My Dad's Watch

TheBigYin

TheBigYin

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My Dads Watch by The Big Yin, on Flickr


Prompted by a thread I had to "tidy" earlier, I remembered that I'd finally got around to trying to get a half resonable picture of my favourite wristwatch out of my collection. Not because it's worth silly money, not because it's necessarily to everyone's taste, or impressive, or any of that, it's for the simple reason of it's "back story"...

Let me explain...

Back at the age of 14 I wanted to buy my Dad a "proper present" to mark his 40th Birthday. We weren't exactly a "well off" family - solid working class, always a roof over out head and good food on the table, enough money for my parents to go out for a couple of drinks on a weekend, and to make sure I had all I needed for all the schools extra-curriculars - you get the picture, not hurting, not skint, but not a lot of cash around for luxuries.

My Dad worked as a Coal Miner, a hard, horrible, filthy job, and never complained - I thought he deserved a treat, as he'd reached the (then unimaginably old to a 14 y.o. lad) milestone birthday of 40.

So, I went out and got myself a "summer holiday" job helping out at a farm near home. Helping with haymaking, throwing bales around, loading trailers, driving tractors, hard work, but fun, and really good for me health and fitness wise if I'm honest - certainly made me a lot stronger for the next Rugby season - but I digress...

I'd told my Dad I was working to raise money for a new pushbike - I'd just got into cycling, and joined the local Cycling Club, so it was believable. Bless him, he said that for every £ I earned, he'd match it 1-for-1... Oops - that's a bit of a dilemma.

Anyhoo - I'd stashed away the amazing (for a schoolkid in that era) sum of £350 - a fair bit (it's around £1950 adjusted for inflation, I've just checked!!) - and went to the local Jewellers (a family concern, not some chain like most nowadays) - told him of my plans, and I think the story got to the owner... He sat me down and discussed what my Dad's habits were - I explained what he did for a living, and that he only really wore a watch to go out on a weekend - he was "old school" and still wore a suit and tie when he went out - I guess working down that filthy hole in the ground meant he wanted to "dress up" and put work as far out of his mind as possible.

The Jeweller then basically gave me "a deal" on the watch in the photo. It cost me nearly everything I'd earned on the farm for the 6 weeks of my school holiday but it was worth every penny.

When I gave my dad the present and explained i'd kind of lied to him about putting money away for the bike - and that this was why i'd worked all summer, I swear he cried for only the second time i'd seen - the first being when my Grandma had passed.

He wore that watch every weekend - my Mother said putting it on was the second thing he did when he came in on a Friday from work (the first thing being asking what was for dinner...) and the last thing he did on a Sunday evening before going to sleep was to remove the watch and put it on his bedside table for the following Friday. I'm pretty sure it's fair to say he loved that watch.

Fast forward nearly 26 years. My dad had some issues with his eyes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and basically he'd gone blind. One thing he said to my Mother was that what he really missed was his old watch - the "talking watch" i'd found for him not being the same. Then, on my 40th Birthday, I visited my parents and my dad handed me a suspiciously familiar sized/shaped box, birthday wrapped.

In there was a card and "his" watch.

Basically - he gave me the watch on MY 40th birthday and told me to go out and wear it, love it and keep making memories wearing it - because it seemed somehow right to give it to me on MY 40th rather than it sit in a watch box until he passed.

So, that's my "sentimental attachment" story. Sorry if I've rambled on too long -It's a lovely watch, it's price is academic - it is not, and never will be for sale. It's Value however is beyond comparison.
 
A great story, very touching. Thanks for sharing it. :)
 
TheBigYin said:
My Dads Watch by The Big Yin, on Flickr


Prompted by a thread I had to "tidy" earlier, I remembered that I'd finally got around to trying to get a half resonable picture of my favourite wristwatch out of my collection. Not because it's worth silly money, not because it's necessarily to everyone's taste, or impressive, or any of that, it's for the simple reason of it's "back story"...

