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Tom Exton (aka TGE) - Entrepreneur & Influencer
0 Playsin 14 hours
Today I’m sitting down with entrepreneur and influencer, Tom Exton, otherwise known online as TGE. Tom first made waves when he and his twin brother launched a pioneering digital fitness company and while that endeavor introduced him to a massive audience, it was his content on watches & cars that struck a nerve with his following. Over time he’s built a loyal following of hundreds of thousands following his every move in the collector space, and an even more impressive collection.
A true collector at heart, Tom began his journey with watches, starting with brands that resonate with most of the world. But these days, he’s a devoted fan of independent watchmakers, watchmakers who truly push the boundaries of design and craftsmanship. And yes, there’s even a story about acquiring an FP Journe Élégante at a petrol station—a story that sums up his two passions.
When it comes to cars, Tom’s stable is just as impressive. From Porsches, Ferraris, and even a Carrera GT, he’s chased the thrill of the drive and the artistry of design. His latest acquisition though? A jaw-dropping Ferrari 250 Pininfarina—a grail for vintage car enthusiasts everywhere.
Beyond collecting, Tom has turned his passions into business ventures, including a luxury watch giveaway platform and a company producing protective stickers for watches. At the end of the day, Tom brings a unique perspective to the idea of doing what you love. So please enjoy, this is Tom Exton, for Collectors Gene Radio.
Tom Exton - https://www.instagram.com/tge
Grail Watch Club - https://www.grailwatchclub.com/
The Watch Protect Company - https://thewatchprotect.com/
Cameron Steiner - https://www.instagram.com/cameronrosssteiner
Collectors Gene - https://www.collectorsgene.com
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Transcript
The Luxury of Watchmaking
00:00:00
Speaker
Now we've got this world where you can meet your creative vision behind the brand. You're literally exposed to everyone in the management chain in one room.
00:00:11
Speaker
And you can kind of you can kind of see the brand top to bottom. You can often go and see your actual watch being made. You're kept in in the loop in terms of where it is in the production process and blah, blah. And you can see where your money's going.
00:00:23
Speaker
And that's true luxury, really. What's going on, everybody? And welcome to Collector's Gene Radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the collector's gene.
00:00:38
Speaker
If you have the time, please subscribe and leave a review. It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on Collector's Gene Radio.
Introduction to Tom Exton (TGE)
00:00:50
Speaker
Today I'm sitting down with entrepreneur and influencer Tom Exton, otherwise known online as TGE. Tom first made waves when he and his twin brother launched a pioneering digital fitness company. And while that endeavor introduced him to a massive audience, it was his content on watches and cars that struck a nerve with his following.
00:01:06
Speaker
Over time, he's built a loyal following of hundreds of thousands following his every move in the collector space and an even more impressive collection. A true collector at heart, Tom began his journey with watches, starting with brands that resonate with most of the world.
00:01:20
Speaker
But these days, he's a devoted fan of independent watchmakers, watchmakers who truly push the boundaries of design and craftsmanship. And yes, there's even a story about acquiring an FP Journe Elegante at a petrol station, a story that sums up his two passions.
00:01:33
Speaker
When it comes to cars, Tom Stable is just as impressive. From Porsches, Ferraris, and even a Carrera GT, he's chased the thrill of the drive and the artistry of design. His latest acquisition, though, a jaw-dropping Ferrari 250 Pininfarina.
00:01:48
Speaker
a grail for vintage car enthusiasts everywhere. Beyond collecting, Tom has turned his passions into business ventures, including a luxury watch giveaway platform and a company producing protective stickers for watches.
00:02:00
Speaker
At the end of the day, Tom brings a unique perspective to the idea of doing what you love. So please enjoy.
Monetizing Passion for Watches and Cars
00:02:06
Speaker
This is Tom Exton for Collectors Gym Radio.
00:02:13
Speaker
Tom Exton, aka TGE. So great to have you on Collectors Gym Radio. Hello, hello. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. My pleasure. So most know you online under your handle TGE, but ah before we get started, you're a car watch enthusiast, you're a collector.
00:02:29
Speaker
What's on the wrist and what's coming out of the stable today? What's on the wrist? So I'm literally just sat in a fairly fairly miserable UK at the moment with a Vacheron Overseas 2300V on the wrist today. It's 37mm blue dial overseas, no date, just with a little sub-dial on it.
00:02:47
Speaker
Quite a sneaky reference, actually. Don't really see many of them out. I think they've stopped it now. What's going out the stable today? Absolutely nothing. Not leaving the house, um but probably... Defender. I live in my lounge. I'm a Defender. I just think it's fantastic. The the new generation. So arguably not a Defender at all, but yeah, i'm living in things. Fantastic. Great bit kit.
00:03:07
Speaker
So you're an entrepreneur and for all intents and purposes, a collector. What was the moment that you realized collecting wasn't just a hobby for you, but ultimately something that would take on as a bit of a career?
00:03:20
Speaker
Well, I kind of started my career online, if you can call it a career. I mean, it's just messing around, really. um But i started I started in fitness and I had um a lot of young guys that followed me on ah on my platforms for predominantly it just building bigger arms and doing chest workouts and whatnot.
