I’m fascinated by the psychological aspect of watch collecting. Why is a watch that’s set with hundreds of diamonds worth less than a vintage stainless-steel piece?

For Tatler’s photoshoot, Abelson wears a Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref 2431, circa 1948, which was given to her great-grandfather by his wife on their 25th wedding anniversary. On the back, an engraving reads: “Happy 25th Anniversary, Love Tutu”. She later takes out a yellow gold Santos de Cartier, which belonged to her grandmother. “She was very chic and elegant. She never left the house without lipstick and an amazing outfit on, probably designed by Chanel,” says Abelson. “She was everything you’d expect from the Upper East Side but she was all about convenience. This watch was originally powered by an automatic movement, which is rare because Cartier usually made quartz pieces for ladies. She had a quartz movement put inside because she couldn’t be bothered to wind it.”

A self-professed “bad student”, Abelson studied Hospitality Management at Florida International University. While studying in Miami, she landed a holiday job at Antiquorum Auctioneers’s offices in New York. “Back then, Antiquorum was the auction house for watches,” she tells me. “They needed someone to answer phone calls during auctions.” She watched as pocked-sized timepieces sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. “I couldn’t believe it.” Captivated, she quit university, moved back to New York and accepted a full-time position at Antiquorum.

“I’m fascinated by the psychological aspect of watch collecting,” she says. “For example, why is a watch that’s set with hundreds of diamonds worth less than a vintage stainless-steel piece?”

She was working at WatchBox’s headquarters in Philadelphia when they asked her to help set up an office in Hong Kong. “I had never stepped foot in Asia before. They asked me to try out three months in Hong Kong to help train some other client advisors, and that’s how I got here.” Three years have since passed. “Watch collecting in New York is very different,” she tells me. Informal gatherings of watch enthusiasts draw dozens of collectors to Manhattan—they come for the watches and stay for the camaraderie. “In New York, there are collectors who throw their expensive watches on a table and allow likeminded collectors to rummage through and admire them. We call them ‘sex piles’,” laughs Abelson. “I’m seeing that kind of behaviour more often in Hong Kong, but collecting is still pretty private in Asia.”

When asked about the misconceptions of watch collecting, she answers: “When someone shows you their watch, they’re not doing it to one-up someone. It’s to let you know that they’re in the game. People think watch collecting is competitive, but I think it’s more about making yourself proud.” Abelson began buying 20th-century men’s wristwatches whose relatively small case sizes fit her perfectly. Collecting, she says, is “infectious” but she tries to hold out for the right pieces. “I see so many watches that there’s no point buying something I don’t love. Some collectors buy watches because they’re cool, or because their friend has one so they think they should have one too. I’m someone who will only buy a watch if I absolutely love it. I’ll never sell it, they’re long-term investments.”

See also: Richard Mille Raises The Bar For Ladies Watches