When Sandeep Nair opened up his box of watches housing great timepieces from the most respected brands alongside vintage pieces, I was unsure of where to begin our conversation. Because there’s a story behind every watch Nair owns. Perhaps that is why even though his collection features heavy-hitters, Nair doesn’t like to call himself a ‘watch collector’, instead preferring ‘watch enthusiast’, a term that certainly has more of an emotional connotation. And he was wearing the timepiece that personified this the best, on his wrist—the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph (Ref. 26470OR.OO.1000OR.03.A). Nair bought the 42mm full 18K rose gold watch with a black dial with a ‘Méga Tapisserie’ pattern for his wedding. 

“I bought it in Dubai, in 2020. And the watch was selected by my father,” recalls Nair, Director at Metallide Chemical Industries, taking the watch off his wrist. Handing the substantially heavy piece to me, he continues, “I was going to buy the Patek Philippe Ref. 5712, but my father suggested that an AP was better for the occasion. I trust his judgment, so I went with him to shortlist the watch. I was looking at a Royal Oak Offshore with a blue dial, and was ready to give the deposit. And suddenly I saw this watch—somebody else was trying it. The watch had launched just a week before, and I liked its black and gold contrast. Once I wore it, all other watches felt insignificant because of the heft of it. But the other gentleman purchased the piece, and I had to wait for a long time to get it.” Today, this timepiece is one of Nair’s favourites, and rests in a collection that features more than 20 watches from brands like Rolex (Daytona, Day-Dates, and Sky-Dweller), Panerai, MB&F, Rado, Raymond Weil and more. I was able to enjoy some of these at close quarters, while few, Nair informed me, rested securely in his bank locker. There is also a Titan watch which his sister gave him as a graduation present, engraved with the words “Sandy, we are proud of you”.

Nair started collecting seriously when he acquired his first Rolex Daytona Ref. 116503 in Oystersteel and yellow gold with a champagne dial in the year 2017. In fact, it was a watch that he bought along with the Datejust 41 Ref. 126333 with a champagne, diamond-set dial and a Jubilee bracelet—having recently fallen in love with mechanical timepieces, he went all out and bought the two Rolexes together. The other Rolex watches in his collection include the Sea-Dweller Ref. 126600, which is, again, special—it was this one that he wore when his daughter was born. “It’s also a rough watch that I wear everyday. This watch has been with me to all parties, beaches, factories. So, yeah, this is like my buddy.”

Nair’s next buy was in 2018—the ‘Hulk’ Submariner Ref. 116610LV—that he wears the most. “I can wear it with a suit, with a jacket, anything really. I guess this size is suitable for every outfit, and so this one of my favourites,” says Nair. Next was the ‘Pepsi’ or GMT-Master II Ref. 126710BLRO, a piece that wasn’t the easiest to land.

Born and raised in Delhi, Nair did his schooling and graduation here, completing his post graduation in M.Sc from University of Warwick, UK, and his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. The fascination with watches started at a young age—when he was around eight, a Timex on his cousin’s wrist caught his attention. His father, a watch lover himself, bought him a similar watch, so he could learn to read time. Nair went on to wear that Timex till he was in Class 11. “It never came off my wrist. The straps were changed, batteries were changed, but even while showering I didn’t take it off. I always loved watches,” says Nair. From there, Nair progressed to collecting sturdy G-Shocks because nothing could destroy them. He also took an interest in Swatch, especially its James Bond editions. 

How he acquired his Panerai Luminor PAM01359 is another fun story. “I fought with my wife. So that’s the foundation,” he recalls laughing. “We picked up a fight somewhere, and I had the money, so to calm myself, I just bought it. I had done some research—I had seen MS Dhoni wear a GMT version during the 2018.” Understandably, it is his “least planned watch”. The MB&F M.A.D.1 Red is the one that Nair acquired through the brand’s annual raffle because it was something which he could afford.

One of his favourite watch stories is about missing a great deal on a Rolex. “Getting a discount on a Rolex is a big deal. And even a bigger one when it is offered on a stainless steel Daytona,” says Nair. When he was buying his first two Rolex watches, the Daytona and the Datejust 41, his dealer offered him a discount on a stainless steel Daytona. “Because I was buying two at the same time, the gentleman offered me a steel Daytona. But I preferred a gold one, and didn’t take the deal. That was a mistake, because you cannot get a steel Daytona for less than US $40,000 today. And he was offering it to me because I was buying two, that too on a 10 per cent discount, which is unheard of,” says Nair with regret and laughter combined. “After that whenever I wanted to buy a steel Daytona, people quoted so much, it didn’t make any sense. Maybe someday, I will acquire it,” he says. 

The latest watch in his collection is the Olam, the timepiece developed by the Kerala watch collector community, TimeGrapher that pays tribute to Kerala’s heritage. The 400-piece limited edition watch derives its name from the festival of Onam, and its design takes cues from the iconic Chundanvallom boat race and the natural beauty of the state.

Nair has also purchased the Patek Philippe 5712, which is soon going to be a part of his watchbox. Other pieces that are set to get added to his collection are a limited edition Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver, A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk, and Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921. He is also in the process of personalising his Sea-Dweller with the independent watch customisation workshop Artisans de Genève—it will feature a blue aesthetic, from the bezel to the dial, and the dial will be more skeletonised. 

Nair says he is also inclined towards independent watchmakers such as Laurent Ferrier, F.P. Journe, and Philippe Dufour, and would like to add them in the future. And though he doesn’t prefer buying vintage watches because of the unavailability of expert servicing in the country, one of the more interesting pieces in Nair’s collection is an erotic Georgian pocket watch made during the Soviet era. “The figurines move to mark the seconds and it is a completely handmade watch. This was the actual movement from 1910 and was in a bad shape. The mechanics has been renovated. And the rest of it is original. It was brass, so it has faded, and I like that look,” says Nair about the pocket watch, which he bought through an online platform for vintage watches.

He usually acquires his watches from retailers, and does not prefer to buy anything online except for the G-Shocks because he knows their look and feel. Nair shares this passion for watches with his father, whom he calls “a companion in his watch collecting journey”. They share their watches all the time, which is to say this is not just Nair’s collection, but also his father’s.