A few years back, he explains, IWC released a very limited-edition perpetual calendar with a face the deep red of a full-bodied Cabernet and red-gold detailing, in a partnership with brand ambassador and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton. The price tag was $49,200. Grainger-Herr remembers being asked if the hip new partner and standout design was made to appeal to a younger generation of collectors. Now, he scoffs at the idea that a 20-something buying their first watch would be after something so unique—and would then have almost 50 grand to drop on it. “This is a collector’s ninth, tenth, eleventh watch,” he says. The price point of the new chronograph—$6,500—helps, but what new collectors really need is something simple. After all, a person starting off their collection will only have this single watch, so it needs to check plenty of boxes. “Does it work in the office? Does it work when I'm doing sport? Does it work in a bar on a Saturday?” Grainger-Herr asks. “What we see is that first-time watch clients usually have something iconic in their mind. So very often the first choice of a mechanical watch is actually something extremely timeless, and often a design that has an 80-year-plus DNA.” 

IWC has a lot of competition in the starter-watch category, but I understand Grainger-Herr’s argument for his piece. Omega’s Moonwatch would surely have something to say in a fight over which roughly $6,000 chronograph-equipped sports watch represents the ideal starting point for a collection. At that price, Rolex wants to know if you’ll accept a pretty colorful dial and all that Crown cool. Patek Philippe, meanwhile, is sipping Veuve Clicquot and watching the scrum from its castle on the hill. If you’re only going to have one watch, Grainger-Herr isn’t wrong about the qualities you should look for. IWC’s even comes with a system that made it possible for me to easily switch between rubber, metal, and leather bracelets, so you can trick yourself into believing you’re really getting multiple watches in one (Omega’s watch shares this capability). I could have worn my IWC to the office or bar, were any of them open. Now, IWC is hosting panels on Clubhouse and enabling customers to try watches on through AR—initiatives aimed at the first-time buyer. But nothing makes the case for buying a watch quite like wearing the real thing.