Four + One John Nagayama – Japan's Calatrava King

I'd seen his watches get shared on the Instagram stories of vintage watch lovers for a long time, but I'll admit it took me a while to understand what I was seeing. With a strict focus on Patek Philippe, Nagayama shares nearly exclusively time-only watches varying from the strictly defined "Calatrava" to the odder, more shaped watches and even a few of the "standard fare" Nautilus – almost always from before 1980 (or much, much earlier). For the average watch lover, many watches he shows might be beautiful but simple. But eventually, you start to understand that even the most "simple" watches Nagayama shares are – on average – absolutely and completely bonkers.

Nagayama is quiet and reserved, like the watches he loves, but his passion comes through regardless. The few times I've run into him at auctions, I've always enjoyed our conversations and wanted to share some of that with you. Of course, that kind of passion and knowledge doesn't come overnight.

"I've been collecting watches for 35 years, and I started this business in 2006, so I've been a dealer for about 18 years now," Nagayama says. "Before that, I worked for a large company that imports goods from places like the United States and Australia. When I started collecting, I bought just a reference 96 and then a "top hat" [ref. 1450]. Quickly, I moved into complications – a ref. 1415 World Time, a few ref. 130 chronographs, then a ref. 2499. There are very few people in Japan that can afford a ref. 2499 so it didn't make much sense for business. After a year or two, I decided to focus on time-only Pateks."

"Compared to other things, I just think that vintage Patek Philippe is so well designed and really proportional. Even compared to later references like the 3796 where the crown is smaller and the font is larger, the vintage watches are just so thoughtfully designed. For early pieces the dial is very important. Getting into the '50s and '60s, the case starts to be more important."

Over the years, Japan has become a mecca for vintage Calatravas, especially the smaller watches like the ref. 96 and later ref. 3796 (of which Patek made several Japan-exclusive releases because of market demand and taste). Earlier this year, Nagayama put out a book on the iconic watch made from 1932 to 1973. The best guess for why these smaller (30-31mm) Pateks suited the Japanese collecting community was that they often had smaller wrists. But in the last few years the market for the ref. 96 has taken off. While Nagayama sold almost exclusively to a Japanese market in his early days (solely out of a brick-and-mortar business), much of his business is now online, split 50/50 between Japanese and global clients.

A brief cruise through his Instagram shows his passion for sector dials (and "roulette" dials) and the ton of "not for sale" listed behind his rare finds. Many dealers will tell you that they feel like they can't, in good conscience, keep the best things for themselves. Their clients might get frustrated if they can't buy the best of the best. But Nagayama is clear: he can find really good stuff for clients, but he wants some of it for himself too. "I'm a collector," he says.

"I still find things I've never seen before, so a lot of it is about gut instinct," he tells me. "Recently there was a watch from the 30s, a ref. 457. I hadn't seen this watch – it was not in any books or on the internet. But Mr. Endo [from Private Eyes in Japan] posted it on Instagram, so I just called him and said I'd take it."

So, while in Japan, I knew I had to catch up with Nagayama on his home turf and see what watches he'd say are the most special and prized in his vast, yet focused, collection. He invited me to his small shop in the also small Hongokuchō neighborhood north of Ginza to sit down and take a look at the things he loves the most.

We started with what was probably the most instantly eye-catching of the four watches, the iconic Patek Philippe ref. 3417 in steel. With a relatively modern 35mm case and beautiful Amagnetic signature, the ref. 3417A is a popular reference for collectors and a standard 3417 would be a good candidate for a daily-wearable vintage Patek. But this is no standard 3417.

"I knew about this watch for a long time, but it was nearly impossible to find. I believe there are only six pieces known," he says. "But this example was coming from a vintage auction in Japan about 10 years ago and I immediately grabbed it. I believe this watch was delivered to Japan and I'm probably only the second owner."

"It's just so different than other vintage Patek. I don't know how they even came up with this – who the designer was – because it doesn't look like any other vintage Pateks. It's also just about the most wearable vintage Patek – I can even wear it in summer," he told me, as we nearly melted on a 94-degree Fahrenheit day, with about 70% humidity outside. "Once I knew this specific configuration existed, I knew that I had to have this version or none at all." 

With the combination of yellowed lume, the very elegant script, and bold, stylized numerals, it's easy to see why. Oh, but if owning one of the six known versions of this watch wasn't enough, it's not the only one he's had. He had a different one for sale on his site a while back.

Here's a watch that's more than what it seems on the surface. If you just looked at it, you'd think this is a relatively standard, small 32mm center-second Calatrava with a nicely patinated dial. Flat bezel, faceted indices, dauphine hands – all of the design is characteristic of 1950s Patek. And you'd be right. But if you pick it up, it's got a bit of heft, so it's certainly no steel Patek. Then you flip it over and realize you're holding something special.

