Tick-Tock Trends

Three Toronto watch collectors share the objects of their obsession

- IRIS BENAROIA

The Romantic WHO | Peter Roumbos, a semi-retired government worker and former model WHERE Yorkville

PETER ROUMBOS, who grew up in Greece, got his first watch when he was eight, a gift from his father. “My dad loved to wear a nice watch, and he was always impeccably dressed,” says Peter.

The first piece he bought for himself was a Guess fashion watch—a dupe of the fancy Breitling he really wanted. Several pricier Jaeger-LeCoultre watches followed, ranging from $5,000 to $12,000. Peter now has 12 of them—part of a collection of 80-plus luxury and vintage watches. His rarest piece is a 1996 Patek Philippe Nautilus that he scored at an auction in 2010 for about $8,000. Today, he estimates it’s worth 10 times as much.

Most of his vintage watches are from antique markets and auctions, includ- ing a GMT-Rolex Master II 1675 from the ’50s that was designed for aviators. It’s nicknamed “the Pepsi watch” because of its bright red-and-blue bezel. He also has a Casio G-Shock with chunky lugs and a Corum Bubble Lucifer watch featuring a cartoon devil and a pitchfork that points to the hour.