Let me explain...

Back at the age of 14 I wanted to buy my Dad a "proper present" to mark his 40th Birthday. We weren't exactly a "well off" family - solid working class, always a roof over out head and good food on the table, enough money for my parents to go out for a couple of drinks on a weekend, and to make sure I had all I needed for all the schools extra-curriculars - you get the picture, not hurting, not skint, but not a lot of cash around for luxuries.

My Dad worked as a Coal Miner, a hard, horrible, filthy job, and never complained - I thought he deserved a treat, as he'd reached the (then unimaginably old to a 14 y.o. lad) milestone birthday of 40.

So, I went out and got myself a "summer holiday" job helping out at a farm near home. Helping with haymaking, throwing bales around, loading trailers, driving tractors, hard work, but fun, and really good for me health and fitness wise if I'm honest - certainly made me a lot stronger for the next Rugby season - but I digress...

I'd told my Dad I was working to raise money for a new pushbike - I'd just got into cycling, and joined the local Cycling Club, so it was believable. Bless him, he said that for every £ I earned, he'd match it 1-for-1... Oops - that's a bit of a dilemma.

Anyhoo - I'd stashed away the amazing (for a schoolkid in that era) sum of £350 - a fair bit (it's around £1950 adjusted for inflation, I've just checked!!) - and went to the local Jewellers (a family concern, not some chain like most nowadays) - told him of my plans, and I think the story got to the owner... He sat me down and discussed what my Dad's habits were - I explained what he did for a living, and that he only really wore a watch to go out on a weekend - he was "old school" and still wore a suit and tie when he went out - I guess working down that filthy hole in the ground meant he wanted to "dress up" and put work as far out of his mind as possible.

The Jeweller then basically gave me "a deal" on the watch in the photo. It cost me nearly everything I'd earned on the farm for the 6 weeks of my school holiday but it was worth every penny.

When I gave my dad the present and explained i'd kind of lied to him about putting money away for the bike - and that this was why i'd worked all summer, I swear he cried for only the second time i'd seen - the first being when my Grandma had passed.

He wore that watch every weekend - my Mother said putting it on was the second thing he did when he came in on a Friday from work (the first thing being asking what was for dinner...) and the last thing he did on a Sunday evening before going to sleep was to remove the watch and put it on his bedside table for the following Friday. I'm pretty sure it's fair to say he loved that watch.

Fast forward nearly 26 years. My dad had some issues with his eyes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and basically he'd gone blind. One thing he said to my Mother was that what he really missed was his old watch - the "talking watch" i'd found for him not being the same. Then, on my 40th Birthday, I visited my parents and my dad handed me a suspiciously familiar sized/shaped box, birthday wrapped.

In there was a card and "his" watch.

Basically - he gave me the watch on MY 40th birthday and told me to go out and wear it, love it and keep making memories wearing it - because it seemed somehow right to give it to me on MY 40th rather than it sit in a watch box until he passed.

So, that's my "sentimental attachment" story. Sorry if I've rambled on too long -It's a lovely watch, it's price is academic - it is not, and never will be for sale. It's Value however is beyond comparison.
Click to expand...
Great picture, and a lovely story.
 
Great story Mark (y)
 
Sky said:
A great story, very touching. Thanks for sharing it. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, glad you liked it.

Cobra said:
Great story Mark (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers.

rick448 said:
Great picture, and a lovely story.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I'll be honest, I do struggle to get something that properly sums this watch up...

IMG_20191020_094550 - Copy.jpg

it's a tiny little thing by modern standards - think it's 32mm across the dial, and being hand winding, it's really thin - maybe 8mm if that. Downside of that is that the Winding Crown is less than 3mm diameter, and having been worn for maybe 40 years, theres so little left of the knurling I actually have to use a jewellers winder tool to wind and adjust it properly... I'll be honest, it's way overdue for a service - I should have had it done when I was given it back really - but now I'm so worried about wear and tear and the old oil/grease in there, that frankly I wear it for interviews and the occasional black tie do at christmas/new year, and I basically just give the winder enough to get through maybe 8 hours... I'm worried about getting it serviced because if it needs parts I think it'll be a write off unless I can find a matching donor watch to canibalise.
 