00:03:37
Speaker
But I've always been a watch and a car guy ever since I was a kid. Um, and I would, I would obviously do the fitness stuff on my social platforms and i would document whenever I was buying watches or sort of cars. And i started doing more and
Journey from Accessible Brands to Collectible Icons
00:03:49
Speaker
more than that online. Cause I realized that actually these guys loved it and very early doors on my platforms. I actually had a car brand reach out to me and offer me money to go to San Marit and a light sort of pinged above my head. And I thought, wait, what I can commercialize messing around with cars.
00:04:07
Speaker
How's that? How's that thing? I mean, I'm not going to argue it. Happy day. So um very early on, I realized that it would actually pay to share my um unhealthy, expensive habits online. So, um I mean, it's a great ecosystem. The more money I spend on things that I love, the more kind of engagement online and the bigger my audience grows. And then the more money i earn that enables me to then go and plow it back into the things I love. So,
00:04:34
Speaker
Yeah, pretty wild. it's ah It's a mad ecosystem and not one that I envisaged when I was doing my studies and I was at law school envisaging being this kind of 70 hour week lawyer being trapped in the office every day. And and now I'm literally just sort of messing around doing stuff I love. So um yeah, it's a crazy world.
00:04:51
Speaker
Pretty epic. Now, which came first for you? Was it collecting cars or collecting watches? Watchers definitely came first, I think, because the entry point was definitely obviously a lot lower. I was big into Panerai back in the day, in the Paneristi days.
00:05:06
Speaker
I had some Breitling, Ballon Ross, so not entry-level pieces by any stretch. I mean, they're still real punchy pieces, but obviously the barrier to entry there, we're talking, it must be 15-odd years ago now, I'm old.
00:05:19
Speaker
um but you know a couple of thousand couple of thousand dollars at most for any of these pieces uh i then eventually branched out into into a rolex but even back then kermit sub was like three grand something like that um so definitely decartes the car the cars came down the line as i started making a little bit more money um yeah not it wasn't through lack of wanting just through a the numbers not stacking up and nowhere to put them as well. I was just living at home with my mum being a prat. So um yeah yeah, the watches were easier to store rather than parking outside my mum's and her screaming at me.
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Well, now you're kind of, you know, we talked ah a little bit before this show and and independent watchmakers are currently the rage at the moment, not only for you, but kind of in the watch world.
00:06:05
Speaker
And some of these watches you actually got in on pretty early on in terms of the craze, ah like your FP Journe Elegant that you actually bought at a petrol station. Yeah.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's a nice one. If anyone's in the UK, Beaconsfield Services. I mean, it's it's one of the good ones. But yeah, it is just ah a fuel station with a few, like a McDonald's and whatever in it. So yeah, gas station.
00:06:28
Speaker
Tell me about that story, because you actually bought it pretty well under market value. Yeah, so at the time, it that market value was what I paid. But right now, it's gone astronomical. So I paid the equivalent, let me try and convert it to US, maybe 11,000 US for it.
00:06:43
Speaker
for it And I think retail at the time was maybe 12,000 US. So they weren't, they weren't dramatically expensive then, but no one really wanted them No one really, the, the John guys were into John. Don't get me wrong. Like there were people buying John and collecting John and the mass, but the mainstream hadn't got ahold of it.
00:07:02
Speaker
And I'd always had a bit of an interest in the Indies, but I wasn't in the financial stage where I could take any risks in terms of
Admiration for Independent Watchmakers
00:07:09
Speaker
what I bought, just completely losing every penny that I spent.
00:07:13
Speaker
I don't like looking at these things as financial instruments. But again, I don't have enough zeros to my name that I can completely ignore that element. So I'd always kind of viewed the indies with a bit of suspicion in terms of, yes, if it was just pure passion and i had all the money in the world, I'd be buying these things like packets of crisps.
00:07:30
Speaker
But actually, i do need to keep an eye on what what they're going to be like in the future. And I saw that genre. I was like, how badly can this go wrong? 11,000 know? how much value can it lose? And it it seemed like a really sensible place to get myself into the genre brand, but actually not risk everything. But we're talking at the time, a chronometric blur was um maybe like 20,000 US. So they they hadn't gone crazy yet either.
00:07:55
Speaker
And i I remember, I think it was 2014, maybe 2013. I bought a Patek 5711 blue dial. And it was between that and a Jean chronometer bleu at the time. And they were about, have to keep trying to convert, maybe 16,000 US, maybe around then between 16,000 and 20,000, something like that.
00:08:14
Speaker
And I was looking between the two and and I still saw the genre as a bit of a bit of a punt. I thought the Patek might be slightly safer, residual wise. Never in my wildest dreams did I think these things would even go up in value.
00:08:27
Speaker
um I was buying them because I loved them. And I thought maybe if I lose a couple of grand, at least I've had a nice time and I've ah liked it. um So yeah, was a completely different market. I don't know which I prefer really.
00:08:38
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think you could have gone wrong, obviously, on either of those purchases, seeing how the market played out. No. benefit of hindsight, hey. But um i I bought what I loved and i figured I could afford to do and I could afford to risk.
