Valentine’s Day Special With Watch Collector Mohit Chuganee & His Wife Bhakti
8 min read
For many couples, Valentine's Day is a chance to show affection by exchanging thoughtful gifts. A classic yet luxurious choice is a high-end Swiss timepiece, which combines sumptuous craftsmanship with enduring romance.
We caught up with one such couple, Mohit Chuganee and his wife Bhakti to learn more about the stories behind their watches and how they are symbols of love or not.
We asked Mohit about the first watch that stole your heart to which he said, “The first watch that stole my heart was the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. It was like when I was much younger, a few years ago, and I just found a fascination for watches and the Royal Oak. It must have been like 30 years ago or something when Royal Oak came out first. I was in Geneva, and I saw several advertisements on the streets of brands and these watches on display. The whole romanticism that went with it was just incredible. And that’s what lured me to the Royal Oak.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
As for Bhakti, she had her own story to share. “The first watch that I really liked was the Cartier Tank. My dad had a lot of watches, he used to have a Cartier, Piaget, and a Patek Philippe. So I grew up around those watches. But the Cartier is like a classic and more like a family watch! It's a watch everyone wants.”, Bhakti.
The conversation took a tricky turn when we asked them if their relationship had to be represented by a watch, which one would it be? Before we could even complete the statement Mohit said, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. It’s got two sides in perfect harmony with each other.” Bhakti agreed to this too! We must say the couple was quite in sync and the Reverso is always an ideal choice with its intricacies and royal look.
Gérald Genta Arena Retro Mickey Mouse Disney
We then asked about their travel watches. How do you incorporate watches in your luggage? “I think if you're traveling Internationally, then you probably don't want to carry any high-value watches because you've got to take more care and look after it contrary to if you're traveling domestically and have shorter visits. It's a little bit more comfortable. You can match it with the event or whatever you're going for. If you're going to a wedding, you'd probably take a couple of formal watches. If you're going to the beach, you want to wear something that's casual and waterproof so you can just wear it around. But you might take more than one watch, one for the night, one for the day.”
TAG Heuer Monaco
When asked their preference of a day watch they said, “The thing with me is, for some reason, I like wearing my affordable watches. I don't know what it is. It's just that I like stuff that's more casual actually, to be honest. I don't like to wear a watch that's too expensive or looks too dressy. For example, for the day, I could wear my Omega James Bond Seamaster or I have a Glasshaute Original CQ or there's an Alain Silberstein or Louis Erard.”
Omega Speedmaster
“So when I'm travelling, it's very complicated these days. But earlier, otherwise, I would carry a Tissot. I had a Tissot, which I still have, and I normally take it when I'm travelling. It's a silver gold bracelet and I wear it with a bracelet, so it goes with everything, you know?”, Bhakti added.
It's Valentine's Day, so let's make it fancy. We asked them about the cliche Valentine date night. What watch would they pick for cupid’s date night? Mohit said, “I could wear an Audemars Piguet or maybe a Rolex. I have a beautiful Rolex which is a white gold and meteorite dial. It's a very classy watch and it's beautiful on a president bracelet. It’s a no-brainer and also dressy. Something which goes with everything and is not easily available in India!”
Benzinger
Since we're talking about watches, we were curious to know how Mohit decides to buy a watch given the diverse collection he has. “I actually like collecting across brands. Next, if I like a brand I'll have multiple watches in that brand and every brand has different models that represent different aspects. It could be a diver's watch, a formal watch, or a pilot's watch. I would typically buy a watch that is different models of the same brand. I'm also a car enthusiast, so by virtue of that, I tend to be attracted to watches that are co-branded with cars or linked up with other brands. Well, I almost bought the Roger Dubuis Huracan. I mean Roger Dubuis’ are pretty highly-priced and in the secondary market they don't have a great resale value, so it's generally better to buy Roger Dubuis from the secondary market”, Mohit explained.
Louis Moinet Time To Race
A lot of brands today offer customization. When asked if they have done something to customize or personalize their watch Mohit said,” I have a Louis Moinet Time To Race as I said since I have an affinity for cars. It is a sports car-related watch and at the time that I was looking to buy it, I also ordered the Lamborghini Huracan Technica. It was red and I wanted to choose a watch that matched the car and so I chose that. Then for every color you have to choose a unique number, once you choose that number they don't produce the same number for that color watch. I chose 69 because I'm born on the 6th so it's like two inverted 6s one regular 6 and one inverted 6 whichever way you're looking at it you can see a 6 and 9 is also like a lucky number and 69 is a great number.”
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
Since it is Valentines day, we were curious to know if they share their watches? “I don't use her watches because they are much smaller, although I have to say there is that one watch we do share. The Reverso that Bhakti wears was originally mine. I just told her I got another Reverso which is a little larger and I asked her to take the other one as it is for a relatively smaller wrist and she has always wanted it. That being said, she has full access to my watch wardrobe and can wear whatever watch she wants”, Mohit.
Bhakti agreed, “ Yes, just the Reverso. There are too many, otherwise it's too time-consuming to pick a new watch everyday to be honest”. “Sometimes when we travel and if I've taken a couple of watches and she's taken one then she'll wear it” Mohit further added.
Just on the brink of Valentine's Day, a lot of luxury brands design watches with hearts on them. But what do the Chuganee’s think of that? “We’re not into heart watches. It looks a bit cheesy. I mean from the time you're a kid you have all these silly trinkets that you buy with hearts on them. So it;s a definite no for us” they said in sync.
IWC Schaffhausen
Mohit has an exceptional collection but we asked him to pick the three watches he cherished the most. “One that I like particularly is the Omega Moonshine Gold. It's really a beautiful watch which they made in this particular alloy of gold and a little extra red to make it look redder than the usual gold. Next would be the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. The last one would be my IWC Schaffhausen. It is a perpetual calendar in a racing green. While the perpetual calendar is one of the greatest complications in the watch world I decided that one perpetual calendar for me is enough. I don't want the stress of having to make sure that the winder doesn't go slow, or nothing is messed up and then I can reset the perpetual calendar. So I got the IWC because anyway, it's easier to adjust. Everything is done from the crown and that's a nice watch. I also have a nice tourbillon from Arnold & Son on a salmon dial and it looks beautiful. I would say these are just some of the nice watches I have” he explained.
Arnold & Son Tourbillon
Lastly, we did a fun rapid fire. Here it goes!
THM: One watch that you are looking to buy?
Mohit: I want to get the Gold Reverso which is also a duoface, but it's a moon phase annual calendar and it's a little larger in size. It's better for my wrist.
THM: The first watch that comes to your mind when I say the word love?
Bhakti: Chopard Alpine Eagle.
Mohit: it would be the Vacheron Constantin 1921 Historique. It's a car-linked watch because it's offset as an angle for you to see the time while driving. It also has a very vintage kind of feel to it right and a gentleman's kind of watch whereas you can imagine James Bond wearing a Seamaster when he's diving away and trying to rescue some damsel. But when he's driving the Aston Martin which I'm hoping to buy pretty soon as well he'll be wearing the Historique 1921 with it.”
Celebrating the passion and love for timepieces
On this day dedicated to Cupid, what better gift than a beautiful luxury watch reminding your partner that your love for them, like the turning gears of the Swiss-made timepiece, will faithfully mark the passage of a lifetime spent together.
