About C’Quon “CQ” Gottlieb

C’Quon Gottlieb — widely known as CQ — occupies a unique position within contemporary horology, operating at the intersection of collecting, community-building, cultural identity, and global watch culture. As a Senior Client Advisor at The 1916 Company and co-founder of CP Time Collective, he has become one of the most important voices reshaping how access, representation, and legitimacy function in the modern watch world.

Originally from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, CQ brings a global and deeply personal perspective to collecting — one shaped not only by luxury and heritage, but by geography, identity, storytelling, and cultural participation. Rather than approaching watches as isolated objects or transactional products, he views collecting as a form of curation: an evolving narrative through which people express memory, aspiration, belonging, and personal meaning.

Through CP Time Collective, CQ has helped create a safe and inclusive space for Black collectors and under-represented voices within horology — challenging long-standing assumptions about who gets to participate in collecting culture, who shapes taste, and who has historically had access to the networks surrounding luxury watches. In doing so, his work reflects a broader transformation currently unfolding inside horology itself: the decentralization of cultural authority away from traditional institutions and toward communities, media, and digitally connected collector networks.

Alongside his advisory role and community work, CQ is also an active media presence through podcasts, digital storytelling, interviews, and social platforms, helping bridge the gap between legacy watch culture and emerging generations of collectors worldwide.

In this conversation for Watches & Politics, we explore watches not simply as luxury objects, but as tools of identity, social participation, cultural legitimacy, and modern influence. The discussion examines how access itself functions as power, how communities reshape collecting, how global geographies are redefining horological culture, and how the future of collecting may depend less on exclusivity alone and more on inclusion, education, and shared narrative-building.

At its core, the episode asks a profound question: what happens when collecting stops being about entering the room — and starts becoming about expanding the room itself?

Topics Discussed

1. When you hear the phrase “Watches & Politics,” what is the first image, concept, or story that comes to your mind?

2. You describe the client-advisor relationship as more curator than salesman. How does that shift reflect a change in who shapes horological value?

3. Through CP Time Collective, you have sought to create a safe space for Black collectors and under-represented voices. How does that initiative challenge traditional power structures in watch collecting?

4. How do you think new geographies — including the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America — are altering the historical narratives and market geographies of high-end watches?

5. When we met, we briefly spoke about your passion for creating a watchmaking school in the Caribbean. Can you tell us more about that vision?

6. When you hear the story of an American horological industry built in the Caribbean and later erased through globalization and policy shifts, how does that resonate with you personally as someone from the region?

7. If a watch collection functions as an exhibit of a life, how do you help clients balance personal meaning with market realities?

8. Many younger collectors appear to seek access and community more than rarity or investment potential. How might that shift alter the broader dynamics of demand, mythology, and historical significance?

9. Within the advisor world, what decisions or filters shape how you help clients build collections with long-term narrative value?

10. If watches are artifacts of economic, cultural, and social power, how do you personally define the difference between buying watches and truly collecting them?

11. Looking ahead, where do you believe horology and politics will intersect next — beyond traditional auction houses and established luxury brands?

12. If a historian fifty years from now wrote a chapter titled CQ and the Redefinition of Collecting, what subtitle would you hope they choose?

13. What defines a collector?

Key quotes from the conversation

“A watch is not just an object — it becomes an accent to your life.”

“I stopped seeing myself as a salesperson and started seeing myself as a custodian.”

“CP Time was never about exclusion. It was about creating visibility and belonging.”

“You shouldn’t buy what everybody else loves. You should buy what speaks to you.”

“Once you can draw a line between one watch and another, you’re truly collecting.”

Further Reading & References

The 1916 Company — Luxury watch retailer where CQ serves as Senior Client Advisor.

CP Time Collective — Community platform focused on watch collecting through the lens of Black culture and inclusive collector engagement.

Dial In With CQ The Watch Guy — CQ’s media and interview presence discussing horology, collecting culture, and industry developments.

Omega and Haile Selassie Collecting History — Referenced in discussion surrounding Haile Selassie’s Omega watches and their cultural significance.

F.P. Journe Official Website — Frequently referenced throughout the conversation in discussions of collecting, scarcity, and independent watchmaking.

Dubai Watch Week — Mentioned as a major global gathering point for independent watchmakers, collectors, and community-driven horology.

WatchTime New York — Referenced in discussions about collector communities and direct engagement with independent brands.

Sartory Billard — Independent watchmaker discussed as an example of accessible bespoke watchmaking.

Romain Gauthier — Referenced as an example of independent watchmakers building deep personal relationships with collectors.

Chrono24 — Mentioned in discussion of modern collecting behavior, research, and late-night watch hunting.