00:08:53
Speaker
um But yeah, it's just more of the story. I should have made money earlier, basically. And then I'd had a most crazy adventure. Well, you know, speaking of buying what you love, another independent watchmaker that you have such an affinity for is Ludovic.
00:09:07
Speaker
And, you know, you you have a piece from him and and your focus is really set on what he's doing. What do you love so much about his watches that have you so captivated right now? I love Ludovic Balois watches. I think in a sphere where every single complication is pretty much being done.
00:09:23
Speaker
People are loads of brands are just rehashing what they're all doing. um And he his complications are truly unique. You know, i love, I think what i really love about it as well as the backstory. I don't know you've seen the documentary he's done.
00:09:39
Speaker
It's him. think it's is it Max Boussa or Philippe Dufour there's other guys in there but I watched the documentary just to see just to see I think it's called Making Time yeah Great little documentary anyway. But his backstory is amazing. um And I think for me, he's kind of a blueprint as to what indies are about.
00:09:57
Speaker
And having met the fella a couple of times, just think he's fantastic. I think the work he does great. I think the complications are genius. He's obviously got the halftime, which is, they're all kind of jumping out. He only does the halftime and upside down at the moment.
00:10:09
Speaker
I have the upside down. And he's he has got a chronograph coming. And I've been to his atelier and he he showed me the kind of, I don't know what you call the book that has all the technical diagrams on it. So they're kind of, i think they're at working proto stage or nearly there. um And he was showing me how it worked, but I was lost within seconds. I mean, it doesn't take much, but I was absolutely lost as to what was going on with it. It's basically a chronograph, but with his,
00:10:36
Speaker
Ludovic Bauer, like kind of mad take on it. So that'll be exciting. and And I think that may well propel him into the mainstream. I do love his these thought ethos. I love the way he does things. And he
Predicting Trends in Watchmaking
00:10:48
Speaker
just he just loves his his life, his little setup there.
00:10:51
Speaker
He can expand, but he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to ruin his enjoyment for life. He likes hanging around with his other half, his wife, I think he think think they're married, and his dog.
00:11:01
Speaker
um he just likes his little setup and he doesn't want to expand because he doesn't want to potentially ruin his kind of way of life which i think is great because so many of these brands are just out to churn which you know i probably would if i was in their shoes but he's just like no and i spent the day with him gonna hang around with his mates when i sat sat playing with these um motorized airplanes in the local field just sat in the sun drinking a beer with his pals and i was like this is This is it. You know, he pops into the workshop, does a little bit of watchmaking.
00:11:29
Speaker
ah He's living the dream, that bloke. I think he sussed it. I like that. Off to the bloke. So um I hope to hope to buy one of the chronographs off him as and when, whenever he's finished in the field nearby.
00:11:42
Speaker
ah love the fact as well, if you buy a watch off him and your end he gets anyone being rude to him, he doesn't want to deal with them. He just he doesn't want anyone like basically ruining his life, which I guess is fair. um No, I think he's great.
00:11:54
Speaker
Absolutely great. Yeah. Top bloke. Are you on the docket to ah to snag one of the chronographs? I am, yeah. We'll see what this year brings, what what I can make money on and what but that looks like. And actually when they're released, but yeah, i will I will try and jump in on one of them. I haven't seen a sort what it looks like, but you know he he's spent so many years on it, he's not going to release something that's rubbish. So um yeah, i' i'm I'm earmarked in for one.
00:12:19
Speaker
We'll see what happens there. See how much they are. You know, a big problem that a lot of people have with independent watchmaking is the barrier to entry. A lot of the pieces are pretty expensive, you know, and and, you know, a lot of people that are saving up to buy a watch have to make that decision. Do I go with something that's really blue chip or do I so go with something that's really avant-garde?
00:12:40
Speaker
What do you think the future holds for independent watchmaking the overall collector's market? um I think it will continue to grow. I think um your your average collector that was buying Rolexes 10, 15 years ago, I think they're sick of it.
00:12:56
Speaker
They're sick of having to WhatsApp their dealer. every other week saying, hey, how are you? How are your kids? Blah, blah, blah. Let's pop in for coffee. You know, like we're all busy. No one's got time for this kind of nonsense or what what rubbish can I buy so I can get something that I like?
00:13:15
Speaker
That's not a luxury experience. It's terrible. And that was... all we thought was the norm and that the only options available. But now we've got this world where you can meet your creative vision behind the brand.
00:13:27
Speaker
You're literally exposed to everyone in the management chain in one room. And you can kind of you can kind of see the brand top to bottom. You can often go and see your actual watch being made.
00:13:39
Speaker
You're kept in in the loop in terms of where it is in the production process and blah, blah. And you can see where your money's going. And that's true luxury, really, i think. When it comes to these sorts of high-end purchases, and we're seeing in the car world as well, um people don't to play the games anymore. They'd rather, um whether or not that's the resto mod scene or sort of buying classics and doing restorations, people want to be involved in the creative process and and have a have a hand in it rather than just...
