Ironically, no one has ever given me a watch! I have never received a watch on Christmas morning, or on any other occasion. For example, I had to buy my own engagement present watch. The ghosts of my Christmases past aside, these are the watches I’d love to receive on Christmas morning.

De Bethune DB28T Kind of Blue Tourbillon
Being a New Yorker, I know that the most amazing cheeseburger is an entity that is far greater than the sum of its parts, and the De Bethune Kind of Blue Tourbillon, also known as the DB28T, is just that. It is one of the most technically ambitious watches in the world.

It’s the world’s lightest tourbillon and the cage is completely reconfigured from that of a traditional tourbillon. It’s got this beautiful, flame-blued grade 5 titanium case.

But the point is that the transforming of this watch, using this blue aesthetic, has enabled it to transcend being a timepiece and it becomes a piece of art to me, like a Marc Chagall painting.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques Cornes de Vache 1955
Since Vacheron Constantin released the Cornes de Vache chronograph, I’ve been incredibly enamored of it.

I love the Lemania 2310 movement, a chronograph movement designed in the ’40s, which played such an enormous role in the resurrection of the mechanical watch industry.

Without that movement, Patek, Vacheron and Breguet wouldn’t have had their chronograph watches. That movement, now residing in a smaller-sized, beautifully stylized Vacheron Constantin watch, is just majestic.

But I don’t want a platinum watch—I want one in yellow gold with a pulsometer and an ancient silvered dial. This would be an even more nostalgic expression of the Cornes de Vache.

Rolex Day-Date Oysterquartz
My friend just bought a beautiful vintage 18K gold Rolex Day-Date Oysterquartz from 1983.

I love the fact that even though the Quartz Crisis is something we think about with enormous vilification, it also compelled the watch industry to become incredibly creative and innovative.

It’s so interesting to see a Rolex Oyster Day‑Date, which is so iconic, with a ticking second hand. It is extraordinary.