Talking Watches With Morgan King

Today we're in Los Angeles to talk to a man who's been a staple of the watch collecting community for the last six years. He's young, he's energetic, and there's nobody else quite like him. His name is Morgan King and today we're talking watches. So Morgan, I want to thank you for joining us here on Talking Watches today. It is an honor for me to be here. I don't know if you know, but I'm a huge fan of yours. Thank you very much. Likewise. So I wanted to ask you, first and foremost, how did you get started in watches, period? Well, it started out with this Pops watch. Everyone had one, you popped it on your shirt and it's just the greatest thing ever. And then eventually I kind of migrated to my Tag Heuer. Back in 1993, I went to Europe, I had $1,000 in my credit card. I saw the Tag Heuer F1 plastic bezel chronograph and I was like, what is this? Plastic bezel, it's gorgeous. So of course I give my credit card, I think I'm tough as anything. And after it was like $950 and I had $50 on my card and that's it. For the rest of the trip, I was eating cheese and crackers and skiving off my other friends, but I loved it. And from there, the Tag Heuer and Heuer love started. The registers really get to me. All three, you have to have them. And of course you have to have the white and the black contrast because you have two wrists. So, you know, why not wear it? You know, I often wear two pieces a lot because one is LA time and one is pimp time, right? Because you have two wrists. We actually see some pretty rare pieces. So this is a pulsation dial, which is really rare. And then this guy, what is this one? Well, this one came from our dear friend, Eric Nguyen. And he said, Morgan, I didn't know you were such a big Heuer collector, but you should look at this. And I'm like, wow, this is wicked. And the sticker on the back still. Sticker on the back. I put a sticker on top of the sticker just in case, you know, so I can wear it so it doesn't get damaged. And so then from Carreras, we move into Monaco's, of which you have a few. Yes. These two units here are some of the prototypes that they had. This one is what they call the Chronomatic. This is the first of the official one that they actually produced. Now, it's hard to find one in this condition because it's very metallic. It's very, very sheen. Gosh, it's every time I see that, it's just like, oh, you're so pretty, you know? And after the Chronomatic, of course, there was the transitionals. Now, I brought these two because the original transitionals came with the standard beige hands, but they also came with a prototype with blue hands. And of course, you have to be able to look at this and say, I got to have them both. And then this guy? Of course, this one is the famous Dark Lord. It's just beautiful. Everything about the orange really pops. So if you look at this box, it looks like it's all Hoyers. And when you first opened it, I was like, okay, it's a cool box of Hoyers. Then I noticed, wait a minute, there's a Rolex in there. So this is the one Rolex that could actually be a Hoyer if you just look at it. Yes, correct. The 6238 in black. The pump pushers are great because they're elegant. They're very, very stylish. And you know, once again, they're timeless. So we have a pre-Daytona here, and then we have one of the first Daytonas over there. This one is the underline double Swiss. It has the Swiss up top and the Swiss underneath. I'm really, really happy with this. It's so mint. Yeah, it's a favorite of mine as well. It's a great one. Let me see yours. See, look. Boom. White dial. See? Left hand, right hand, right? That's how it works. So while we're on Daytona, we'll save the Neumanns. So what do you have on Neumann, Emily? Well, the non-Neumann, we have here, this one is quite nice. It's a Sigma dial and it's a Big Red. So it's kind of rare. A lot of them are in black. This particular one I like because I don't see a lot of the white with the black registers. That's Big Red with the Sigma sign. Another great find of mine is what they call the Big Eye. I love it. Just the way that the plastic bezel pops against the registers. Yeah, really, really a subtle kind of variation on the 623. Not many people would know what a Big Eye is for sure. Yes. And it's very, very subtle, but the guys that know, I've had guys come up to me and say, that's a Big Eye. I'm like, you're Hodinkee, don't you? He's like, yes, yes, yes. And what is this guy up here? Ah, well, this one is our 16520. This one's different because I like to collect all dial variations. This is the porcelain dial. Man, this just pops. It really is like angels are shining on this. It's a special watch. It's also a watch that you can't even imagine Rolex making now, like doing a porcelain