Meaningful watch collection

Benjamin Alves

Actor Benjamin “Ben” Alves is enjoying time off from work in Japan with his fiancée Chelsea Robato. He proposed to the digital influencer last Dec. 30 after three years of dating and, like most life-changing events these days, posted it on his social media account.

In his latest Instagram post in snowy Hokkaido, the Sparkle artist wearing a gray parka with fur-trimmed hood and a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck beams at the camera. His tongue-in-cheek caption? “I may or may not have been wearing the same clothes five days straight.”

We asked Ben what his favorite thing was, and he said it was his watch collection. “Each watch is attached to a show I’ve done or are gifts that are landmarks in my life,” he said. Two of them are Rolexes, but his most cherished is the one previously owned by his father.

“It’s my most valued because it was my father’s and was given to me when he passed,” Ben said.

Valuing relationships

The 35-year-old actor puts much importance in his relationships and is not afraid to express how significant they are to him. “This Rolex Datejust Wimbledon was given by my future mother-in-law at our engagement party.”

In a lengthy birthday post to Chelsea last year, Ben wrote, “I love that our families get along. I love the fact that my sister has found a sister in you.”

His and hers: Ben (left) wears the Rolex Datejust Wimbledon given by his future mother-in-law

The watch that started his interest in collecting timepieces, however, is his vintage Rolex Explorer. “It was my first ever purchase. It ‘hurt,’ but it started me on the path of watch collecting.”

Ben is very particular about his pieces and said he can identify any of them easily. “That’s what’s great about wearing your watches; it creates a story only you can tell. I can distinguish my watch from a heap of the same models. It’ll have my scratches, my marks, the patina.”

Ben will be seen next on the GMA series “Magandang Dilag” directed by Jorron Lee Monroy, and starring Herlene Budol (aka Hipon Girl) in the title role. INQ