00:14:07
Speaker
sucking up to an enormous corporation and being treated like a number and having to wine and dine sales assistants, which whatever, that's your jam, you go for it. But I don't enjoy that.
00:14:18
Speaker
Um, and certainly the big brand journey for me is pretty much over. I'm, I'm kind of done with it. Um, ah The Rolex side of it, you know if I get allocated something, i'll grow I'll buy it just because you know your net worth goes up if you go and pick it up. But i've got I don't take any enjoyment out of your standard Rolex churn.
00:14:35
Speaker
I don't get anything out of that. um I've got Pepsi's, Sea-Dweller 43's, Submariner's, all of this stuff. but I couldn't tell you the last time i even saw them, let alone wore them. um Zero interest.
00:14:46
Speaker
So, um yeah, i think I think the indie side of things will continue to grow. um I think there probably are too many indies for them all to do well. I think we have reached saturation point in the amount of brands that are out there and that the market can support and the amount of additions all of these brands are doing.
00:15:02
Speaker
But I do think we might see a slight shift, and this will be potentially controversial, in Chinese indie
Business Ventures and Social Media Influence
00:15:10
Speaker
brands. So we've got bare ends in the mix. um And I don't know if you're familiar with Behrens.
00:15:15
Speaker
Yeah, sure. Slightly different, and obviously, to the to to the Swiss brands and their kind of challenger brands, if you like, um doing similar things, but in a different way. um And you've we've got another brand called Fam Alhut. I don't know if you've seen that.
00:15:28
Speaker
It's got the small, um it's being developed at the moment. um Fairly interesting fella. um So I think we'll see some challenger brands coming out the kind of the Far East. And there's another one. It begins with, I think it's Yozoku, something. I mean, I'm butchering the names, but I think he's a Japanese fella that he lives in Leloc in Switzerland. And so he's doing some cool stuff as well. i think I think we'll see some stuff like that.
00:15:52
Speaker
So yeah, I think that's where we're going see market going. Potentially, I've got something on the bare ends, an ultralight. I think it's called watch. I think it does give brands like, well, it doesn't give Richard Miller run for their money. No one gives Richard Miller run for their money. um But I do think it's demonstrative of what can be done um without the constraints of billion pound marketing budgets and um hype.
00:16:16
Speaker
It's an interesting side. Yeah. Well, you actually have a couple of businesses in the watch space that I want to talk about. You have a giveaway platform, you have a protective sticker company. And I think the listeners will be excited to hear about both, especially the giveaway company, because, you know, as you know, most people are just never sure how that works.
00:16:34
Speaker
Yeah, so obviously, you know, if you're listening in the US or anywhere outside of the UK, every jurisdiction is completely different. But in the UK, we have a, ah but it's effectively just a raffle. It's called grailwatchclub.com.
00:16:46
Speaker
um Not much of a plug because I suspect you don't have a huge amount of UK listeners. So this isn't a sell on anyone, just explaining what we do. um You buy a ticket for 10, 20 quid. and We have a fixed amount of tickets per watch. and We give away but a watch every three days. So at the moment, I think we've got a Rolex root beer.
00:17:02
Speaker
being able to be um one, just buy a ticket by the time it ends. And on a fixed time, we close it. And then however many people have entered, we give it to, we just pick a number of our random number generator and someone wins it.
00:17:14
Speaker
Pretty simple business. Obviously from a commercial perspective, ah we aim to sell more tickets worth than what we've paid for the watch. um Otherwise it's a pretty crappy business.
00:17:25
Speaker
um And on the whole, we do. i mean, we we have we we sell pretty much all of them out. Some of them a day or two early. So, um yeah, we've we're on our 200 and something watch by now. We're sort of a few years in. um And it's going from strength to strength.
00:17:38
Speaker
And it's great. And we give a percentage of our profits to Roy Castle Lung Cancer Charity as well. So I'm not going to pretend it's a charitable organization. It isn't. It's amazing. It is a business.
00:17:50
Speaker
I have my own bills. I have mortgage, blah, blah, blah. But and we do give a ah chance charity as well. And the second thing that I'm involved in the watch space is it's called the Watch Protect Company.
00:18:01
Speaker
So everyone knows when they buy Rolex or whatever it is, they often come with protective stickers on from factory and that often have like overhanging ugly tabs and red bits on them and all kind of rubbish. and We basically just sell people. It's like PTF for cars, but for watches. So we'll sell people a kit. um Some people apply it all over their watch, depending on the model, like bezel, sides of cases, blah, blah. But some people just want on the clasp because they're at their desk all day and they batter their clasps.
00:18:27
Speaker
So yeah, for Tudors, Rolex, Amiga, AP, Patek, and that goes really well. um We've got like scratch removal, paste, and all sorts of stuff. So anything any sort of thing that you want to do with your watch, looking after and preserving it.
00:18:39
Speaker
um Yeah, and that's going from strength to strength as well. So and we do ship internationally on that, so maybe that's a bit more of a plug. But yeah, so it's it's cool to be able to build brands around my social media. So I'm kind of the in-house marketing person.
