I don’t drive a Chevrolet or a Ford, but I’m not sure I want to tell her that I drive a Subaru.

“Then you must not buy a Rolex.” Sophia pushes away from the desk. “Wait here, and I will bring you several excellent watches to consider.”

As soon as she leaves, a young man comes over. He could be Sophia’s younger brother.

“May I bring you a coffee or a glass of wine?” he asks. “A bottle of sparkling water?”

I’m enjoying myself. I try not to look at Mimi. “Wine would be great,” I say.

“And you, madam?”

“Water,” says Mimi, her voice military grey, as though she’s just ordered the bombing of a small village.

Sophia is back almost immediately with a velvet tray and five watches spaced equidistant from each other. At first glance, they all look disappointingly like the Citizens and the Seikos that decorate the malls of the world.

“Fine watches are a very personal acquisition.”

I try to read the brands off the faces of each watch in the hope that the name will trigger something in my subconscious, but the print is much too small.

“I don’t know.” I glance at Mimi. “You see anything you like?”

Mimi isn’t biting. “Oh,” she says, “I like them all.”

Sophia moves in quickly. “Let’s start with the Audemars Piguet,” she says, and holds the first watch up to the light. “This is an example of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak collection.”

“Of course,” I say with authority.

“Pink gold. Thirty-seven millimetres. Crocodile strap. Note the distinctive case and the extraordinary work on the face. This is a watch that is immediately recognizable.”

“Price?” says Mimi.

“23,700 euros,” says Sophia.

“And this one?” asks Mimi.

“Ah,” says Sophia. “This is a favourite of mine. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. Pink gold again. Rectangular case. But whereas the Piguet is an automatic, the Jaeger is hand wound.”

Sophia presses on the side of the case with her thumb, and the face comes loose and flips over, revealing a second face.

“Two faces,” she says. “In essence, two watches. One black face. One white face.”

“For day and night,” I say, not wanting to be left behind.

“Exactly,” says Sophia. “And only fifteen thousand euros.”

“What about the silver one?”

Sophia picks up a rather ordinary-looking watch. “This is not silver,” she says. “It’s platinum.”

“Another Jaeger?”

“Because of the rectangular case?” says Sophia. “No, this one is an A. Lange & Söhne.”

“A. Lange & Söhne,” I repeat, so I don’t forget how to pronounce the name.

“You have an excellent eye,” says Sophia.

“That’s my captain,” says Mimi.

“This is one of their Cabaret Tourbillons. A hand-wound masterpiece. 210,000 euros.”

I do a quick calculation of the cumulative value of the five watches lying in front of me on their velvet bed. Over 300,000 euros. Half a million Canadian.