“This one is one of the rarest models of the Royal Oak,” he says, gesturing to the timepiece I still have wrapped around my wrist. The Royal Oak Championship was released in 1990, the year golfer Nick Faldo won the US Masters and the British Open. “It’s actually a quartz watch,” he says, adding that it’s made of a metal called tantalum which is generally used to make guns.

The watch world is divided into mechanical watch loyalists who are irked by quartz watches and those who don’t mind them. But despite Cho’s love for the vintage models, he also greatly appreciates quartz movements. “I believe there’s definitely a time and a place for quartz; I’d probably wear something like this [Royal Oak Championship] if I was going to a resort. It’s low maintenance.”

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I ask Cho how he decides which is the appropriate watch to wear with each of his neatly tailored outfits with—it’s clear he has some kind of thought process. He instantly refers to the example of the platinum Cartier Tonneau, an older piece from the brand’s Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP) series, which was a limited-edition line released from 1998 to 2008 dedicated to the French maison’s 20th-century designs. “The curvature and profile of this watch are amazing, and it wraps comfortably around the wrist,” Cho says. “The old Cartier logo is another nice touch—perfect for a dinner or date.” When at work, meanwhile, Cho likes to be quietly elegant: a Patek Phillipe 96 in platinum with spade hands and Breguet numerals is his go-to. The former “originally came out in the early Thirties; mine is a very early example, and it is part of the bedrock of Patek’s design,” he says.

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Other favourites when he’s on the clock include a couple of A Lange & Söhne watches: the Emil 1815 Moonphase, which was a tribute to the firm’s founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange in celebration of its 165th anniversary; and the Little Lange 1 in 18-karat white gold with a grey, guillochéd dial.

He has parlayed his personal enthusiasm for watches into his professional interests, producing two collections in 2022. The first, Total Eclipse, was in association with independent watchmaker H Moser & Cie. To simulate the sun’s halo, Cho says The Armoury “convinced Moser to develop a new, smaller and more understated casing in 38mm, combined with Vantablack, their ultrablack dial material”. A total of 56 pieces were made available: 28 in red gold gold and 28 in steel.

The second partnership, with independent Japanese watchmaker Naoya Hida, was intended to make the most of the latter’s expertise: he specialises in hand-engraving dials with extremely high-precision milling for the case and hands. “We took Hida’s Type 2 design and created a new dial for it, creating a whole new typeface named Lettercutter,” Cho explains.

While obviously au fait with the history and heritage of timepieces, Cho also relies on instinct when deciding what to add to his collection. “I think probably what’s more important is thinking: what do I keep and why do I keep them? The watches I put on must feel natural to me,” he says. Yet for someone who is so specific about particular watches for particular occasions and reasons, he is also surprisingly insistent that collectors should sell their pieces. “I don’t mean this in a commercial sense. I mean, you really want to hone your collection, so it’s really important to let some stuff go.”

What’s next on the watch lover’s list? “I’m a big fan of baguette diamonds in watch dials. And usually now you don’t find them very easily, which is why I’ve been buying a lot of ladies’ watches,” he says, as he scrolls through his phone to show me a picture of a Patek Philippe Nautilus with baguette diamonds marking the hours. The cigar’s smoke hovers over him almost like a cloud of thought, as he dreams of his next muse.

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