A casual conversation about passion, watches and more – this is our new series “My watch, my passion” in a nutshell. Watches are a topic as fascinating as people and their stories, related directly to them or barely touching on them. Because people are the most important.
Just over three years ago we got the book “A Man and His Watch”. I read it in one breath, and then reached for it a dozen more times – always when she returned from another loan to my friends. Even those of them rather uninterested in the subject of watches appreciated the purely human dimension of the subject and the stories associated with each item described in the album, regardless of its price or prestige. It was this dimension of Matt Hranek’s book that inspired us to create a series in which we want to show you not so much watches as people and their timepieces and the history associated with them. For us, people are the basis of watch passion, and we dedicate this series to them (you). Fake Rolex
The hero of the premiere episode “My watch, my passion …” is Rafał Kluziak. We met Rafał, of course, thanks to watches, during one of our informal GTG meetings in Warsaw, we became good colleagues. Always impeccably dressed, he is a lawyer by profession, a fresh dad (congratulations), a passionate collector of vintage items, including watches, of course. He is particularly fond of a Swiss manufacture and watch that is considered to be one of the greatest classics in the scale and history of the entire industry – the Rolex Day-Date “President”.
CH24: Can you explain to me what is so fascinating about vintage watches?
Rafał Kluziak: First of all, it is a search for models, surprising discoveries of watches that I have not heard about before, then learning about them, and finally a longer hunt for occasions at auctions. That’s when patience, a cool head, and the learning and effort you put into research pays off. There is also a bit of a risk as you never know what you’ll get. This is chasing a bunny, which at the end of the chase may turn out to be something different than we expected.
So the chase is more exciting than the final result, a physical wrist watch?
RK: It’s a different type of excitement. On the one hand, waiting and building tension, and then the joy of the coveted watch. I notice that the more the purchase is delayed in time, the more enjoyable the watch is.
What determines the intensity of this anticipation and tension building? What do you look for in vintage first and foremost?
RK: By definition, I am happy that the model is more rare, because vintage is no longer available in stores. In addition, patterns from previous decades are often underestimated by others. And I like outsiders, e.g. clearly smaller models. This gives you the chance to stand out from the crowd. Patina also allows you to keep a certain distance to perfect elegance. Italians who love old watches, especially Rolexes, are masters of this style.
Speaking of Italy … how was it with your Fake Rolex Day-Date, of Italian “origin” after all?
RK: [Smile] I had been sick with Day-Date for many months. I had a steel and gold Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet that I adored. But I went to Amsterdam and there, at Amsterdam Vintage Watches (@amsterdamvintagewatches), known from Instagram, I tried on the golden Day-Date and… I just fell in love. In his weight, in the bracelet of the President, in the glow of old gold. Probably the last one, because there is something beautiful about oxidized yellow gold. I would never wear a new Day-Date, because it shines too ostentatiously. Besides, the history of this watch is also drawn – it was worn by presidents, it is worn by Warren Buffet, it was worn by Tony Soprano, Jay-Z and probably every other rapper. So you also get the cultural context with it. It is a watch for the brave, but also for the aspiring. It suits my Italian nature. My copy is said to be from a Sicilian doctor.
I saved a long time for my Day-Date, I had to sell 2 other watches, including the Datejusta. I bought a ticket to Rome, flew early in the morning, had breakfast with a friend in Piazza di Spagna, went to a vintage watch dealer, bought it, ate paste, drank negroni and returned to Warsaw on the same day. The trip was worthy of a watch. All of this a week before my wedding. Fake Rolex
Negroni. A classic like the golden “President” …
RK: My favorite drink – dry and sweet at the same time. The best is the Termini bar in Soho, London.
Anthony Bourdain said it was the most masculine drink, and… that no one really liked it for the first time.
RK: It is so with a lot of complicated or difficult things that have to be bitten down, understood, appreciated. But then they are appreciated more than the simple ones.
It’s a bit like vintage watches …
RK: It’s true. They are also more difficult, sometimes dirty and neglected, without marketing, detached from their times and their aesthetics. You have to take care of them more, wind them up in the case of manual watches. But at the same time, when these things are fully understood and appreciated, each of these little difficulties makes you enjoy and appreciate them more. It’s a bit like wrinkles and gray hair. For some it is a sign of ugliness, for me it is a sign of experience and depth. Fake Rolex
Vintage also translates into other areas of your life? Are you old fashioned? Fake Rolex
RK: Yes, I love vintage stuff. Old ties, vinyl records, furniture and Cartier lighters – even though I don’t smoke. I would also like to have a classic old timer at some point. These things have magic for me and someone’s life in them. I guess I’m old-fashioned, because I get pleasure from the problems that vintage stuff generates. I also like to meet talented craftsmen who look after such antiquities and restore them to their splendor.
Our Swiss grade Rolex watches are made of 904L steel, that is more costly and complicated to produce because it’s very hard, but it’s worth it since it is more rust and corrosion-resistant than other steels, and hold the polish much better than the 316L steel. Buy your rolex clone here.