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Thanks for sharing !
Your Dads watch looked familiar to me, so I looked out my Grandads/Dads/Mine watch, some research years ago suggested several companies used the IncaBloc name

watch (1 of 1).jpg
 
TheBigYin said:
My Dads Watch by The Big Yin, on Flickr


Prompted by a thread I had to "tidy" earlier, I remembered that I'd finally got around to trying to get a half resonable picture of my favourite wristwatch out of my collection. Not because it's worth silly money, not because it's necessarily to everyone's taste, or impressive, or any of that, it's for the simple reason of it's "back story"...

Let me explain...

Back at the age of 14 I wanted to buy my Dad a "proper present" to mark his 40th Birthday. We weren't exactly a "well off" family - solid working class, always a roof over out head and good food on the table, enough money for my parents to go out for a couple of drinks on a weekend, and to make sure I had all I needed for all the schools extra-curriculars - you get the picture, not hurting, not skint, but not a lot of cash around for luxuries.

My Dad worked as a Coal Miner, a hard, horrible, filthy job, and never complained - I thought he deserved a treat, as he'd reached the (then unimaginably old to a 14 y.o. lad) milestone birthday of 40.

So, I went out and got myself a "summer holiday" job helping out at a farm near home. Helping with haymaking, throwing bales around, loading trailers, driving tractors, hard work, but fun, and really good for me health and fitness wise if I'm honest - certainly made me a lot stronger for the next Rugby season - but I digress...

I'd told my Dad I was working to raise money for a new pushbike - I'd just got into cycling, and joined the local Cycling Club, so it was believable. Bless him, he said that for every £ I earned, he'd match it 1-for-1... Oops - that's a bit of a dilemma.

Anyhoo - I'd stashed away the amazing (for a schoolkid in that era) sum of £350 - a fair bit (it's around £1950 adjusted for inflation, I've just checked!!) - and went to the local Jewellers (a family concern, not some chain like most nowadays) - told him of my plans, and I think the story got to the owner... He sat me down and discussed what my Dad's habits were - I explained what he did for a living, and that he only really wore a watch to go out on a weekend - he was "old school" and still wore a suit and tie when he went out - I guess working down that filthy hole in the ground meant he wanted to "dress up" and put work as far out of his mind as possible.

The Jeweller then basically gave me "a deal" on the watch in the photo. It cost me nearly everything I'd earned on the farm for the 6 weeks of my school holiday but it was worth every penny.

When I gave my dad the present and explained i'd kind of lied to him about putting money away for the bike - and that this was why i'd worked all summer, I swear he cried for only the second time i'd seen - the first being when my Grandma had passed.

He wore that watch every weekend - my Mother said putting it on was the second thing he did when he came in on a Friday from work (the first thing being asking what was for dinner...) and the last thing he did on a Sunday evening before going to sleep was to remove the watch and put it on his bedside table for the following Friday. I'm pretty sure it's fair to say he loved that watch.

Fast forward nearly 26 years. My dad had some issues with his eyes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and basically he'd gone blind. One thing he said to my Mother was that what he really missed was his old watch - the "talking watch" i'd found for him not being the same. Then, on my 40th Birthday, I visited my parents and my dad handed me a suspiciously familiar sized/shaped box, birthday wrapped.

In there was a card and "his" watch.

Basically - he gave me the watch on MY 40th birthday and told me to go out and wear it, love it and keep making memories wearing it - because it seemed somehow right to give it to me on MY 40th rather than it sit in a watch box until he passed.

