Sid Vasili, 59, is chief executive of Invapay, the international business-to-business payment network he launched in 2007. At last week’s Salon QP luxury watch show in London, he explained how the wristwatch he was given on his 21st birthday formed the basis of a £750,000 ($1.2m) collection that is still growing.
How long have you been interested in watches?
“I started to notice watches when I was 15 or 16 and working as an apprentice hairdresser at the Regal hair salon in central London. My boss had a steel chronograph – I think it was an Omega – and it looked so elegant and wonderful that I decided I had to have one as soon as I got some cash. I was earning £3 a week at the time.”