00:18:54
Speaker
for these different enterprises. And I do that in the automotive space as well. So my business model is I just grow an audience of people that kind of trust what I say. I put my money where my mouth is. I am a collector, first and foremost, ah of cars and watches.
00:19:08
Speaker
um And then i I start brands with talented, hardworking other people that use kind of my audience as ah as a stepping stone to um create a footprint and kind of kickstart the business from there. So that's been working pretty well.
00:19:22
Speaker
And I hope to continue to grow these businesses and exit over the next few years and then delete my social media.
00:19:31
Speaker
Well, I have a question about the watch protection stuff because Obviously, it has to the stickers have to be so exact to each model. what's What's your process like to get the measurements or the CAD model for all of these models that you have to get protective gear for? So we have we just have to get the watch for um a day or two.
00:19:52
Speaker
And then there's ah there's a very expensive scanning machine somewhere in the UK. I actually don't. i'm not I'm not allowed to touch the clever side of it. All I am is just in-house scanning. in-house gobshite. So I'm not a party the other side of it. You name it, there's a business and there's there's a clever part of it or an engineering part of it. They say, Tom, go in the other room, don't touch anything.
00:20:10
Speaker
and So we just we just scan the watches basically, but we we can't do it just off pictures or off diagrams or anything like that. We have to physically have the watch. So we have collectors reaching out with these kind of niche vintage models, you know, Patek 2499s, all this kind of stuff.
00:20:25
Speaker
And unless we've got one or we can borrow one ah for a good few days and either send it away, which no one's going to do with a watch like that, um we do struggle. But we're constantly building our inventory. So every time I buy a watch, I will kind of send it off to the fella.
00:20:39
Speaker
um He will scan it and hopefully make a... make designs
Passion for Indie Watch Brands
00:20:44
Speaker
and we'll get the stickers made up but yeah they do have to be exact because unless they're invisible or as close to invisible as humanly possible uh it's just crap because no one wants to wear a watch that looks like it's in a bin bag today i'm curious to know i mean do you ever get burnt out especially from watches having businesses in the space i mean maybe that's why the independent stuff is so interesting to you now Yeah, I've definitely got um um fatigue with the kind of the usual stuff.
00:21:10
Speaker
um And I do find the Indies interesting, ah constantly pushing boundaries. And yeah, I'm not sick of watches. So I think I've been lucky in that I've come into it absolutely adoring the subject matter. And I've also spent years in jobs that I've absolutely hated.
00:21:28
Speaker
um I've seen what's on the other side of the curtain. um I used to clean toilets. I've done all sorts of jobs. um and I can't say I loved that. The job I hated the most, I guess, was just being at a desk in the city. I went i went into finance after after I went to law school and just having someone looking over my shoulder, just annoying me you know every single week you know on a Monday morning. What are we doing this week on a Friday afternoon? What have you done this week?
00:21:52
Speaker
All this rubbish. So I haven't got fatigue with watches or the watch world or cars or the car world. Some of it's annoying, particularly cars. Having multiple cars is a complete pain in the backside, especially if you're not actually loaded enough to have someone managing them.
00:22:07
Speaker
But because I've seen on the other side of the curtain, I didn't just go into influencing and, you know, having my own businesses and and messing around from day one. I am still every day grateful for the fact that I get to it just indulge my passions and do actually on the whole, what I would be wanting to do for free anyway.
00:22:24
Speaker
It's what I would be doing If I had the time and the money to do it, this is what I'd be choosing to do. Just to immerse myself in cars and watches. um But I am bored of, you know, if someone says, oh, I've got new Rolex whatever, I don't really care, to be honest, unless it's like an off-catelag or something really odd or a vintage oddity. i'm not i'm I'm not that bothered anymore. That probably sounds awful, doesn't it?
Vintage Car Adventures
00:22:47
Speaker
and but Let's talk cars for a bit because you just brought home arguably the grail of all grails for most vintage car lovers, a Ferrari 250 Pininfarina, and you got it from Octane in the UK, but you actually went there to look at another Ferrari before you stumbled on this.
00:23:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's part of my YouTubing. I do drive lots and lots of cars. It's good fun. And I went down to drive a 360 Challenge Stradale because I've never driven one before. and they're kind of reaching that now like modern classic, like kind of...
00:23:20
Speaker
might be a very good buy get in now. I think they've reached their kind of slump in the bottom of their value curve and i think they're going to start going up. And I think now we're seeing all the hybrid Ferraris and all the kind of nonsense that Ferrari are doing.
00:23:33
Speaker
I think people are now starting to look back. They're not looking forward and thinking, oh, I've quite like a V6 with a load of electric bits in it. I think people now looking back at the choice, I thought, oh, I'll go and drive one. And I had a V12 Lusso at the time, GTC4 Lusso, the bread van thing.
00:23:48
Speaker
I thought maybe maybe I'd get out of this thing and and jump into something slightly older. um So anyway, I put in a cheeky offer and the rest is history. I managed to get it financed and um yeah, I'm there. it's It's at home, but I'm now having to redo my garage because apparently it's too damp in there to store a Ferrari.