So, that's my "sentimental attachment" story. Sorry if I've rambled on too long -It's a lovely watch, it's price is academic - it is not, and never will be for sale. It's Value however is beyond comparison.
Click to expand...
What a brilliant story.
Very touching, and an extremely considerate thing for a 14 year old to have done.
 
Compuwight said:
some research years ago suggested several companies used the IncaBloc name
Click to expand...

Incabloc is a licenced "shockproofing" for the balance wheel pivot jewels - it's similar to re ETA's Etachoc, Seiko's Diashock, and Citizen's Parashock. It was very popular with the "second tier" swiss and french manufacturers who didn't use in-house developed movements or buy in ETA calibres. It is however a good indication of the movement being a few grades above the frankly awful pin-and-plate monstrosities in Timex and their ilk
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
What a brilliant story.
Very touching, and an extremely considerate thing for a 14 year old to have done.
Click to expand...

The thing is, I think i've always been obsessed to one degree or another with watches....

I think my fascination with watches came from a ridiculously early age... I remember my Gran learning me to tell the time by playing with a broken wristwatch - strangely the mechanism wasn't broken, it was one of the lugs that'd sheared off the case. Still remember that watch - it was one of those semi-skeleton ones - clear caseback, see through at the numerals.
She had me setting a time, then she'd set another, and ask me what time it was - we'd repeat this over and over...

a while later, I remember falling asleep on my grandad's lap, with my head near his pocket watch - i'd been allowed to stay up to the early hours of Sunday Morning for a very special reason.
The Date: July 20th 1969, 6 days after my sixth birthday, in the very early hours of the morning, I heard those immortal words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - I turned to look at my Grandad, and he was checking his watch... "I want to remember the time when we first set foot off this world" he said - I realised he had tears in his eyes...
As did my dad... then so had I.
So - for me, there's Another Moon-Watch alongside the Omega and Bulova.... It's a Smiths Pocket Watch - my Grandads watch of choice.

I got a Timex watch for my 7th birthday.

I got a "jump day" digital watch for my 11th birthday present.

I bought my Dad a watch for his 40th birthday, when I was 14, that took me all summer to earn the money for.

I bought one of the Sinclair "black watch" digitals when they came out.

My dad bought me a Omega Quartz watch for my 21st birthday that I was mugged for 4 years later.

When I left the company I still consider the "key job" in my career after 10 years, instead of the standard "garrard long service watch" that they bought everyone, my boss the FD went to his Rolex dealer and asked what they had used that would suit someone who liked climbing mountains for a hobby - and walked out with my leaving present - an Explorer 1016, used but in beautiful condition for an early '70s piece ...

For my 40th birthday, I got 2 watches - I bought myself a stupidly expensive Rolex that I've honestly never worn - it went into a safety deposit box at the bank with the house deeds etc - it was bought as an investment (and it's done quite well... (very early sub 16610LV from 2003 - fat four serifed version
1f609.png
;) ) - but the important one was the return of the watch I'd bought my dad for HIS 40th. - the one in the story above - The rest of the collection can go to hell in a handcart - that's the one i'd be running into a burning building to save.

50th birthday came, yep, another watch - Tudor 79220r - this time I wasn't going to lock this one away though. Ordered it early in the year, because my dad basically said "just get it lad" when I was hum-ing-and-hah-ing.

Then my Dad died before it came into stock. I really agonised over if I should actually take delivery or not, as I'd been a full-time carer for my dad, and on his demise was not only bereft and berieved, I was out of an income as the carer. I'd a pressing need to find a job, and a 11 year hole in my cv. So what did I do - yep - I bought the bloody watch and promptly had a heart attack 6 months later before i'd found a job...

for the next 2+ years I wore various HRM watches instead of the real thing - but finally last summer the Cardio guys said I didn't need to be so obsessive anymore - just wear a HRM when exercising.

So, I was free to wear my watches again. 15 watches later, and here we are.

My name is Mark, and I'm a Watch-a-Holic.