dial. Oh, yeah. So let's talk Neumann. Neumann, yes. So you are a Paul Neumann enthusiast. I like Paul Neumanns. You have to eventually get to a Neumann because that's the epitome of what the digital is about. And I'm not going to say it doesn't hurt the fact that, you know, right now they're really, really hot. Everyone wants to screw down. And I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. You have the 6263 and the 6265. I have a 6263 and a 6265. This one actually has a very distinct look to it. So when you see it, you're like, oh, of course, it's a Neumann Panda. But when you look at this one, a lot of people are mistaken it for just being a standard one. So 6265, 6263, and of course, the 6240. I had collected the pump pushers and the screw down variation. And Eric said, you are missing one. You're missing the RCO. Do you want one? I'm like, yes, I do. So you just can't help yourself. Yes. Well, because, you know, if you're going to be a complete, if you're going to do it, you got to do it. You got to do it. You know, my father would always say life is short. Eat dessert first. So what other Rolexes do we have in the box? Well, we have, this is a 5513. You've been looking at it now with the beautiful sword hands. And these are hard because some of it may fall off because it's so big. It's a lot of patina. It's a lot of a loom to hold on to. So I'm careful. Like when I'm wearing this, I make sure I'm not going to a place where I'm clapping, you know, or if I go golfing or something. You do a lot of clapping? Sometimes, you know, I go to concerts a lot. So you're like, oh yeah. Like I'm like, what watch? Okay. Okay. That's okay. I'm wearing a smaller This one is a 16650 prototype. A lady had bought it at a lease auction. I think she paid like 300, $400 for it. And she posted it saying, you know, hey, I got this piece. I don't know if it's real or not. And a lot of people were very suspicious of it. Oh, it's a fake. You paid 354. It's no, it's not real. But, uh, Andrew Scheer, he eventually talked to her and looked at it and said, oh, it's real boys. And then is that a Milgauss I see next to it there? Ah, yes. The Milgauss. I love it because there's no loom on it at all. The honeycomb dial is just fantastic. And I never have to worry about the loom falling off. I'm a huge, it's not there yet. This one here is the 6538 big crown. Phillip Stahl had this a little bit of Rolex fashion report. Yes. So he was kind of like dangling in front of me saying, uh, what do you think? I know you're a chronograph guy, but, but this is a nice one. You can't deny this piece. And I was like, yes, you're right. I can't. This is beautiful. So, uh, you know, lo and behold, some things were arranged, some things were traded, you know, my kids can't go to college anymore. Uh, here it is. The big crown is here. And I'm sure for a fact that, uh, I will keep this in my collection for a long, long time because I don't collect too many subs, but this one is by far one of the best ones that I've seen. So it looks like you have an amazing collection of, of chronographs and, and you've been doing this for about five years. You've kind of, you've seen a lot in five years. You really have. So what's next? I would probably say that the vintage market has really gone high. Everyone's buying vintage. I really am looking for a time machine to bring me back to get the new old, new old stock. You've seen a lot of pieces out there that are saying new old stock, never been buffed. And I'm looking for one that's in the box. It's in the safe somewhere. Some guy has it in his basement and it's all there perfectly in a Newman. Screw down. I would love it. You want to pull back? Oh, it would be great to have, you know, you don't, I don't wear the boxing papers, but just know that I have it would be, you know, superb. It's amazing to see that you have things like an RCO, which is the grail of grails of the chronograph world. And you also wear little Breitlings as well. Well, you know, watches are watches. I, you know, I always have a lot of buddies come to me and say, you know, what's the best watch in the world. And I always tell everyone, you know, the best watch in the world is the one that's on your wrist. You wear it, you love it, it's yours. And it's about passion. Really. You know, I collect swatches still. I still have them. I still wear them and I'll have pieces like these that I still wear because I enjoy them. And if you aren't going to wear them, what's the point? I'm an average Joe. I come from Queens. I come from humble beginnings, but I had an opportunity to collect what I loved and not everyone has that opportunity, but it doesn't matter if you have one, two, three pieces, you get that one that you enjoy and you treasure. It's yours. That's what it's all about.