INTERVIEW: Otto William (Calibre 11 Forum Member)

Our guest today is no stranger to the members of the Calibre 11 forum, and the picture above would I'm sure be enough to give away his identity all on its own. So, without further ado, please welcome our friend from Indonesia, Otto William.


Hi Otto and thank you for taking the time to take part in this little interview, I wanted to talk to you because you were one of the first people to leave a comment on my blog, which of course I very much appreciated. Any blogger will tell you that feedback is really valuable even if it just confirms that you're not wasting your time shouting into the void. So, easy first question, where did all this start for you?

Funny story really. I was never into watches, in fact the first 17 years of my life was wrist-watchless! I didn't even get into the hype of G-Shock back in the 90's. Truth to be told, I didn't know or care that this kind of world existed. Fast forward to 2009, I was on a business trip to visit a customer whose city didn't have an airport back then. So I needed to catch a ride from the nearest city, which took about 3 hours and I shared that cab ride with a guy who is really into watches. He told me what makes watches attractive. Of course, on this journey we only talked about mechanical watches, so I got interested in watch movements and all that. The rest is history. My first good watch was a Breitling Navitimer with a white dial and a solid caseback, unfortunately I don't own that watch anymore.

So you already mentioned the Casio G-Shock and mechanical movements, so how do you feel about quartz watches?

I like the convenience aspect that you don't need to wind the watch after a long period of non use. On the other hand I am a bit of a 'purist' so I tend to favour the mechanical pieces. I really love watches, I have to be careful or my collecting can get really out of hand. So here's my limit and it doesn't have anything to do with prejudice or snobbery; I only collect mechanical watches, but quartz watches are 'convenient'.


That said, do you have any idea what your next piece might be?

Well if I had unlimited funds then there would be many: Monaco V4 Tourbillon Phantom, the Linde Werdelin Oktopus with Tattoo, the green dial H Moser Alp watch, I could go on... but in reality this year I am only buying dive watches, so it will likely be either a Longines Heritage Diver or a Longines Hydroconquest. But, if TAG Heuer put a better movement in the Aquaracer, then that could definitely change things!


In my first interview for the blog, with THJunkie, we learned that his watch collecting started with a gift from his wife, I believe you have a similar origin story?

Yes, she kinda ignited my slow-burning passion towards watches at that time into a bigger fire. She is the one who gave me my first Tag Heuer, as a wedding gift. You see, back then I was an idiot who was trapped in this stigma that nothing good came out of Tag Heuer. I even told her that I want nothing less than Breitling for my wedding gift! But she gave me Tag Heuer... she said it really suits me. So I gracefully accepted it and starting to get to know Tag Heuer a bit better. I think this is a success story of how you turn hate into love. We've been married for four years now and she's still okay with me collecting watches, but she clearly feels I have too many watches and why am I reading about them every single day? I don't think I have too many watches, I think if you have a watch in your collection that you don't even want to look at then you have too many, but the number itself is not definitive and I am definitely not a one watch kind of guy.

Nothing wrong with that Otto, I'm sure most of us read about watches every day too, I'm curious to know if you, like THJunkie, have ever sneaked a watch into the house?

Don't tell my wife but I am doing this as we speak...


Don't worry, we won't tell her. You said you don't own your first 'good' watch anymore, so you've sold at least one watch then, any regrets on that front?

So far I have sold four watches and I regret selling all of them! I have learned now that I must change the strap, if I change the strap and I still don't like it then maybe it is not the watch for me.


Given that I know you own the beautiful 40th Anniversary Monza I can probably guess what your answer is going to be to this next question, but I'm going to ask it anyway, so are you more excited by re-issues or by new watches and also what's your take on faux aged lume?

This is a tough one. I thought and I want to believe that I am excited more about new pieces, but my buying record shows I tend towards the reissues. Without wanting to sound inconclusive, I think I am a bit of a mixed bag. It all depends on the watch itself. As for fake aged lume: I don't mind at all, as long as it is synergized with the whole look of the watch. It is one of the techniques I can appreciate even though I know it goes against the heart of the purist, vintage watch enthusiast.

Given that as you say 'your record shows that you are probably more inclined to re-issues', are there some watches that you would like to see TAG Heuer re-issue?

I want all the diver watches from the pre Aquaracer period, yes ALL of them! Apart from that, I want the Camaro and I want the Silverstone to be reissued. Put the Skipper and the Regatta on the list too, and of course the Aquagraph!


Do 'limited editions' and special packaging hold much sway with you, and what about Bamford, do you appreciate what he's doing in collaboration with TAG Heuer?

Am I swayed by limited editions and special packaging? To some degree, yes it does affect my purchasing decision. But I need to be very clear here, first it has got to be the watch. It makes no sense for me to purchase a watch that I don't appreciate just because it's limited. As for Bamford, so far I have yet to own any of the Tag Heuer Bamford pieces. I like their Carbon Monaco with the blue subdials, but maybe not enough, for me to pull the trigger. The collaboration itself is not bad for both Bamford or Tag Heuer in my opinion. Maybe I am just not into it at the moment, but who knows what future might hold.

