Country music fans already know Niko Moon is a chart-topping country singer.
His song “Good Time” went #1 on country radio, while his other hits continue to climb the charts – with brand new music on the way as he continues to tour. In the past Moon has written no fewer than eight #1 songs – and over 40 major record label cuts for artists such as Morgan Wallen, Avicii, Dierks Bentley, Pitbull, Zac Brown Band, Rascal Flatts and more. He has also been a SESAC country songwriter of the year.
In addition to a musical chart-topping superstar, Moon is also an avid watch fan. He wears his Rolex Daytona “Panda” on a daily basis, and has a focused collection that includes Day-Date, GMT Sprite, and a Submariner from the crowned brand. When a Rolex is not on his wrist you might see Niko sporting an IWC Big Pilot or Portugieser. Clearly a fan of the classics, Moon’s short list of favorite brands includes Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin and IWC.
We had a chance to catch up with Niko to ask him a few questions about his own watch collecting:
iW: When did you first develop an interest in watches? NM: I’ve always been fascinated with time. How on one hand it’s an illusion and yet it’s a very real part of life. Over time I tend to view a watch as a steadfast companion that’s always there to remind me of the preciousness of my time on earth. It’s a constant reminder to seize every moment, every second.
iW: I’ve come to understand that you really appreciate watches by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Sohne, Vacheron & IWC. What draws you to a particular watch? Is it brand recognition, function, style, size? Tell us a little bit more about what grabs your attention and how you choose the next watch to add to your collection.
NM: For me, first and foremost I’m drawn to craftsmanship. A perfect example of this is A Lange & Sohne and their time intensive double assembly. Each watch is hand crafted by masters of the watchmaking discipline. There are few things in this world that are made with such care and precision, it’s part of the allure. I prefer watches that are easily integrated into many different styles, whether relaxed or hitting the stage. Steel and yellow gold are my go-to metals as they work well with everything I wear. The longer I am a collector the more I have focused on collectible watches that will prove a wise investment over the long term.
iW: Do you ever get tired of a particular watch and re-sell, or are you keeping every watch you buy?
NM: I have never sold a watch. For me, there is an emotional connection and story to each watch. I wait to get a timepiece until I have a “big moment” I can commemorate.
iW: Your short list of watches shows a penchant for the classics, have you looked at some of the more exotic “boutique” brands that don’t necessarily carry the same name recognition? NM: My favorite more boutique brands are Lange and F.P. Journe. Their attention to detail is something that is just on a whole other level.
iW: What’s the most complicated watch you own?
NM: I do not currently own a high complication watch although I dream of them nightly. My Rolex day date is my most complicated. My dream complication is the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph. The movement of that watch is my absolute favorite, I could look at that movement for hours.
iW: Are there certain colorways or materials that you prefer in a timepiece?
NM: For me, I enjoy all metals except for rose gold. Color wise, black and white are my go-tos. I also love blue and green, (got a left-handed GMT sprite on the way!)
iW: How do you share/feed your enthusiasm for fine timepieces? Do you attend events, head to a favorite boutique, or participate in on-line collector’s groups?
NM: I’m always popping into watch stores while I’m on tour, looking for my next addition. I’m also online at Hodinkee reading articles, looking on Chrono24 or watching the plethora of watch videos on YouTube.
iW: What are your own personal “grail” watches that you would buy the moment they became available?
NM: The Le Mans Daytona is my absolute favorite Daytona. Again, a Lange Datograph in platinum and the Patek Philippe Aquanaut with the black rubber strap. That particular Patek is so under the radar in its casualness but completely stunning.
iW: You have a very high-end collection. Do you also have any “beater” or weekend warrior type watches that get the call to the wrist for more active times or events?
NM: Honestly I wear all of my watches consistently. For me, what’s the point of having them if I can’t enjoy them by wearing them.
iW: How frequently do you like to change-up your wristwear? Do you typically wear one watch for days or weeks at a time, or do you prefer to mix it up based on apparel and situation?
NM: I do go through phases. If I just bought a new watch, I’ll probably wear that one for the next 1-2 months, then it becomes part of the rotation.
iW: Finally, what’s your favorite watch to wear while on the road touring / performing right now?
NM: Right now my Rolex Daytona panda. I just got it and am absolutely in love. I wear it in my sweats and on stage and it looks great in both environments. Even on a smaller wrist like mine it fits perfectly.
I’d like to share with you a story of one watchmaker’s fascinating journey.
Archak Boyadjian was born in 1906 in Bulgaria to a family of watchmakers. His grandfather was a talented clockmaker who could easily fix a hairspring in the palm of his hand with his trusty tools. His father was also a watchmaker.
When Archak turned seventeen, his father sent him to study horology in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Archak Boyadjian was born in 1906 in Bulgaria to a family of watchmakers.
