Zach Lu–His 16-year-long Bullish and Passionate Horology Journey

At 31, the reputed watch collector Zach Lu, also known as @zachattack__25 to his 82.9K social media followers, has built an enviable domain for himself in horology high society. However, his family and closest acquaintances–though supportive–had little interest in timepieces, and no portion of his famed collection is an ancestral artifact. Zach Lu, has bullishly worked for his reputation, and for his treasury of chronograph paraphernalia, for more than half his life.  

 Zach Lu began to flirt with high-fashion horology at the tender age of 15. Although most of Zach’s teenage guy friends were irrevocably in love with fancy wheels, Zach found he had little enthusiasm in automobiles. Zach pursued loftier diversions and whet his teenage appetite for shiny new things by discovering just how elegant a well-designed wrist-piece could be. When his beloved Gucci quartz came to a sudden stop–he later realized that it just needed a battery change–Zach was heartbroken, and immersed himself in understanding how to fix the watch. He spent weeks with his nose in dusty horology manuals, and so ensconced between the shelves of a bookstore, Zach unearthed the complicated cogs of the luxury watchworld. And  Zach Lu was hooked on horology and watch collecting for life.  

It wasn’t long before the name Zach Lu began to cause ripples inside watch boutiques. In 2005, Antiquorum in Geneva dedicated their regular auction to celebrate Vacheron Constantin’s 250th anniversary. 16-year-old Zach was there, and used the event to pick up what he calls his “first legit watch purchase”. He also visited Geneva’s Patek Philippe, one of the world’s most prestigious watch brands, and impressed the management with his tasteful eye and eager determination. The then-CEO Philippe Stern was curious about how passionately Zach had attempted to forge a Patek connection and asked the showroom to personally welcome the teenage collector. Patek personnel then accompanied Zach on a personal tour of Patek’s catacombs. Before Zach had fully processed the astonishing honor of this excursion, he was sitting at a lunch table across from the CEO himself. And this first lunch was formative. “It completely changed my view on horology,” said Zach. “And I fell in love with Patek. I’ve been buying from Patek ever since. I attend their auctions and I go to the annual Patek Collector’s dinner every year without fail.” 

And indeed almost 20 years later, Zach Lu’s collection is nearly all Patek. He owns their second perpetual calendar chronograph, the legendary yellow-gold 2499 first series, and both their most complicated wristwatch and the second most complicated wristwatch, the elegant white-gold Grandmaster Chime 6300 and the Grand Complication Sky Moon Tourbillon 6002R with its warm firewood setting. And as if this share of Patek’s treasury wasn’t enough, Zach wooed and bought the limited edition Tiffany Nautilus 5711 only this year. This legendary timepiece has an astounding Tiffany-Blue dial co-signed by both Patek Philippe and Tiffany & Co, and was the last of Patek’s most iconic steel series before the prototype was pulled from the market. Zach only managed to acquire it after, in his words, “trying so hard”; he originally lost the auction example to an unidentified buyer, and was saved by his strong Patek buying history and deep ardor for horology; Patek and Tiffany decided to offer the watch to Zach when the original buyer bailed. Unsurprisingly Lu, labels this last acquisition one of the most noteworthy moments in his collectors journey. 

Zach Lu typically characterizes his watches by their ‘classy’ or ‘sporty’ personalities, and according to him, Patek Philippe has class for days. When Zach wants something sporty he typically gravitates toward Richard Mille. He has strong connections within this brand too, and he “can’t say enough about their futuristic appearance and their truly amazing innovative material design”. He adds that “because of Richard Mille’s material and design components, their watches are perfect for daily wear”. He currently owns several RM models and particularly loves both his 52-05 Pharrell Williams Sapphire, with its cheerful yellow rubber band, and his stylish limited edition Rafael Nadal RM 27-04. And he predicts that he will buy from Richard Mille for a long time yet. In fact, Zach hasn’t yet felt any particular desire to venture beyond Patek and Richard Mille. “I have great respect for other watchmakers,” he said. “But my personal needs are perfectly met by my two favorites. I’m very confident in their future.”  

Indeed, Zach rather matter-of-factly expressed his confidence in the general future of the horology market. “I see young enthusiastic young collectors all the time,” he said. “It’s bittersweet actually, I see young-me in all of them, and it reminds me that I’m getting older and that I’ve had such a worthwhile ride already.”