Are there any TAG Heuers that you don't like and why do you think it is that TAG attracts so much negativity in the wider watch community, or maybe you don't see it that way?

Is there a Tag Heuer/Heuer I don't like? Of course, but what I don't like might be a grail watch for somebody else. Aquaracer is perhaps my favorite Tag Heuer line at this moment, but I still could point out some Aquaracer models that I don't like. So no, I don't really have any model line from Tag Heuer or Heuer that I really hate. Actually I impulse bought a Heuer 01 45mm, then regretted it, but now I'm feeling super relieved that I didn't sell it, because now I love it!

As for the negativity question, I think it's getting less and less nowadays to be honest. I might need a special article alone on this question but I think one of the factors is ignorance. Of course there were some misfires a couple of years back, but I'll wait for anyone, any collector, that can name one single watch company that does not have any skeletons in their closet (perhaps the analogy is too strong, but you get my point).


I agree, pretty much all watch companies have gone through bad patches but for some reason TAG Heuer still get called for watches they made twenty five years ago! Personally I just think they are in that difficult 'entry-level' market position where it's almost cool to dismiss them, like 'Oh yeah, my first watch was a TAG Heuer, but I grew out of that and got an Omega / Rolex. Moving on, is there anything you'd like to see more of in watch designs, for example I think red is an underused dial choice.

No, not really. In terms of design, I  really like Tag Heuer designs, especially the Aquaracer. I really like their dogecagon shape of the bezel. What I really want to see is improvements on the movement side without actually hurting the pricing, that's what I really want to see.

It seems to me that two-tone may be enjoying a slight resurgence, how do you feel about two-tone and/or gold watches?

Well, I can safely say that I own at least two;  one is Tag Heuer and the other one is a Rolex, so I don't hate them. But again, I need to see the watch itself. I don't think I am interested in buying the Aquaracer calibre 5 gold bezel though...


How do you think TAG Heuer have handled the 50th Anniversary of the Monaco and what do you think you would have done different if you'd been the one in charge?

Let me start by saying the expectation is way too big for this one and I think they have done a fantastic job so far. I might be biased, but I think I would just reissue the Dark Lord Monaco. That's just me being lazy and happy at the same time.


Okay, so that leads me to ask, do you think Monaco reissues should have round pushers or are you happy with them using the modern square versions?

I would prefer the Monaco to have round pushers, I don't know why. In theory the square ones will synergize better with the Monaco case... but I think it looks perfect for me with the round pushers.


Aside from regretting selling watches you wish you still owned, do you have any kind of watch related horror story?

Well I broke the second hand mechanism in my Rolex, so the watch is still ticking and keeping the time accurately but the second hand won't move at all. There was one part inside that is completely broken, snapped into two. I don't know how I did it, but I guess it wasn't so horrific after all. No, I guess I don't have and will hopefully never have. I did magnetize my former Aquaracer black PVD by putting it way too near my cellphone while trying to charge the lume too often. I just keep on learning, I guess...

Aside from TAG Heuer you've already mentioned several other brands, which brands are you favourites?

Yes, I love a lot of brands. My dad said I am a victim of marketing, but this is what makes me like watches in general; knowing about the brand and the products. I like Linde Werdelin, H Moser, Vacheron Constantin, Universal Geneve, Lemania, Frederique Constant, Zodiac, Blancpain, Oris, JLC, Zenith and many more. Top three will be Tag Heuer/Heuer, Linde Werdelin and H.Moser.


Wow, I think it's safe to assume that your collection will keep growing then?

Yes, indeed. I range my collection based on the intended use of it although not very specifically. So far I have racing chronograph, dresswatch, dive watch, daily beater. I still want one micro rotor watch (which I used to have and I sold it) and one anti-magnetic watch.


So say I gave you a £10,000 watch voucher right now, what would you buy?

Can I get a Monaco and an Autavia for £10,000? I think so.

Among the photographs you sent me I noticed a collection of Swatch watches, how did that start?

For me Swatch is one of the essential parts of my collection. Again, watch collecting can get out of hand if you are not careful, so beside the fact that for me it has to be mechanical, I also limit myself that it has to be a Swiss brand as well. I would repeat myself that it has nothing to do with prejudice or snobbery, I think Japanese made offers true value for money and so does some recent Chinese made (you'll be surprised); but I need to have clear scope of what I am collecting so I don't deviate too much. If you look closely you'll see that all the Swatches that I collect are all mechanical. I actually have more than the picture I sent you before, all mechanical. I wear them during travelling or during the weekend. I consider it as my worry-free mechanical watches, although I still take extra care with all of my watches and Swatch is no exception. Apart from that, I see the Swatch owner as a role model, I read his book and his views.


Thanks again for your time, I know you were up really late doing this interview with a plane to catch, so I really appreciate the effort on your part and thanks also for the photographs you sent of your watches. Finally, would you like to suggest the next TAG Heuer brand ambassador?

That narrative guy from Watchfinder on youtube, whoever he is. But only if he wants it....I don't know, I don't feel I am giving a great suggestion here when I should. But whoever the next Tag Heuer ambassador will be, I do really hope he or she is really into and understands watches, like almost to nerd level.