Derek Mon has grown up around watches.
The dealer’s parents originally founded Carat & Co., an authorized luxury watch retailer that moved from New York’s Long Island before settling down in Flushing, Queens. Now, Mon has joined the family business for himself, giving him plenty of time to figure out exactly what kind of watches he wants to bring into his personal treasure trove—and what kind of collector he’d like to be.
For the latest installment of Robb Report’s Watch Roll, a new video series where we take a deep dive into the watch collections of industry insiders, avid watch fanatics, and more luxury superstars, Mon shared some of the pieces that show “a little insight into what I think about when I collect,” he says.
On his wrist currently just so happens to be his newest timepiece. Mon’s Cartier Tank Louis (Ref. WGTA0211) is one of very few that can be wound manually; the model is done up in 18-karat yellow gold and sits at 33.7 mm by 25.5 mm. The collector chose to pair the watch with a green strap that lets the case—and the sunray dial—sing.
Elsewhere in his collection is an Omega Speedmaster First Omega in Space, one with a more vintage design that pays homage to a series of sunray blue-gray dials that the brand dropped by mistake decades ago. It also happens to have a serial number with his daughter’s birthday as the first four digits, and his as the last four. He also owns a Seiko Prospex SJE093, a 38 mm that’s a modern version of the brand’s first dive watch from 1965, the 62MAS. So its history behind the watch itself, as well as that sentimentality, that attracts Mon to a model.
“The storytelling, whether it’s the design, the history, or even how the designer and the brand came to come about that design, is important to me because I want it to feel special in my collection,” he says. “The best thing I’ve been doing is, I wait until I have a specific milestone until I’m allowed to buy it, even if that means that the watch gets a price increase. Then I need to wait until there’s a right moment to purchase it.”
Mon also acquired an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 37 mm from the maison itself last year (after an over two-year wait), a size that he says feels a bit more understated on the wrist. With a striking Bleu Nuit dial, the watch offers up that brushed finished on the stainless-steel case, too.
Above all, Mon believes building up your own assortment of timepieces is a singular experience for each person.
“I think watch collecting in general is very specific to you. It’s very personal. It’s very subjective,” he says. “So objectively, there is no perfect three-watch collection. But subjectively, yes. Like if these three watches work for your lifestyle and what you like, then there absolutely is a perfect three-watch collection.”