87397072_2782690055118884_6135124043738644480_o.jpg
 
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Bobsyeruncle said:
What a brilliant story.
Very touching, and an extremely considerate thing for a 14 year old to have done.
Click to expand...

TheBigYin said:
Incabloc is a licenced "shockproofing" for the balance wheel pivot jewels - it's similar to re ETA's Etachoc, Seiko's Diashock, and Citizen's Parashock. It was very popular with the "second tier" swiss and french manufacturers who didn't use in-house developed movements or buy in ETA calibres. It is however a good indication of the movement being a few grades above the frankly awful pin-and-plate monstrosities in Timex and their ilk
Click to expand...

grandads watch.jpg

I found that interesting too... my grandfather when he retired from the docks in grangemouth, was given this watch which is incabloc self winding
i value it now more than ever
he retired in 1950/60's so the watch is at least 60 years old i guess...its my backup to my battery operated watch which i got in 2000
 
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Great story, with visual aid as well.
 
Great story. I too am really interested in watches, but not got a back story with any of them.
The only story was coincidentally my 40th. I had always wanted a nice watch and saved every penny. I bought myself a Rolex Submariner no date, pre-loved. Its a 2 liner, "A" serial so the last of that particular style and size of the 14060, before they modified them.
I was seeing a girl at the time, only for a few months at that time. On my birthday i was proudly wearing the watch, but hadnt mentioned it to her yet. She presented me with my gift, a beautifully wrapped box of recognisable size. I opened the present to find a Tissot watch inside. Lovely watch. Then, she noticed what i was wearing.
It didnt go down well when i explained that i had just bought myself it. It didn't do too much damage as we've been married for 6 years now.
Anyway, since then, ive collected about 11 watches including the Rolex 14060, Breitling Aerospace Evo, Bremont MB II, Ball Master Aviator II, Christopher Ward Typhoon Cockpit, Tissot V8 Chronograph, Seiko Kinetic,Auto Relay, and some other cheapies.

I would love to have a story like yours. Wear it in good health sir.
 
Great photo, lovely watch and a beautiful touching story. I only lossed my Dad on 26th March 2020 so I must admit I just shed a few tears reading. Only last week Mum gave me Dads watch, which we bought him when he were 70. So not that long ago, he was 79.

Dad suffered from dementia/Parkinsons but one thing he never stopped looking and fiddleing with was the watch.

Gaz

Ps

Could you give some info on how you took the photo and how you came up with the idea.
I like still life type photos. "I think you know" as you always give advice when I upload.

Understand if you don't wat to.
 
cargo said:
Great photo, lovely watch and a beautiful touching story. I only lossed my Dad on 26th March 2020 so I must admit I just shed a few tears reading. Only last week Mum gave me Dads watch, which we bought him when he were 70. So not that long ago, he was 79.

Dad suffered from dementia/Parkinsons but one thing he never stopped looking and fiddleing with was the watch.
Click to expand...

First of all, I'm sorry for your loss my friend - Obviously it's still close, so if what I wrote touched a raw nerve or two, I apologise. Thanks for the kind words - I think I just started typing and next thing I knew i'd told the whole story, hesitated at first as I thought it might have been too personal, then thought "no, what the hell, photography should eb about stuff that moves you, and if this isn't something that moves me I sure as hell don't know what is..."


cargo said:
Could you give some info on how you took the photo and how you came up with the idea.
I like still life type photos. "I think you know" as you always give advice when I upload.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly honest, it's a fairly unspectacular setup - just gave the watch a bit of a wipe with a microfible cloth, and sat it on an opened book - the picture is of an old Sextant IIRC from the Illustrated version of Longitude - the story of the guy who created the first accurate marine chronometers and basically revolutionised navigation - John Harrison.

