a thriving timepiece collection to call your own, we’d be remiss not to share the good news: that of luxury book publisher Taschen putting an all-new coffee table book, “Ultimate Collector Watches,” on the market, which just might make you even more of an enthusiast.
‘Ultimate Collector Watches’
Price upon publish date of this article: $250, $850
Each of its pages is a step in the journey through the world’s rarest, most sought-after, and exquisite watches — spanning 100 of them in total across over 120 years, including the circa-1892 Louis Brandt & Frère Minute Repeater, capable of acoustically relaying the time, and the Patek Phillipe Chronometro Gondolo, an 18-karat yellow-gold dazzler that was produced just 10 times.
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Rather than being a visual-only work, the book intersperses vintage advertisements, archival sketches, and close-up shots of the watches in question — often treating readers to an inside look at their cross-sections — with the kind of detailed history of horological innovations that would pique the curiosity of even the most well-versed aficionado. Here, you can read up on how Louis Cartier, at 28 years old, designed what is considered the first modern wristwatch; learn the business philosophy Rolex originally operated under (“only great marketing is needed to make a company successful”); and get introduced to the Bulgari Serpenti bracelet watches, with their carefully laid-out diamond patterns and snake motifs, that received key product placements on Old Hollywood starlets like Elizabeth Taylor.
After diving into the facts presented so artfully yet accessibly in “Ultimate Collector Watches,” you’ll come away from the experience being more sure than ever that you can’t extricate the chronicles of chronometers from the tales of our time at large. Case in point: The 1962 Cartier Tank that Jackie Kennedy was inseparable from had an important engraving on the back, unbeknownst to many. It read: “Stas to Jackie 23 Feb. 63. 2:05 AM to 9:35 PM.” “Ultimate Collector Watches” reveals that these seemingly enigmatic digits refer to the start and stop times of President Kennedy’s 50-mile hike (as part of his executive fitness challenge for the entire nation) alongside Prince Stanislaw (Stas) Radziwill, the Polish prince and socialite who actually gifted the Cartier watch to Kennedy’s wife.
Want to give this two-volume, 960-page publication on the finest watches ever made the same air of exclusivity that’s bestowed upon the collecting of said watches? Invest in its collector’s edition, of which only 1,000 copies are to be distributed by Taschen. Not only is it individually numbered, but this pricier version also features foil embossing, gilded edges, and slipcases.
Because if you’re a horophile, you live for the details.
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‘Ultimate Collector Watches’
Price upon publish date of this article: $250, $850
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Meet the Author
Stacia Datskovska is a Senior Commerce Writer at WWD. Previously, she worked at ELLE DECOR as an assistant digital editor, covering all things luxury, culture, and lifestyle through a design lens. Her bylines over the past five years have appeared in USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Teen Vogue, Boston Globe, Food & Wine, and more. Prior to joining ELLE DECOR, Datskovska learned the ins and outs of e-commerce at Mashable, where she tested products, covered tentpole sales events, and curated gift guide roundups. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations. Datskovska regularly reports on luxury fashion, accessories, and collector’s pieces worth readers’ time.