After graduating from school, Archak went back to Bulgaria, to a town called Varna. It was there he got a job through a family friend as a watchmaker repairing clocks. After a while, Archak moved to the capital city, Sofia, with his dad to launch a family watch repair business.
There was one particular customer who often came around to the store, not only asking plenty of questions but also bringing in quite a collection of clocks to repair. After many of these visits, Archak finally asked about the clocks.
He was surprised to discover that they belonged to His Majesty Czar Boris III of Bulgaria. The Czar was an avid collector of timepieces with a penchant for cuckoo clocks. Archak serviced and repaired the Czar’s clocks from 1932 until 1937, after which he moved to Paris and then to the United States.
New name and Navy
Once he landed on the shores of the U.S., Archak changed his name to Archie Boyer to begin his new life in America. In 1939, he joined the Navy as a watchmaker, first fixing chronometers, clocks, and watches on the East Coast before being sent to the West Coast.
During World War II, 15% of all total watch imports coming into the U.S. were destined for the military.At one point during the War, Archie was seemingly sent to the sick bay (at least on official documentation) but in reality, he journeyed on a cargo plane to the South Pacific to fix something.
Omega and Rolex
After the war, Archie joined Bulova and then Omega. Finally, in 1951, he began his career at Rolex, which was located on Fifth Avenue and 45th Street in New York City. As the head of repairs, Archie was always in charge of fixing watches that belonged to dignitaries. For example, he fixed President Eisenhower’s golfing watch and President Kennedy’s timepiece.
Archie’s son Michael remembers his dad bringing watches home all the time to fix them at his workbench at night and on weekends. Archie was always tinkering away at something, whether building, restoring, or repairing. Archie was also the head of the Rolex training program for distributors around the country.
The Rolex USA technical team. After 30 years at Rolex USA, Archie retired in 1971 as Technical Director.
Reviewing all the correspondence that Michael brought to the interview, I could feel and sense the respect that Archie received from peers and clients. They penned beautiful notes of thanks and appreciation.
After 30 years at Rolex USA, Archie retired in 1971 as Technical Director. Michael describes his dad Archie as a reserved man, not very expressive but charming and gifted, and as you can imagine, a perfectionist. He took his craft very seriously and he loved working at Rolex. As Michael described it, Archie was happiest when attending Christmas parties at the company’s headquarters.
Archie Boyer at one of the many Christmas parties at Rolex USA.
Life is an amazing journey and Archie’s is a true testament to his passion, love, and talent for making sure the timepieces under his care worked flawlessly. I could feel Michael’s emotions when he spoke of his late father, who he describes as an “unsung hero.”
Laurent Martinez is the proprietor of Laurent Fine Watches, Greenwich, Connecticut. Read more by him at blog.laurentfinewatches.com or visit his store’s site at www.laurentfinewatches.com
Rolex has started its own Certified Pre-Owned service that now enables retailers in the brand’s official distribution network to sell second-hand Rolex watches that are certified as authentic. All will be sold with a new two-year international guarantee.
The Certified Pre-Owned program concerns all second-hand Rolex watches, provided they are at least three years old.
Rolex says the program will first offer the Certified Pre-Owned watches at Bucherer boutiques in six countries (Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark and the UK) starting this month. Other official Rolex dealers that opt in to the new program will be able to do so starting in Spring 2023.
Valid for two years, the guarantee card is meant to attest to the authenticity and proper functioning of a Certified Pre-Owned Rolex watch.
According to Rolex, the new service is designed to “bring added value to the existing supply of pre-owned Rolex watches. Because when these watches change hands, their authenticity must be attestable at the time of resale by the Official Retailers.”
The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned program offers the opportunity to purchase second-hand watches that are certified and guaranteed by the brand.
The watchmaker explains the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned seal that accompanies the watches “symbolizes their status as certified second-hand Rolex watches. The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned guarantee card, delivered at the time of the sale, officially confirms that the watch is genuine and guarantees its proper functioning. This card bears the words “Certified Pre-Owned” and serves as an official certificate of authenticity.”
Mohammed Rasool Khoory & Sons and Rolex have opened a new boutique in Abu Dhabi.
Located in Yas Mall, the boutique is in the heart of the biggest mall in Abu Dhabi at Yas Island – one of the top tourism projects in the capital. It occupies the ground floor, near to the Fashion Parking.
The 235-square-meter flagship boutique offers professional expertise in an elegant setting, one that promotes a sense of harmony, discretion and intimacy with the brand.
“Having represented Rolex in Abu Dhabi for 53 years, we are very proud to be expanding the Rolex presence in Abu Dhabi. We have always upheld the highest standards of quality and service integral to the brand and our business. Our latest boutique is a peerless testament to the timeless perfection of Rolex watches,” said Mr Yousef Mohammed Rasool Khoori, CEO of the MRK group.