Lighting was a studio flash head with softbox close to the LHS of frame directed at the watch (basically just out of shot) and a large white reflector to rear and RHS angled in to bounce light back whilst trying not to lose a degree of directionality and leave it completely flat... in all honesty, I think I missed the mark on that one - leaving myself a chance at a re-shoot. Polarising filter on the camera lens, as the watch crystal is a double domed plexiglass that reflects, refracts, and hazes quite ferociously...

PP was pretty minimal, tweaked vibrance and colour temperature to try and not make the gold filled case look like it was just some modern brassy PVD coating, and a bit of dust spotting on the dial - did it in photoshp as I don't have the nerve to actually crack the watchback on this one, and remove the works to get the rodico into play on the dial itself.

so - really, nothing other than playing around with one light and a couple of big sheets of polystyrene, a book and a watch.
 
TheBigYin said:
the story of the guy who created the first accurate marine chronometers and basically revolutionised navigation - John Harrison.
Click to expand...


Quite a heavy and at times depressing read - talk about fighting an uphill battle with both legs hobbled and your thumbs tied behind your back!!! I inherited my copy (of the non-illustrated version) from Dad at the same time as his watch came down to me. The watch has rather more meaning than the book - I ended up with the book because my sister didn't want it but the watch was in Dad's will. It was Mum's wedding gift to him back in 1960 and was 2nd hand then. It's a very plain stainless steel Rolex Oyster - no complications and very little embelishment. Dad very rarely wore it because it meant so much to him (and being an engineer, he was scared of bashing it against something and chipping the crystal more than he had already!) but it's my everyday wearer, even if it is probably the least accurate watch I have! (I have a weakness for radio controlled watches, despite the fact that I never need any real accuracy as far as time keeping goes these days...) Not hugely valuable (the Rolex) but irreplaceable, much like yours.
 
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Nod said:
It's a very plain stainless steel Rolex Oyster - no complications and very little embelishment.
Click to expand...

That's the kind of watches I like... much like my Explorer 1016... the little 34mm across case,plain black dial, no date or other complications other than the sweep seconds - just a beautiful exercise in simplicity... Only thing that'd tempt me to swap that watch was if I could find a 1963 version of the same model - mine's circa '74 (dated on the Calibre 1570 movement) but difficulty to tell exactly, as it's been back to Rolex once and (dammit) got re-dialed/handed (thankfully to Tritium Lume - probably why they swapped) - though at least they didn't over polish the bugger... It actually desperately needs the ministrations of a good watchmaker again, as it's running pretty erratically (for a roller) - but times are tight at the moment, so I left it in the safety deposit box back just before the world went mad so I wouldn't be tempted to wear it, and, well, obviously with lockdown it's still there. Think that shot of it in the winder was close to the last time it saw daylight...

Not a bad leaving gift from a job though :)
 
@TheBigYin

No worries regarding the raw nerves. Was also nice to think of Dad for a few mins.
Thanks for the set up info. Nearly all my photos are set up with the one light and reflector.

Simple works best for me.

Gaz
 
TheBigYin said:
It actually desperately needs the ministrations of a good watchmaker again, as it's running pretty erratically (for a roller)
Click to expand...

When Dad's first came down to me, it was pretty unreliable - it ran but wasn't accurate at all, so it went to the manufacturer for a service and a new crystal (as mentioned in the earlier post, Dad had managed to scratch the crystal quite well!) Ran well for a few years but started drifting a bit so I found a local chap (recommended by a good friend who has been taking his Omegas there for years) who found that one of the jewels had come adrift. Dealt with that and gave it a good going over for about 1/4 of what R*lex had charged me. If I was really bothered, I would find a "proper" bracelet for it but at £750 for a new one or £200ish each for too short second hand ones, it can stay on a generic!
I think there's a shot of it in the fine timepieces thread. Would have been a snap in natural light!
 
Great story. I have my grandfather's pocket watch that's missing the front glass and the "big" hand. Doesn't work and I'd love to get it repaired but the places I've been to have all given me a sad shake of the head. I don't think it's valuable in real terms which means it's not something people want to take on.

