François Xavier Overstake is probably the fine watchmaking collector who has the clearest purpose for his ungovernable obsession with the most extraordinary pieces. He seeks diversity. Excellence and difference. It is logical because it is, above all, the result of the mixture and influence of a large number of geographical areas.
Half French (he moved to Paris in the late 1990s, from Pessac), half American (his American grandfather already collected pocket watches) and half Spanish (his grandmother was Basque) he discovered his talent for asserting his voice on the internet already in the landing of the web in our lives (being one of the first 50,000 users to surf the net, he presented Spanish Top Models in 1996) and to share his interest in the world of watches in that parallel world.
“It was probably due to the influence of that grandfather I never met and the fascinating collection of pocket watches he bequeathed to me, but I can’t imagine my life without my mechanical watch,” he explains, clad in his tailored shirt, his tortoise shell bespoke glasses. and his latest acquisition on the right wrist. A Rolex 1908. “A marvel presented at the last Waches and Wonders fair in Geneva. Heir to Rolex’s stylistic heritage and endowed with exclusive watchmaking innovations, it marks a new milestone in the pursuit of manufacturing excellence and is a fine example of Rolex’s watchmaking prowess, with Superlative Chronometer certification that takes classicism into the future. ”.
Right now he has “around forty-many watches,” all of them excellently well cared for, dancing on their own rotor, with their maintenance up to date and with each of the components that make their movement tick understood and pampered. But his first watch, he remembers the moment as if it were now, the first one he bought with his own money (he has worked for a major insurance company for many years) was a Bell
Shortly after, he took a giant step by invading the Chronomania, Special Watches and Timezone forums. “And as time passed and resources allowed, I got down to business in 2004 and took the first step into this dangerous world (for good reasons) by acquiring a Lange
What is it about this Lange that really started it all? “The particular emotion that all manually wound watches give me, where it seems like you are the one dictating the time, but also the contrast between the dial and the delicately blued hands,” he describes, certifying that “since then it has become one of my favorite brands because of the many emotions that I have experienced both with this chronograph and with the more intimate Cabaret model, but I am also a lover of Rolex which also has pieces that have me completely captivated by its delicate balance between functionality and beauty ”.
He also has Audemars Piguet and a special Italian edition that he is madly in love with, plus a few Pateks. In all cases two things affect it. First of all, the aesthetic emotion and beauty of movement that still surprise us day after day.
“Watches are a good thing. But if we manage to present the human being behind a collector’s item, everything makes sense,” says this inveterate and demanding collector in the choice of his pieces, François-Xavier, who is currently a member of the Academy of the Fondation du Grand Prix d’ Horlogerie de Genève, the watchmaking Oscars held every year in Geneva, and also a member of the Louis Vuitton Watch Price expert committee, where he participates as a jury and scout for young watchmaking talents in Europe.
With great involvement in the watch industry, although he does not work in it directly, he always offers an independent vision on the development of the sector, combining both the perspective as a client and that of a connaisseur who has connected very well with Rabat jewelry. “My relationship with the family, an example that has no comparison anywhere in the world of drive and knowledge of fine watchmaking, began through mutual friendships with Jordi Rabat more than 15 years ago.
It was precisely a group of Spanish collectors whom I had met online who spoke to me, during the now defunct Basel fair, about the work that the Rabat family was developing in Spain,” explains this visionary who also dictates judgment in the sector with his web Équation du temps. There he offers the opportunity to connoisseurs, or not, to discover that the “beauty of a watch does not depend only on its precision or its extraordinary complications. It happens because it is balanced. It must be extraordinarily perfect in terms of technique but it must also be beautiful. Aesthetics also count.”
Hence his particular interest in independent watchmaking. DeBethune DB10, Speake-Marin Spirit Pioneer and a Pascal Coyon chronometer, among others, also have space in his collection. Good move. “I have learned all this with each acquisition for my diverse collection and especially in those years 2007 and 2008 that marked the beginning of great things. First of all, becoming a moderator of the famous PuristSPro forum, and dealing with topics as specific as Genta’s pieces.
What follows, as you can imagine, is obviously the opening of my site Équation du temps. The name of a poetic complication to write articles only in French, so that the cultural references “match” as best as possible with the readers,” he explains.
To this day nothing has changed beyond the opening of an effective and highly followed Instagram account, with content very focused on watches, and its collaboration with the site Watch-her, which does not deal with women’s watches but with watches for women The nuance is important.