00:24:06
Speaker
That car has oddly lagged behind in value to your benefit, right? I mean, is that your first vintage car that you've bought? So I've got a 60s Porsche 912 with nothing like the value. um And I also had an 80s Testarossa, mono, mono car.
00:24:22
Speaker
So the collectible one. Had that for about a year or two. And you know what? It's one of those cars that I think the best Testarossa is someone else's because they look amazing. um And actually, if I could have that car again and just without an engine or anything and stick it in my front room, I'd have to extend my front room. But I would because I think it's art. It's probably the most iconic Ferrari bar, the F40.
00:24:42
Speaker
And they've lagged as well. They're starting to take off over here. But yeah, I got rid of it because I saw the you know paint bubbling and stuff. And I was like, here we go. I'm not interested. No, no, no. We're not doing we're not doing a bare metal restoration on a Ferrari. No, thanks. Bye bye.
00:24:57
Speaker
um um Well, I think what most people would be shocked to hear is that it was actually probably easier to finance the 250 than it would be a modern Ferrari. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So very strangely, and the only other time I think I've had this is with my Carrera GT, the banks, because i finance all my cars, right? I asset back, lend against them, you know, whatever you call over there.
00:25:18
Speaker
ah the the The banks obviously have to do a kind of values trajectory. sort of They have to look into what it's going to be worth ultimately because they're you know they're lending against it. And they've valued it. Basically, they they think it's going to go up, um which they never really do. They usually take a fairly salty look at these things. um And they've said you know it's basically undervalued. So the the finance on it is actually relatively cheap. It it was costing me the same monthly payment as it as the Lusso, the modern GTC4 Lusso.
00:25:45
Speaker
um It didn't really take really any much cash or much of a change to jump into the two. And the value difference in value between the two is huge. Well, you've got an affinity for Porsche two as, as do most, and it's led you to owning the Carrera GT amongst others.
00:25:59
Speaker
Which one feels more special to own the 250 or the GT? Ah, no, it's unfair because I've only driven the the GT for, ah sorry, the 250. I've only driven that for, a minute and a half.
00:26:10
Speaker
I did feel like the coolest person on the planet at the time. i was out of my depth. had no idea what's going on in there. I think the career GT for me, because I grew up and I saw that thing being launched in Paris around the Arc de Triomphe, it kind of popped out on that sort of rainy evening on those cobbles.
00:26:30
Speaker
I still remember that. And I just think, It was a formative, not a formative part of my childhood. i mean, it wasn't that important, but I remember that. And that was part of my kind of my teenage dreaming years. Was I a teenager? I'm aging myself here.
00:26:43
Speaker
um I think probably the Correa GT, because that is the genuine realisation of a childhood dream. And that was my bucket list car. That was the car, money, no object. You know, that stupid question that people ask each other, car geeks ask each other, money, no object.
00:26:55
Speaker
What car would you have? It's that car. So for me, the GT will always be up there. And it scares the living Jesus out of me. It's so scary. I mean, it's got better with modern tyre tech, but it's...
00:27:08
Speaker
yeah I don't know what i'm doing behind the wheel. I'm all knees and elbows. So me and that thing, um and obviously they're all left-hand drive. We're right-hand drive cars over here. And on the other side of the road, it's chaos in there. So GT, very GT definitely.
00:27:20
Speaker
But the 250 is a different kind of experience. I think the 250... is a is a door opener. I don't think there's a person on the planet that would see someone in 250 and despise them. I think in most sports cars or supercars, I don't know, particularly in the UK, we're quite negative towards each other.
00:27:36
Speaker
You see someone a nice car, you hate them. I mean, I don't, but it does go on. um I think the 250 is, everyone can appreciate that. So they're totally different vibe, but Crow GT definitely is. um The noise from that thing as well, it sounds like a Formula One car smashing into a
Perspectives on Vintage Cars and Watches
00:27:51
Speaker
wall. It's just unbelievable. It's ridiculous.
00:27:54
Speaker
Something I find interesting is that you know you bought this vintage Ferrari, which was completely restored to the nines, but you're not into vintage watches. Why is that? So the vintage car versus vintage watch thing. I liked i like the idea of having something vintage that has is now yeah is usable and is like modernly robust almost.
00:28:15
Speaker
um And I think in the vintage car sphere, you can have something restored. And it's not frowned upon. There's no denigration of value. It's fine.
00:28:26
Speaker
If you get it restored properly by a proper person and blah, blah, and documented all that jazz. But with vintage watches, you kind of almost, there's it's a badge of honor having them um original and just a little bit screwed up. you know Obviously you've you've got the unpolished, which whenever anyone says it's unpolished, it's usually being polished anyway.
00:28:44
Speaker
Right, it's usually not. Yeah, it's usually just nonsense. It's just been restored really well. um I don't know. I'm yet to kind of get into the vintage watch thing. That's not to say I don't have some some older pieces in my collection, but that it's not where I'm going with my with my collection at the moment.
00:29:02
Speaker
um Certainly the early Rolex sports pieces, They're meant to be kind of robust daily usable watches. I do feel every time I handle like a vintage Daytona or a vintage stuff, it just feels like a piece of ham.
