New York Magazine

(Photo: Brad Paris)

Jules Siff
Wempe
700 Fifth Ave., nr. 55th St.; 212-397-9000

Are you buying anyone a watch this year?
I haven’t decided. But I would consider buying my wife the 24 by Patek Philippe in stainless steel [$8,600]. It’s like a cuff. It curves to your wrist.

Do you get a discount?
Of course I get a discount. I would be insulted if I didn’t.

What’s going to sell like hotcakes?
The Submariner by Rolex in stainless steel [$5,175] is always in demand. Thirty years from today, it will still be in demand. I bought it for my son on his 30th birthday.

What’s the watch brand to buy for the watch-obsessed person?
Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Söhne. The plainest Patek Philippe [$12,950] takes nine months to make. More complicated ones can take two to three years.

An inexpensive gift?
I would say a set of cuff links in sterling silver, like the Wempe cuff link [$195]. You can put an initial on it.

But what about a less expensive watch, in the $1,500 range?
It would be an automatic—self-winding. I would say a Tag Heuer [$1,450]. It has a blue dial and a blue bezel, and it looks like a diving watch. It’s unisex—for a young lady or young man. With automatic watches, as you move, it winds itself. If you leave it idle for a day, it will stop.

Have you been selling for Christmas already?
I sold a Rolex this morning to a gentleman from Mexico. He bought a Rolex for his wife, a Lady Datejust [$6,525]. It is eighteen-karat yellow gold and stainless steel.

Are quartz watches popular?
If you’re a watch person, quartz is not even in your vocabulary. If Mario Andretti came in and wanted a car, would he ask for an automatic?

Related:

• Archive: “Guides”
• Articles by Emma Pearse | Denise Penny
• Table of Contents: Nov 27, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!