MOOD

25 world records at various auctions. Every time I do, I get goose bumps,", admits the big kid that he still is. "One of the greatest moments was probably buying the second most complicated watch from Henry Graves Jr.: the 1932 Patek Philippe pocket watch, tourbillon chronometer, in platinum, and its Observatory Bulletin for its accuracy record. It is absolutely immaculate! It was fabulous.".

"For vintage watches, it's the watches that choose me. Opportunities seem to arise naturally. When it's time, it's time", replies the cheerful collector, almost candidly. However, his selection criteria is actually quite drastic: only new old stock, unique or very rare pieces, of impeccable quality. This is how he managed to obtain an incredible Patek Philippe 1518R, from 1948, the only one in pink gold, including the dial on a Gay Frères wristband. "It has never been polished! It is perhaps the most impressive Patek in my collection", our enthusiast proudly admits. However, he also likes watches that tell a story, such as this 1945 gold Rolex 3525, known as the Monoblocco Tagliatti. It was a gift from Palmiro Tagliatti, secretary of the Italian Communist Party, to his doctor P. Biocca, in gratitude for saving his life. "I was touched by the story and I enjoyed the communist nod," he recalls. His rigorous criteria occasionally leads him to refuse watches at the risk of regretting it. Thus, ten years ago, he learned that a sale of Winston Churchill's Victory watch was being held in London. He rushed over, full of hope and excitement. Alas, "the watch was in disastrous condition, dented all over. I didn't buy it. I kind of regret it today. Churchill, whom I greatly admire, perhaps deserved a departure from my principles," Patrick Getreide concedes.

How does one go about accumulating such a collection? Teasingly, he explains: "Having a lot of money helps. Yet, above all, you have to understand what you want, have the right people around you to seize the best opportunities... and not sell

anything.". Indeed, he has never parted with a piece, except once. "More than 20 years ago: the Breguet Dollfus, one of the brand's most prominent watches. It had been flown across the Channel in a plane. I paid a lot of money for it. A few years later, I sold it to buy a house."

"Esse Quam Videri" in Latin - "To be rather than to appear" - is engraved on the back of one of the five Patek Philippe watches in the Henry Graves, Jr. collection. Is he seeking recognition for putting himself in the spotlight? With a shrug, he refutes: "Absolutely not. I don't frequent the watchmaking world. I mainly meet with Thierry Stern and the experts close to me. I have too many passions to devote myself solely to watchmaking. I like to watch a football match, spend time with my children, my friends, and go boating. I don't really need any other recognition. This exhibition is my contribution towards establishing watchmaking as a recognised art form. There are many private art collections in museums. It's about time that watchmaking also found its place there.".

If you met Patrick Getreide's friends, what would they say about him? The affable and generous man ponders the question. "They would probably say I have heart. It is my main attribute despite my many faults. I am very loyal. Tomorrow (for the opening of the exhibition at the Design Museum, ed.), I have friends of 57 years who are joining me. They are chosen brothers. Finally, I attach great importance to human qualities. This is also the case in my relations with watch brands.".

Even if it is very difficult to choose among all these marvellous watches, the collector does have his favourites: "At Patek Philippe, the 1518R bracelet Gay Frères mentioned earlier. For Calatrava, probably the 1579A from 1950 in yellow gold with its large case. For Rolex, the 3525 Monoblocco Tagliatti for its endearing history. For the independents, my Kari Voutilainen GMT-6 Only Watch Blue from 2015. And the mythical Henry Graves Jr. tourbillon chronometer.

Many thanks to the generous man for sharing his love of watchmaking with the rest of the world and thus contributing to its global influence as an art form in its own right.

MAN IS A WOLF FOR TIME

Sharmila Bertin

Did Mankind create time? Or did time itself create man? Yes, it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, yet I often ask myself these questions. As Alain Bosquet (1919-1988) would say, "I spend all my time trying to understand time", except that unlike the French poet, I still don't understand it. God knows I spend many hours pondering it, debating with myself, and sometimes with others on the subject.

Why time? How did time come to be? Who had the bright idea to declare time should be divided into years, months, and weeks? In days, I agree, since nature, as impaired as it is by our imbecility, offers us a simple rhythm: the sun rises so do we, the sun sets we do too, and so on every morning and every evening. What about the weeks...? And the even crazier idea of arbitrarily regulating that, oh my, the days are going to be grouped in packs of seven, and, oh my again, we're going to work five days and then attempt to rest two days. That's just 48 hours to put our work activities behind us and relax by doing the laundry, cleaning, taking care of the kids, and running errands. On Saturdays, we chase after the time for ourselves that we'll never catch up with because it's going so fast, the rascal. On Sunday, we become depressed because that's it, the weekend is over, tomorrow we go back down into the mine. And so, it goes on. I'm not saying that there aren't some people in this world who are happy on Monday mornings. I just think that life is too short to enjoy it only two days out of the week.

It's a bit like vacations... Who decided that we should only have four or five weeks a year? Why not more? The first seven days on holiday are barely enough to disconnect. For the next seven, when you finally start to forget what an open space looks like (another great invention...), bang! back to work! Then, in the summer, for those with young children, things can get really hectic. First of all because, holidays or not, a parent remains a parent, with the added bonus of having to spread SPF50 sun block. Secondly, our children enjoy two months of holiday, which is four times as much free time as we are allowed. Which means... what do we do with them? A day camp? Staying with Grandma and Grandpa? A nanny? Or, in my case, full time mom + full time job? Sometimes I feel like I'm reliving the lockdowns of the Covid era, when I had to write my articles on a corner of the living room table while my children played on the sofa. Noisily, of course. The only difference is that I can head to the beach with them in the morning, then catch up with my work in the afternoon. Think about sunscreen in the day and timepieces in the evening.

No, really, I'll never understand all these decisions made in our stead about how to manage our time. I'm grumbling because it's back to school time, the end of summer, the return of school bags, and office hours.