00:29:15
Speaker
It doesn't feel like something that's like you can just, you can knock around and the value on some of now is just so crazy. It's kind of, they're tall watches, but you can't use them as tall watches anymore. Not that I go diving or anything, but yeah.
00:29:27
Speaker
um I don't know. It just hasn't tickled my pickle. And that's not to say there's anything wrong with it. I can i really appreciate, you know, if one of my friends gets vintage Daytona, some one of my friends got Daytona big red and I love it. I think it's incredibly special.
00:29:40
Speaker
And the sizing on all of these models is amazing. It's much better than modern sizing, but it's not where I'm where my and area of interest is. And that might change. I'm curious to know, cause you, you daily drive a lot of times your Land Rover.
00:29:55
Speaker
What about vintage Land Rovers? Cause that's huge in the UK, especially, you know, out there in the Cotswolds and and more of the country life. is. it's Yeah, I'm not sure how many people are actually daily driving like a series, like the property of the OG Defender.
00:30:12
Speaker
I don't know how many people are doing that. um They are, look, they are rubbish. They're cool, but they're rubbish. I had a 2016 model, TD5, like basically the Ford Puma engine in it, whatever it was called.
00:30:24
Speaker
um They are really, really cool, but they're just they're slow. They drive worse than tractors and they do rust. And now they get stolen like bilio, whether or not the whole thing goes or and the whole thing goes and you find it stripped out, they do just get robbed left, right and center. So the grief that comes with them, and if you drive them to London now, you have to pay.
00:30:44
Speaker
You guys have just got congestion charged in New York, haven't you? ah Yes, they did just try and implement that. We'll see how it goes. You don't have riots or anything? Because we do we don't really riot over here. we kind of just We just get screwed over and take it.
00:30:57
Speaker
It's good fun. I'm sure there's going to be some riots for sure. um we've We've got U-Leds charge anyway. So anyway anything with a pollut polluting de diesel engine, we get a charged extra on top as well. So it's nearly like $20 just to drive in just because it's a diesel. And then there's another almost $20 on top to get into the city in that. So yeah, they are in the Cotswolds now. they're not They're not in the cities, but...
00:31:20
Speaker
um I did have my dalliance. I
Joy of Owning Unique Cars
00:31:23
Speaker
did actually put money down on a series and I didn't get my deposit back because I bailed out at the last minute because I realized I was an idiot and it was just going to be grief and I had no business driving an old one.
00:31:33
Speaker
Well, out of all the cars that you have acquired and sent the wire for and and gone on that initial drive for, is there one that gave you the most joy?
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they're all different levels of enjoyment for different occasions. In terms of a car that I don't envisage ever selling, I mean, I don't ever want to sell my car at GT, but I might have to. It might get to the price point where I can't can't ignore ah the money sat there. But my 997 GT3 RS, I think, is one of my favorite driver's cars. You know, I think...
00:32:07
Speaker
that peak porsche for me i think you've got enough of the old visceral and enough of the new bulletproof uh enough of the old kind of smaller sizing of cars that you can actually use it on sort country roads and things uh not too much power it's manual it's the last manual gt3s i think that's kind of peak 911 for me what about the dakar because i feel like that's perfect english countryside Oh yeah. That's a great car. And I think it's a truly limited Porsche. They've never done anything like it before. I don't know if they'll ever do it again. i mean, maybe now they've seen it a cash cow and they will, but there's 1,950 of them, something like that, I think.
00:32:47
Speaker
And they're back down to list price here. And I just think it's a great car, particularly the state of the UK roads. I think it's phenomenal. um i'm I'm over my kind of buying everything under the sun and and and getting into everything phase. But if I was a few years ago,
Collecting Philosophy and Future Goals
00:33:01
Speaker
ah probably would have one of those because you don't you don't have to baby it at all you can just leave it out in all elements and ram it through potholes speed humps whatever you want and it would wrap it up you just rummage through yeah it loves it absolutely loves it the things i've seen people doing to those cars online particularly i mean mainly the porsche press car to be honest i think that's had quite a difficult life yeah it's it's been through a doozy yeah i mean it's not quite whistling diesel level but people have been um giving it a good go Great car. Great, great car.
00:33:32
Speaker
I love it. Tom, let's wrap it up with the collector's gene rundown. You can answer these questions based on any of the things that you collect, whether it's watches or cars or real estate, whatever it may be. First question is, what's the one that got away?
00:33:45
Speaker
The one that got away? I was looking at NF40 way back when. 600 or grand. And I'm an idiot. Didn't make it happen.
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah. Whatever. It'll come back. No, it bloody won't. Not the price we are now. That's long gone. work right that How about the on-deck circle? So what's next for you in collecting? Maybe something you're hunting after or a watch that's caught your eye?
00:34:12
Speaker
Okay, so car-wise, I think potentially Jag XJ220. Beautiful. beautiful I'm having a vicious conversations with ah old Mr. Toledano, Mr. Enthusiast. So his so i' I think I'm going to fly to New York. And I mean, if he's still insane and let me drive it, I might fly over there to go see him.