I don't think my finances could survive me becoming a watch-a-holic but I totally get the thinking behind it...
 
Harlequin565 said:
Great story. I have my grandfather's pocket watch that's missing the front glass and the "big" hand. Doesn't work and I'd love to get it repaired but the places I've been to have all given me a sad shake of the head. I don't think it's valuable in real terms which means it's not something people want to take on.

I don't think my finances could survive me becoming a watch-a-holic but I totally get the thinking behind it...
Click to expand...

One of the things that upset my dad, was that when my Grandad died, and My Dad and his siblings were clearing the house, there was no sign of the pocket-watch. It was in the will to be given to my dad, in safekeeping for me until I was of a safe age to own it. But it was nowhere to be seen. The theory that they "decided to agree on" was that he'd had it with him when taken into hospital, and someone had whipped it there... My Dad and my Uncle Bill however were convinced that their elder brother Arthur had pocketed it and kept schtum...

Again, it's something I'm keeping an eye out for, I remember it was a Smiths Empire - nothing fancy, but the kind of thing a working class bloke might treat himself to when he'd had a bit of a win on the gee-gees to replace his old knackered looking one that he'd had down the pit in his job as a deputy. As its 50 years or so since I saw it, exact memory is hazy, but I'm pretty sure that I should be able to find a 1963 birth year version of one of them somewhere - that'd be a nice touch...
 
And, just to reinforce that bit I said about being a watch-a-holic.

I started thinking about Smiths Watches... which, naturally led to googling for them, which led to the modern reincarnation of the Smiths company...

And, while I know, there's actually nothing whatsoever linking the original Smiths Watches that built my grandads pocket watch, and also, crucially for the purposes of me justifying this to myself, the "other" Hillary Everest watch (along with the fore-runner of my beloved Explorer 1016) - they ARE making beautiful, small, simple designed watches with a modern robust movement but very much a "retro" feel to them...

Long story Short, I'd got an unexpected payout courtesy of Pixsy from some american company using one of my "old master" photo's without licencing it, and I was fed up, and needed something to lift my mood somewhat...

not my picture... lifted from the timefactors website...

prs25exp-1.jpg

I've been needing a white (or near-white) dialled watch in my collection.

Something makes me think I'm going to be experiencing parcel-stress until this little beauty lands...

Still looking for a '63 Smiths pocket watch though....
 
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Well, it's arrived... And it's bloody gorgeous...

Excuse the camera phone snap...IMG_20200603_182913.jpg
 
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TheBigYin said:
My Dads Watch by The Big Yin, on Flickr


Prompted by a thread I had to "tidy" earlier, I remembered that I'd finally got around to trying to get a half resonable picture of my favourite wristwatch out of my collection. Not because it's worth silly money, not because it's necessarily to everyone's taste, or impressive, or any of that, it's for the simple reason of it's "back story"...

Let me explain...

Back at the age of 14 I wanted to buy my Dad a "proper present" to mark his 40th Birthday. We weren't exactly a "well off" family - solid working class, always a roof over out head and good food on the table, enough money for my parents to go out for a couple of drinks on a weekend, and to make sure I had all I needed for all the schools extra-curriculars - you get the picture, not hurting, not skint, but not a lot of cash around for luxuries.

My Dad worked as a Coal Miner, a hard, horrible, filthy job, and never complained - I thought he deserved a treat, as he'd reached the (then unimaginably old to a 14 y.o. lad) milestone birthday of 40.

So, I went out and got myself a "summer holiday" job helping out at a farm near home. Helping with haymaking, throwing bales around, loading trailers, driving tractors, hard work, but fun, and really good for me health and fitness wise if I'm honest - certainly made me a lot stronger for the next Rugby season - but I digress...

I'd told my Dad I was working to raise money for a new pushbike - I'd just got into cycling, and joined the local Cycling Club, so it was believable. Bless him, he said that for every £ I earned, he'd match it 1-for-1... Oops - that's a bit of a dilemma.

