In conversation with Constance the Gstaad Guy and Colton
Who wasn't heard of ‘the Gstaad Guy’? The global internet sensation who hops from chateau to bateau satirising the world’s 1%.
He jumped into the eye of the public in 2019, when the London-born comedian was holidaying in Amman, and who, following a FaceTime call with a pretentious friend in Gstaad, who was complaining about his masseuse running late, decided to film a video imitating him. The video went viral and in no time ‘the Gstaad Guy’ was born.
The platform, inspired by the comedian’s disagreement with certain societal standards, is shared by the Instagram legend’s two alter egos: Constance, the Swiss-British super-wealthy aristocrat with a love for the world’s most luxurious commodities and his experience and his American nouveau riche and goofy cousin Colton.
Unlike most comedy pages targeting the 1%, the Gstaad Guy, who rubs shoulders with members of high society such as the Hadids, Logan Paul and the late Virgil Abloh, wanted to give the people who can afford to holiday in Gstaad a reality check. This strategy has enabled him to amass over 215k followers (including 100 billionaires) on Instagram and a large number of partnerships with luxury brands such as LVMH and Off white. In addition, he has developed his very own range of haircare products with the Organic Pharmacy and more recently his very first Rosé wine: Palais Constance.
The Gstaad Guy’s cult following by brands and extravagant lifestyle, have made him a connoisseur in luxury and subsequently collectibles.
We talked to Constance and Colton to get the lowdown on the collectible market and learn about their personal collecting habits.
Constance enjoying a glass of Palais Constance
Constance wears his collectible Loro Piana open walks
Please can you tell us more about your personal journey into collecting?
Constance: I’m a collector of many things. I particularly like to collect watches, cars, wine, cigars and of course Loro Piana pieces.
Colton: I on the other hand am an avid sneaker collector as well as modern art enthusiast.
Are your collecting habits influenced by your background (family, things you wanted in your childhood, investment?)
Constance: Absolutely, my collecting habits are influenced by things I love, which are loves inherited from both my father and grandfather, such as watches and classic cars. My very first watches, wine bottles and classic car are family heirlooms, as was my very first Loro Piana piece which was a cashmere gilet.
Colton: My collecting habits are purely inspired by Hype! My favourite artist is George Condo because he did the album covers for Kanye West. In fact, it was Kanye’s affiliation with Yeezy that pushed me to start collecting sneakers. I sometimes also like to buy pieces that will increase in value purely for investment reasons and often resell my art and sneakers if the value has increased.
Colton the art enthusiast
How do you source your collectibles?
Constance: I exclusively source my high value collectibles from Sotheby’s, through friends, family and word of mouth.
Colton: Wherever I can get the best deal really, I like to shop around but am also a big Sotheby’s fan.
We noticed you know quite a bit about watches, do you observe a rising trend among watch collectors at the moment?
Constance: There is a very big craze around watches right now, I think that it’ becoming increasingly popular to wear a very understated watch. If-you-know-you-know! I also believe that wearing a watch shouldn’t give the impression you are showing off. This also key for safety reasons particularly for cities like London, which have become too dangerous to wear a flashy watch. Also smart watches which are good for health and for connectivity like Tag Heuer’s newest Connected Calibre E4 watch.
Colton: I’ve also been wearing Tag Heuer’s Connected Calibre E4, because I can display my NFT’s on it. Collectibles in Collectibles, I’m all for it!
What rush do you get from watches? Is it the movement, design, brand ?
Constance: The rush I get from watches is very much the story behind each timepiece. Every watch in my collection has an incredible story to tell, particularly the vintage pieces, which once belonged to incredible people with impressive journeys.
Colton: It’s all about the hype and the statement. I like rare, at times flashy and practical timepieces.
What is your ultimate Grail watch?
Constance: The Patek Philippe Grand Master Chime
Colton: The Skeleton Audemars Piguet Royal Oak with exposed movement.
According to you, which sectors will be leading the collectors’ market in 20 years?
Constance: A lot of items, which used to be liabilities, are now becoming assets because there is more demand for beautiful time pieces than ever before and less supply because they can only produce a certain number per year . I foresee new customers will come into the watch world over the next couple of years.
We often say that collectors collect because of an emotional attachment, how relevant is this to you?
Constance: I couldn't agree more and would never collect anything that doesn't have an emotional attachment from Loro Piana to wine to my Picasso.
Colton: I could not care less about the emotional attachment, I’m all about the Hype!
Colton, you were born in the 90’s, the Pokemon generation, what do you think of cards being sold for hundreds of thousand euros?
Colton: I think it’s great, I have a several PS10 Charizard cards in my collection. I’m a big Pokemon fan and enthusiast. I use liquidmarketplace.io to buy fractional ownership of cards that I don’t have access to because it’s all about the hype and market value.
Gstaad Guy’s Rosé wine Palais Constance
Constance, you mentioned earlier that you collect wine, what would you say are some of the highlights in your collection?
Constance: I have a large collection of wine which includes some Chateau Mouton Rothschild, a few Romanée-Conti’s and several bottles of Lynch Bages. My collection is quite extensive and spread across all my pied-a-terres around the world like Gstaad, Monaco and London. However the best wine in my collection is my new rosé: Palais Constance.
Read about Palais Constance here.
Have you ever sold a wine from your collection, to make room for a new one?
Constance: I have never sold any wine from my collection, however my cousin Colton has been known to sneakily take wine from my collection and sell it. God knows what for?!
According to you, what attitude will the new generation have towards collectibles?
Constance: I think that the younger generation (the Colton generation) are doing wonders for collectibles. The Gen-z and Millennials love collectibles and love to get their hands on things that are limited edition, increasing in value and in demand. Human nature is to be a collector of things and people are just expanding what they collect and there is now a strong overlap between collectors. People are bonding over their collections creating a sense of community moving from wine to watches to art and meeting the same people in these traditionally different environments.
Finally please can you list 5 items that appear in your individual collections?
Constance: The 5 items that appear in my collection are a limited edition pair of Loro Piana open knitted walks, a limited edition pair of Loro Piana summer knitted walks, a bottle of 1962 Romané-Conti, a Picasso work of art and a Mercedes 300SL.
Colton: The very first pair of Nike Air Yeezy’s, the very first ever Kanye West album cover by George Condo, a bored Ape yacht club NFT, a Kaws figurine and finally an Alec Monopoly Gstaad Guy collaboration painting.
Find out more: gstaadguy.com
Follow Constance & Colton on Instagram: @gstaadguy