Rolex value
Every element of the interior design features the elegant Rolex aesthetic and radiates the values of the Rolex crown. Excellence, precision and attention to detail emanate from the careful calibration of colours and patterns in the fittings and furnishings.
Sensitive lighting accentuates the beauty of a selection of Rolex watches, which are displayed in refined showcases lined with beige leather and finished with bronze trims.
A striking emerald aqua wall highlights the rich Rolex heritage – its wave motif referencing the iconic Oyster, the world’s first waterproof wristwatch. This intense green is mirrored around the boutique, creating accents that harmonize a refreshed colour palette. The walls mix textures from walnut brown wood to beige-coloured stone and hand-crafted stucco panels with motifs crafted from resins covered in gold leather in a pattern that recalls the fluted bezel of the Oyster watch.
Last month Patrick Getreide, a passionate collector who has spent the past four decades quietly building what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest privately-owned collections of wrist and pocket watches, made his collection freely available for all to see in a remarkable international touring exhibition.
The OAK Collection exhibition (OAK stands for ‘One of A Kind’) comprises 160 vintage and contemporary museum quality watches, among which are unrepeatable special orders, ultra-rare limited editions, the most valuable examples of their type and the largest number of Patek Philippe pieces once owned by the celebrated collector Henry Graves Jr. to now be held in private hands.
Patrick Getreide and a selection of the OAK Collection.
Every watch is in truly perfect condition, with the majority of examples being new or virtually unworn. All are serviced on a regular basis by a highly experienced watch maker whose working life is dedicated to maintaining the collection which, having been patiently gathered and never previously revealed, could fairly be described as one of the watch world’s ‘best kept secrets’.
Tour coming to U.S.
The OAK Collection exhibition was first unveiled in London on May 19 before embarking on a global tour. (We’ll alert our readers about the location and date for the collection’s stop in the United States.)
Patrick Getreide (center) with Patrick Cremers from Patek Philippe (left) and Kari Voutilainen.
Getreide is a remarkable individual filled with exquisite passion to watchmaking and fine horology. He has amassed the OAK Collection (which comprises more than 600 pieces in total) and is happy to share the story of why and how he came to covet, and eventually own, many of the finest watches in the world.
“As a young boy at boarding school in Switzerland, I lived among the children of some of the world’s wealthiest people – but all I had was a small, weekly pocket money allowance. I didn’t feel envy, but I did want to be like these people and their parents. It gave me what I call ‘the Count of Monte Cristo syndrome’, a determination to achieve a level of success that would give me freedom to do the things I loved,” Getreide says.
A Patek Philippe Réf. 5070J
“As soon as I achieved a moderate level of success, I began to buy watches at prices I could afford,” he explains. “Gradually, that amount increased and, little by little, the watches became better and the passion for collecting them became stronger. Perhaps strangely, I never thought of the financial aspect or that values might rise – but, thankfully, I seem to have bought the right ones at the right time,” he explains.
Over the decades Getreide has built up a small, tight-knit network of experts whom he has come to know and trust and who are now the only people through whom he acquires additions to the OAK Collection.
An FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain
In the early stages of creating it, however, he would seek-out rarities everywhere he went.
“As I traveled the world on business, I would always look for watches – but it was at a flea market in France 35 years ago that I think I acquired my greatest bargain. It was a steel Patek Philippe Reference 130 Sector, and when I saw it, I began to shake.
“I see being able to send the OAK Collection exhibition around the world both as a reward to myself for building it and as a unique opportunity to share it with the many people who are just as passionate about watches as I am, but have not been as fortunate as me in having the time and the means to acquire so many special pieces” he continues, “I really do see owning them as an honor and, with that, comes an obligation to let others enjoy them.”
A Patek Philippe Réf. 1579A
Showing the collection
Although Getreide has long wanted to show his watches to other enthusiasts, it was his son who originally suggested doing so by means of a global exhibition having spent a lifetime observing his father’s undying passion for horology.
“I have not been involved in acquiring watches for the collection, but I have been on the margins of it for as long as I can remember,” he explains.
“It has taught me that true collectors are a rare breed who simply never lose interest in the subject they love, but only want to learn more about it. There have been many occasions when I have found my father, very late at night or in the early hours of the morning, poring over watch books either alone at his desk or lying in bed, with dozens of reference works spread out around him.
“As a boy, for example, I quickly grew to understand that when he suggested we looked at a few watches on a Saturday afternoon, it would be a case of spending five hours at his side hearing about every detail and every nuance. And as for shopping for watches with him – that was always a painfully embarrassing experience for me, because he would ask endless questions to ensure that whatever he was considering buying met with his exceptional standards. Nothing must have been tampered with, cases must not be polished, dials must not have been retouched. Originality is key and the overall condition must only be pristine. These have always been the golden rules.”