Anyhoo - I'd stashed away the amazing (for a schoolkid in that era) sum of £350 - a fair bit (it's around £1950 adjusted for inflation, I've just checked!!) - and went to the local Jewellers (a family concern, not some chain like most nowadays) - told him of my plans, and I think the story got to the owner... He sat me down and discussed what my Dad's habits were - I explained what he did for a living, and that he only really wore a watch to go out on a weekend - he was "old school" and still wore a suit and tie when he went out - I guess working down that filthy hole in the ground meant he wanted to "dress up" and put work as far out of his mind as possible.

The Jeweller then basically gave me "a deal" on the watch in the photo. It cost me nearly everything I'd earned on the farm for the 6 weeks of my school holiday but it was worth every penny.

When I gave my dad the present and explained i'd kind of lied to him about putting money away for the bike - and that this was why i'd worked all summer, I swear he cried for only the second time i'd seen - the first being when my Grandma had passed.

He wore that watch every weekend - my Mother said putting it on was the second thing he did when he came in on a Friday from work (the first thing being asking what was for dinner...) and the last thing he did on a Sunday evening before going to sleep was to remove the watch and put it on his bedside table for the following Friday. I'm pretty sure it's fair to say he loved that watch.

Fast forward nearly 26 years. My dad had some issues with his eyes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and basically he'd gone blind. One thing he said to my Mother was that what he really missed was his old watch - the "talking watch" i'd found for him not being the same. Then, on my 40th Birthday, I visited my parents and my dad handed me a suspiciously familiar sized/shaped box, birthday wrapped.

In there was a card and "his" watch.

Basically - he gave me the watch on MY 40th birthday and told me to go out and wear it, love it and keep making memories wearing it - because it seemed somehow right to give it to me on MY 40th rather than it sit in a watch box until he passed.

So, that's my "sentimental attachment" story. Sorry if I've rambled on too long -It's a lovely watch, it's price is academic - it is not, and never will be for sale. It's Value however is beyond comparison.
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Fabulous tale, beautifully told.
 
Nod said:
Nice and simple.
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exactly, it's got a bit of retro appeal - really does feel very similar on the wrist to the Explorer 1016, albeit with a much more solid bracelet. But of course it's big plus is that its brand new, and has a Miyota 9039, 24 jewel, High Beat auto movement in the back - that's not gonna need service or beggaring about with for a good while, and appears to be running around -1.5s/day so far - though obviously, we need to see how that settles out over the next month or so as the movement runs itself in...
 
Nice wristwatch, you seem, like me, to prefer 'time only' pieces. Nice story about your father also, I treasure my grandfather's wristwatch which was part of his possessions returned to my grandmother after he was KIA in Normandy, June 1944. No value at all, apart from sentimental.
 
JackBell said:
you seem, like me, to prefer 'time only' pieces.
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When I was younger, and my eyesight was keener, I actually preferred the look of Chrono's - Classic "more is more" approach of youth I guess. Then, when I had a job that involved regular visits to the remote sites down in Cornwall (with the attendent/engineered "oh dear" I've a meeting on Friday and Monday in Bude, it's not really worth driving back up for the weekend only to have to go back down... better stay the weekend" I got into surfing, and hence ended up being keen on dive type watches. Now, as I mature, my job is flying a desk in a static location far from the sea, again, I find my taste changing to something plain, discrete, easily legible and which slips under a shirt cuff without having to have my shirts made with the left cuff half an inch larger than the right (yep, that's actually "a thing", with bespoke tailoring, which I was only rarely exposed to in my past career - i.e. when I actually had a job where I was expected to dress the part...
 
grabbed a quick "snap" of the new watch on what I thought might have been a reasonably suitable background...

(had to get one fairly quickly, as this baby has barely been off my wrist since it arrived apart from when i've had a shower on a morning

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