Few collectors arrive at watches through a traditional path. Jonathan Raksha came to them through making things by hand. Raised on skate culture and hip hop, Raksha’s early fascination with design led him to study jewelry in Toronto, where he began translating taste, proportion, and material into objects people actually wanted to wear. That instinct quickly found an audience, first through grills and custom jewelry, and later through a growing roster of high-profile clients who trusted his eye.

As his jewelry practice expanded, Raksha began to approach watches the same way he approached objects he made himself. He paid attention to weight, thickness, and how a piece actually sat on the wrist. Thin cases, intricate bracelets, and older gold watches felt more convincing to him than oversized modern designs, a line of thinking that naturally led him toward vintage Audemars Piguet "Bamboo" references.

In this latest edition of Come Collect, Raksha reflects on his path into jewelry, the logic behind his watch collecting, and why vintage pieces continue to resonate with a new generation of collectors who value proportion, tactility, and individuality over spectacle.

In Conversation with Jonathan Raksha

Isaac Wingold: Let’s start at the beginning. What first pulled you toward making things by hand, and how did that eventually turn into your path in jewelry?

Jonathan Raksha: I grew up in Toronto, near Bathurst and Lawrence, skating downtown and getting pulled into hip hop culture at the same time. Skateboarding exposes you to a certain visual language, and that was always paired with drawing and making things by hand. So when I needed a direction, I chose to study Jewelry Arts and Design at George Brown.

During that period, gold teeth were coming back in style thanks to artists like A$AP Rocky. I noticed that no one in Toronto was making them the way I believed they should be made, so I started Toronto Grills while I was still in school. Within a few months, we were creating pieces for Rocky, Ferg, Theophilus London, and Sean Brown. That became the foundation of everything that followed.

IW: Your early work was deeply rooted in hip hop culture, but your portfolio broadened quickly. What helped shift your practice toward more classical jewelry?

JR: I expected my career to stay in the lane of hip hop jewelry, but clients kept asking me to create more classical pieces like engagement rings and traditional settings. My Instagram ended up becoming a chronological archive of my work. If you scroll through it, you can literally watch my taste develop. You can even see the moment when watches enter the picture.

IW: At what point did watches begin to feel like part of your creative and collecting world rather than something adjacent to it?

JR: It happened in 2016. I acquired my first significant watch, a vintage Audemars Piguet "Bamboo" Day Date Moonphase. From a jeweler’s perspective, it was remarkable. The watch had more than eighty grams of gold, a handmade bracelet, and proportions that are almost impossible to find in modern watchmaking.

When I posted it, people reacted immediately. Many friends said it was the nicest watch they’d ever seen. I tried to find another example and realized how scarce they were. So whenever the business account looked healthy, I would say that it was time to add a watch. I acquired different Bamboo variations, placed them in the safe, and often forgot about them.

I wasn’t behaving like a dealer. I was collecting objects that I didn’t want to disappear.

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IW: Over time, you’ve accumulated an unusually large share of the Moonphase references. When did you begin to realize just how scarce they are?

JR: At this point, I own four, and from everything we’ve seen, there may only be a dozen in existence. Owning four naturally influences how people view the model, although that was never the intention. It simply happened because my taste kept leading me toward them. 

Eventually, I began to realize that the pieces I responded to often resonated with others as well.

IW: Your taste seems very anchored in proportion and restraint. What draws you to that side of the design spectrum?

JR: It comes from both my wrist and my aesthetic sensibilities. I have a smaller wrist, so large modern sports models never felt right. I never gravitated toward modern Royal Oaks because they always felt sharp and heavy on me. Even mid-size variants feel large compared to the vintage pieces I love most.

I never want to walk through a doorway, being careful not to hit my watch. I want something that feels seamless. A thirty-six millimeter Rolex Day-Date sits perfectly on my wrist. A Bamboo feels even better because it’s thin and architectural, yet surprisingly heavy.

IW: People who handle vintage gold for the first time often look shocked. What do you think creates that reaction?

JR: People expect thin watches to feel delicate or insubstantial. Then they pick up a Day Date Moonphase and realize it is heavier than many modern steel sports watches. It changes their understanding of what luxury can feel like.

That was exactly the experience Jacob Elordi had.

IW: You told me the Bamboo made a strong impression on Jacob Elordi. How did that connection unfold?

JR: Jacob came to our workshop for a grill, not for a watch. I showed him some vintage pieces because I thought he’d appreciate them, and he connected immediately with a cream dial Bamboo. It definitely stayed on his mind, because when he returned to Toronto for TIFF the next year, he reached out to see it again, and ended up buying it.

Some people have a very classic and understated presence. It’s the sort of quality you see in figures like Paul Newman or James Dean. When someone like that tries on a vintage watch that feels elegant and substantial, the combination makes perfect sense.

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IW: Coming from a bench jeweler’s perspective, you read these watches differently than most collectors. What stands out to you when you study how they were made?

JR: Bamboo bracelets were made with a real technique. The wire was woven, soldered, rolled, sometimes re-soldered, then filed and finished by hand. You couldn’t manufacture that bracelet today at anything close to the price those watches used to sell for.

Vintage watches encourage people to look closer. Modern gem-set pieces make their presence known from a distance, but a Bamboo has a quiet way of drawing you in.

IW: How did that understanding of construction and technique influence the way you approached collecting as it grew?

JR: It gave me confidence. I knew I was buying proportions, construction, weight, and genuine scarcity rather than hype. That kept working over time. I’d open the safe and find pieces I’d forgotten about that had suddenly become relevant again.

I also realized that my pricing approach differed from that of traditional dealers. We focus on low volume and meaning. We price pieces based on the emotional cost of letting them go. If selling a watch today would bother me in five years, then the number isn’t right.

IW: You have a strong sense of where taste is shifting. How do you read the current market moment, and where collectors are headed?

JR: Steel sports models have felt oversaturated physically and culturally. Large chronographs can feel like bricks on the wrist. The move toward vintage gold makes sense because people are craving subtlety again.

Whenever everyone moves in one direction, I become interested in what’s being overlooked. Collectors always want what they cannot have.

I also believe that vintage Vacheron Constantin is the last major area of opportunity before things level out. The value is still exceptional.

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IW: Beyond the Bamboo pieces, you’ve sourced some fascinating watches. Which examples stand out to you as markers of your taste?

JR: The reference 3729 Patek Philippe Gondolo we sold, with an onyx dial and full bracelet, is a great example of scarcity shaping price. I had to consider that I might never encounter another one at a realistic number.

And I’ve always liked things outside the predictable paths. Daniel Roth complications, Blancpain moonphases, Richard Mille, and even Hublot’s sapphire work. People joke about Hublot, but I genuinely enjoy what they do.

IW: You’ve hinted that you want to make watches yourself one day. What’s pushed you toward exploring that idea more seriously?

JR: My clients have often asked me if I would ever consider making watches, with a few even having flirted with the idea of commissioning the very first. I’m in no hurry, but I do feel that there’s a significant gap in the market for gem-set watches in the thirty-three to thirty-five millimeter range.

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IW: As your taste continues evolving, what are you personally drawn to now, and how do you think about what belongs in your own collection?

JR: Lately, I’ve been looking at a rose gold, integrated bracelet-fitted perpetual calendars from Patek Philippe. And vintage Vacheron keeps pulling at me.

But my philosophy has stayed the same. You buy what you love, and eventually the market catches up. That pattern has defined every chapter of my collecting.

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Have someone in mind that you'd like to see featured? Interested in submitting a story of your own? Reach out to us at editorial@getbezel.com.

- Isaac Wingold

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