The collection
The OAK Collection was displayed at The Design Museum London within a series of bespoke-designed, interconnected rooms that were recreated at each location and have taken the viewer on a tranquil horological journey comprising eleven sections, each of which could be described as a ‘chapter’ of time that encapsulates the Getreide’s appreciation of specific genres of watch, from simple, three-hand models to high complication pieces.
A rare Patek Philippe Ref. 25231J, Second Generation.
The maker most strongly represented in the exhibition is Patek Philippe. Vintage Patek Philippe models include references once owned by noted individuals including the musician Eric Clapton and the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, as well as pieces that were developed for particular uses or which display the maker’s mastery of rare hand crafts such as enameling and engraving.
A Rolex Ref. 116506, the first one ever produced.
Also remarkable is the OAK Collection’s extraordinary holding of Patek Philippe watches that once belonged to the legendary patron Henry Graves Jr, the late banker and railroad tycoon who, between 1922 and 1951, commissioned no fewer than thirty-nine watches from the revered maker.
A Patek Philippe Ref. 51311P World Timer
Of those, only around thirty are believed to have survived, five of which form part of the OAK Collection. The only larger selection of Graves watches belonging to a single entity is that on show at the Patek Philippe museum, which holds thirteen.
The Patek Philippe models in the OAK Collection account for six of the exhibition’s 11 sections, covering Calatrava, Nautilus, World Time and perpetual calendar/ complication models in addition to the aforementioned Graves and rare handcraft pieces.
From the Graves section, a Patek Philippe Minute Repeater.
Rolex too
But while the collector focuses strongly on the work of Patek Philippe, he does not do so exclusively. As a Rolex connoisseur, he has allocated three significant sections of the exhibition to its pieces, and has also dedicated an area to watches made by the ‘new age’ independents, notably Francois-Paul Journe and Kari Voutilainen. Getreide’s commitment to modern makers is further demonstrated in the fact that, during the eight editions of the biennial Only Watch charity auction, he has been the most prolific buyer, accruing no fewer than ten unique pieces with dial names as diverse as Kari Voutilainen, H.Moser, and Chanel.
Source: The OAK Collection
Patrick Getreide with Vasken Chokarian, Editor-in-Chief iW Magazine Middle East.
iW Chats with Patrick Getreide
Vasken Chokarian, Publisher iW Middle East: Since you started buying watches to collect, did you ever imagine or think that you will get to where you are right now?
Patrick Getreide: Never. Absolutely not.
Your Patek Philippe collection at the OAK project presentation in The Design Museum in London is scary. I was stunned to see those amazing one of a kind watches, vintage or modern, collected by one person. Why Patek Philippe?
They are simply the best. They are the “Ferrari” of watches. They are the only ones to produce excellence in every category of watchmaking: complication, sport, classical etc…
Is your passion for collecting fine timepieces driven commercially?
Not driven at all by commercial objectives. I have never sold any of my timepiece except one piece only since I started collecting.
What advice do you give to today’s collectors who find it difficult to acquire watches they wish to collect?
Save money – learn a lot about watchmaking – patience.
Why present the OAK Collection, especially at such a global size and exposure?
To bring forth and present the fine watch making as a piece of art. My second objective was to be able to share it with the public.
Are you still collecting or there comes a time when you say it’s enough?
The more the time passes the more I love collecting watches. The passion remains intact.
What would be the first thing that appeals to you when you decide to go for a watch?
The dial attracts me first, then I feel some chills that make think this watch is for me.
How important are auctions to collectors? What other ways have you followed to collect watches?
Auctions are indeed very important but I also buy from some professionals.
What would you say if someone approached you today to buy it all? Would you sell? Why?
I would say “NO !” – I am not a sales man but a “buyer”…
From the collection, Patek Philippe Ref. 3970R, a special order.
iW Middle East has been supporting independent watchmakers for more than two decades. However there are so many who popped out during the last decade as independent watchmakers, some making “limited” watch collections and in doing so hiking up prices to unusual and sometimes illogical levels. What is your input on that practice?
That means that the watch market is in big expansion, we never have to complain about that. Moreover certain new indies could be the “big” watchmakers of tomorrow.
Where would you classify your drive and passion when it comes to buying a watch even though you are advised not to?
My experts explain to me about some watches particularities but at the end, it’s only me who makes my decision. Always.
A Rare Handcrafts Patek Philippe Ref. 2482-2.
The first that struck me about you is your humble and intellectual personality. How difficult is it for collectors to communicate and deal with watchmaking brands who are famed for their arrogance?
If arrogance is felt, it is very simple, I am not interested. Those who are arrogant – and there are many – I don’t buy their brands. Because I was raised learning that you should always respect the customer.
Which timepiece or an horology piece that you always wanted to have but you couldn’t?
