5 QUESTIONS WITH TIM VAUX

Interview

5 Questions with TIM VAUX

@timvaux

1) First, please tell us a bit about yourself and how watches and photography came into your life.

I'm a watch journalist, photographer, and consultant working exclusively within luxury watches for publications such as Hodinkee and British GQ, and shooting directly for specialist vintage curators, retailers, and brands. I specialise in watch photography shot in natural lighting and ‘real world’ placement to bring a sense of relatability and accuracy to how some of the rarest and more revered watches exist in day-to-day life. I’ve alwayshad an appreciation forwatches, but ten years ago I started working in the industry writing about watches online and since then the passion and, to be frank, obsession with watchmaking have taken over.

2) You frame beautiful objects through a lens for a living. What makes a piece – a watch, a jacket, anything — genuinely photogenic to you?

It’s the same thing that makes something visually pleasing to look at: consideration. A level of intention from those who designed it, from those who crafted it, and those who wear it. In my photography, the way someone wears and chooses to express themselves through the watch is just as much of the shot as the item itself. Pairing a small vintage dress watch with jewellery, or wearing that incredibly rare watch with a T-shirt and jeans. That tells a deeper story than just an image of a watch. The level of confidence in owning your taste can be felt through an image. Framing these items in everyday moments, paired with striking lighting, is what makes something feel truly photogenic to me. How light engages with a scene, how it catches the details of a watch, how it can highlight elements you'd never see in controlled studio photography. I sometimes think of myself just as much a photographer of lighting as I am of watches.

3) Watches and tailoring share the same devotion to craft. How does your love of horology show up in the way you dress?

That’s a crossover I’ve never really considered before, but I like to create juxtaposition with my watch choice, and that’s the same philosophy in how I dress. In watches, that might be pairing a dress watch with more relaxed styling, but in outfits, that might mean introducing different textures and materials, or playing with different lengths of clothing. I believe in both of these worlds, people wear things for others instead of staying true to their own taste too often. Wear things for yourself and your own eye, even if it makes sense to no one else. Be selfish with it; it probably means you’re starting to find your style. I’d say that mindset is true in finding your own sartorial style as well as in watches.

4) The watch world has always celebrated pieces with history and patina. Do you see that same appreciation growing for pre-owned menswear?

Absolutely. For those who specifically look at vintage watches, there’s certainly a belief amongst collectors that things were made to a higher standard previously, and I think that’s well documented in the world of clothing. The way in which 18k gold watches from the 1980s often have developed a more muted, softer glow when compared to new gold, is comparable to a pair of pre-owned loafers with supple leather.