Building the Ultimate Watch Collection on Wristcheck

Curating the perfect watch collection is a time-consuming and costly exercise. The art of acquiring grails, sourcing unicorns and securing allocations is a seemingly undending quest, which is of course, part of the joy. But today we’ve decided to speed run the perfect collection build, thanks to watches that are (at time of writing) currently available on Wristcheck. 

 

Of course, we’re not spending real money on this fantasy draft, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t put real effort into building the ultimate collection — one that covers all the bases and offers superlative choices in every single slot. Every single one of the watches we’ve picked represents a best-in-class choice. But before we can go into the details of each pick, we need to lay out the methodology. In terms of numbers, we’ve kept it manageable at five watches, and we’re opting for a versatile collection with no brand repetition because while a handful of Royal Oaks or Patek Philippe’s is entirely valid, we’re not losing anything by mixing it up. We’re also going straight to the top of the tree in terms of quality. That means we’ve clicked ‘Buy’ at the top of this page, gone straight to price and clicked $100K +. Sure, there are awesome watches to be had at any price point, but we’re building the ultimate collection, not the affordable one. 

 

Finally, in terms of categories, we’ve kept it simple and played to some common collector tropes. We’ve opted for a dress watch, a sports watch, a watch suitable for daily wear, a statement piece and finally, a wildcard. 

 

Of course, this is an entirely subjective take, and we’ve had to make some pretty tough (albeit hypothetical choices), and some exceptional watches have been left on the table. So, let us know how we did, and what you would have picked. 

The Daily Wearer: Patek Philippe Aquanaut ref. 5968G

Regardless of reference or variant, the Aquanaut is a superlative choice for a daily. The combination of smooth ergonomics, slender profile and rubber strap makes the Aquanaut an actual joy to wear. But of course, we’re going all out for this particular Aquanuat, so we’re going straight to one of the coolest Aquanaut releases in recent years, 2021’s ref. 5968G in khaki. The green dial, with its globe-like ‘Aquanaut’ pattern, is seamlessly matched to the strap and gives a casual air to this single-register chrono. Of course, the white gold also helps this Patek Philippe fly under the radar. 

The Dress Watch: F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d’Égalité

While F.P. Journe creates some very fine sports watches, the brand’s raison d’être is compelling contemporary classics — making it the perfect brand for a modern dress watch, combining cool-factor, credibility and simply stunning good looks. This 38mm platinum Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d’Égalité is an important model for the brand, showcasing the unique aesthetics alongside technical prowess. Journe’s iconic tourbillon is here fitted with a remontoir, or deadbeat seconds, giving the seconds hand a characteristic tick and allowing for greater accuracy. Of course, some purists argue that a dress watch should be uncomplicated, but for this watch, we’re willing to risk it. 

The Sports Watch: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar

We’re going a little to the left of the centre with our sports watch pick. Not by choosing the Audemars Royal Oak — most people would agree that the AP RO is one of the defining luxury sports watches of the modern era. No, we’ve bucked the trend by picking a perpetual calendar, a complication rarely associated with the rough-and-tumble image of the sports watch. Hear us out, though; this is meant to be the ultimate collection, so a white gold Royal Oak, with a frosted gold finish and a perpetual calendar powered by the legendary Calibre AP 5134, which was formally retired this year, makes for an appropriately epic sports watch. 

The Statement Piece: A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Lumen

Potentially the hardest category to successfully pull off in this list is the Statement piece. Simply put, in any real-world collection, each and every one of the five watches here would be over-qualified to meet the criteria of a statement piece. They’re all exceptionally rare and highly coveted examples of their craft. But when it comes to a particular type of sober exceptionalism, it’s hard to beat A. Lange & Söhne. The German brand has built an empire on making timepieces are hard to beat on any metric. This Zeitwerk Lumen is a great example of how superlative Lange is. The Zeitwerk is an innovative take on the digital display and manages to execute it in a way that doesn’t feel flashy at all. Add to this the brand’s much-loved ‘Lumen’ treatment, which adds a contemporary flavour to this otherwise timeless design. Finally, even the gold case is stunning, thanks to the choice of the brand’s proprietary Honeygold. It truly is one of the great IYKYK watches, which is why it’s our statement pick.

The Wildcard: Rolex Daytona Rose Gold Rainbow

To round out our top-tier quintet, we’ve got to choose a wildcard. A watch that, for our purposes, could fit in any of the above categories but possesses enough aura to justify its own slot. While there were plenty of watches in Wristcheck’s catalogue that would count, the choice was easy. The Rolex Daytona Rainbow in Everose. It’s hard to believe, but this watch flew under the radar when it was released in 2018. However, in the years since, it’s earned a mythic status. Limited production, maximum hype, and one of the most stunning gem-set bezels ever produced make this the ultimate wildcard, perfect for Wristcheck’s ultimate collection.