"This is one of only two white gold ref. 2555 known to the market and the other example is on an integrated bracelet. So this one's the only one on a strap," he says. That's a lot of words to say that this watch is probably unique. There's not much more to say about the watch except it's exceptional, reserved, and a perfect example of the kind of "if you know, you know" watch that I associate with John.

"This watch was sold by Sotheby's in the early or mid-'90s. I think it was bought by Shellman because you can still find this watch on their old website. Eventually, it made its way to a collector, and eventually, I was able to buy it."

Despite calling him the Calatrava king, Nagayama surprised me by only showing me one watch that would fit the strict definition of Calatrava thus far. That's because he is happy to collect any exceptional time-only Patek. Like this pink-on-pink "Tank" style watch from the late '20s.

This watch was a relatively recent pickup for Nagayama. He bought it less than a year ago after seeing Italian dealer Andrea Foffi post it on Instagram. Like he said about the watch he bought from Private Eyes, his gut said he needed to move fast, so he immediately reached out. I associate John with double-signed watches, which are a good way to take something standard from the era and elevate it to a new level. This ref. 439, with it's pink-on-pink configuration, is anything but standard, but the Eberhard Milan signature is icing on the cake.

Speaking of signatures, here is one of the most legendary ref. 96s in existence. Over the nearly 40 year run of the reference 96, there are probably hundreds of different configurations. Steel and platinum ref. 96 are probably some of the most coveted. Breguet numerals or diamond indices add even more to their rarity. But maybe the most emblematic variation on a ref. 96 is a sector dial. It's the one that Nagayama likes the most. Even in that dial style there are several variations. 

There are only five "observatory dial" ref. 96s (with subdial at nine o'clock), all in steel, and only two have dial signatures. One "observatory dial" sold in 2014 at Antiquorum for over CHF 100,000. That watch had a strange configuration, with luminous hands, five minute lume track and indices, individual minute dots, and a round signature at three o'clock. But what retailer was "E. Bonnard?" Well, it wasn't a retailer at all.

Bonnard was actually a client of Patek – Emile-Charles Bonnard, a retired French medical professor who retired to Switzerland – who requested this ref. 96 as a special order. The other observatory dial ref. 96 also has a signature for a client – "M. Berphaudin" (either a typo or issue of an over-cleaned watch made for Marcel Berthaudin – one of the largest wine dealers in Geneva. In fact, Berthaudin and Bonnard were related. The watch remained with the Bonnard family from 1936 to 1991.

"This was bought by Sotheby's and Antiquorum so many times, many, many years ago. The last owner, an Italian dealer, bought it for himself to keep. But he posted it on Facebook," says Nagayama. What I've learned now is that if you post it, he'll find it.

"At first, he didn't want to sell it, but I convinced him," he says. "Well, I convinced him, but I had to pay a lot of money at the time. And that was 15 years ago. Now, I wear it maybe once a year." 

Not that it's about the money, but I think people don't realize how much a truly rare and yet "simple" vintage Patek like this could go for. Even in 1991, it sold at Antiquorum for over CHF 14,000, which was a lot at the time. If you're curious about today's value, I threw out a ballpark figure and Nagayama agreed without hesitation. That number: $200,000 – yes, that much for a ref. 96 – if it came up at auction now.

I have to apologize for this straightforward photo of a stunning ukiyo-e print by Kawase Hasui, one of Japan's most important and prolific printmakers of the 20th Century. Pictures of objects with reflective glass are pretty tricky to achieve, but in person, the print sings. 

After a 40-year career continuing the tradition of landscape and nature-inspired ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), Kawase Hasui was named a "Living National Treasure" by the Japanese government for his contribution to Japanese culture. Spend a short time with his work and you can see why. The depth of detail, contrast, and color on a woodblock print like this is hard to achieve. I grew up visiting the gallery of a woodblock artist in Wisconsin, so it was incredibly special to see a work by Hasui in person. Even more special is the fact that this is a first printing, the most coveted of any woodblock artists' work.

Steve Jobs was a noted collector of shin-hanga, a movement that revolutionized the ancient practice of ukiyo-e in the 20th Century, and he loved Hasui's work above all others. More important to Nagayama was the fact that his grandfather collected Hasui prints as well, though he only learned that upon inheriting his grandfather's collection. That started Nagayama's passion for the artist. This print is of Myōhon-ji or Myohon Temple, a 10-minute walk from Nagayama's home in Kamakura – a perfect representation of all the layers of meaning that art can hold.