00:34:32
Speaker
Whiz around in his X-ray 220. So maybe maybe I think they're very, very undervalued. It's a very rare car. um It's not without its downsides, but I think that car is definitely icon. And well, he's always selling stuff too. So you can probably convince him.
00:34:46
Speaker
He's an animal. Yeah, I've looked into it, but getting it into the yeah UK and the import taxes and all that boring stuff is just crap. So yeah, cheers, government. and in the work How about the unobtainable? So this is something that's too expensive in a museum, a private collection, just complete unobtainium.
00:35:04
Speaker
I'd love a 300 SL Goldwing or an F50, a black F50. I mean, not too much to ask for, surely. Yeah, no. I mean, just just a couple of favors, right? Reasonable stuff.
00:35:16
Speaker
Yeah. kind of out there or or Or a Zonda. Yeah, Zondas are crazy, but i can't I can't imagine that car cruising around the UK there. People do. is Yeah, you'd be surprised when people just drive around in in the crud that we call this country. it's It's mad, particularly in London. Nothing surprises me anymore. Nothing.
00:35:36
Speaker
All right, a question that you're not too keen on, but I'm curious to know, which is the page one rewrite. So if money was no object and you could collect anything besides cars and watches, what would it be?
00:35:49
Speaker
Oh, what have i shown an affinity for over there? over sort of I mean, I did get into trainers. I mean, I somewhat, I kind of collect trainers. Um, yeah.
00:36:01
Speaker
I think that's probably the most reasonable. I've not been particularly ah a wine or a whiskey guy. I've dabbled in whiskey. um Probably trainers. And yeah, i do I do collect some sneakers. Sorry, I should call them sneakers on this podcast. No, I got a lot of UK listeners.
00:36:16
Speaker
um Yeah, probably probably sneakers. and I probably should have stuck to that because I guess it's a slightly cheaper hobby. yeah Yeah, it would have would have paid you a little better maybe. Yeah, definitely. How about the goat? Who do you look up to in the collecting world or who do you think is a great collector?
00:36:32
Speaker
I quite like the way that, I mean, he's not really known as a watch character. I just think he's a cool guy and he does cool stuff and the stuff he buys, he I just think he does it well. Be period correct, fella? on um on i Oh, sure, Brian.
00:36:46
Speaker
Yeah, I think he's just a cool guy. I mean, I don't know whether or not you're expecting that answer, but think he's cool. um No, I love it. He's probably slightly less cool He's collector and a tastemaker for sure. Yeah, yeah, he is. And I think his coolness has probably gone down a notch now I've said that.
00:37:00
Speaker
No, think so. Are we going to change what he's doing? He's probably considering himself to be doing something wrong with the foot likes of me like it. um Who else? I like, do you know what? I like Justin Hast in this country. I like the way that he collects. I like his rationale for collecting. I like the way that he buys what he likes.
00:37:17
Speaker
And I like the way he knows knows why he's buying stuff that not necessarily anyone else would particularly understand until he um vocalizes it. I think he's ah he's a tastemaker in his own way.
00:37:30
Speaker
For sure. And on top of that, he's just the best guy. yeah he's a friend Yeah, he's a good friend of mine, but also I do, most people when they buy stuff, I'm like, yeah, whatever, you know, you buy everything. um Who cares? But I think when when he buys something, I do sit up and listen.
00:37:45
Speaker
And he's a cool guy. So um yeah, Justin Hust. I'll send him an invoice for that plug. Yeah, me too. The hunt or the ownership? Which one do you enjoy more Oh God, I've got to say the ownership because I do hold on to stuff.
00:38:01
Speaker
I don't come out stuff at all. I know Justin, I think he's more of the hunt. ah Definitely. Now we've just spoken about him. I think he's definitely the hunt for him. um But for me, it it is the ownership. I like just having not worn a watch for maybe a year being like, oh my God, I still have this and having that kind of honeymoon period all over again.
00:38:18
Speaker
um To my financial detriment, I do hoard and I don't sell anything. it's It's a cold day in hell if I do ever sell anything. So yeah, it is the ownership experience. And actually, I get told off this in my cars as well.
00:38:31
Speaker
Just knowing that I have it, I know this sounds awful, but just knowing that I have it and occasionally kind of maybe looking it at the garage or seeing it in the vault, just going to my vault and just sort of playing around with them and then putting them back, not even necessarily wearing them. I do get pleasure out of that.
00:38:44
Speaker
um Definitely the ownership, I'd say.
Conclusion and Gratitude
00:38:47
Speaker
And most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collector's jean? Yes. ah Unfortunately so. I think it's been unfortunate for all of us, but it's something that makes us happy. So Tom, thank you so much for coming on Collector's Gym Radio today.
00:39:01
Speaker
Can't wait to get together in the UK and let me know when you're in New York and I'm getting in the back of the ah the XJ with you and you and Phil. We're going for a ride. Yeah, I'm not sure there's back seats, but we'll wedge you in there somehow, even if you need an ambulance afterwards. Perfect.
00:39:14
Speaker
I'm a tiny guy. We'll figure it out. Cheers, Cameron. I appreciate it.
00:39:21
Speaker
All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collectors Gene Radio.