Six years later a post to my Absolute Analog Blog. Hard to believe so much time has passed since my life went in a different direction. At one moment, a nice mix of work and play and then, suddenly, 100% work. As those years have passed, I reflect on how therapeutic it was for me to explore the basic and traditional everyday items of yesteryear. I still find it curious to look back at my early days and recall the simple items that now are out of sight and out of mind. For some unknown reason, I feel the need to catalog some of these fleeting items. Some day someone might be curious. Maybe someday...
I call it "Memorializing Provenance". Sounds exotic using such a high brow word. You never think provenance is important until you don't have it. I have inherited a number of daily items which are a curiosity. For example, I wish I knew the provenance of my Father's simple hand wind Rolex Bubbleback. It's not a perpetual Oyster or anything fancy. Just an early watch brand before it became what is is today. Had I known to ask, I am sure he would have shared the story of its acquisition. Sadly I never asked. Instead, I enjoy the tactile discovery process and I ask myself why? Why, an item of low value both financially and intrinsically, did it survive so many years? In a box, in a drawer. Am I that person that will break the chain? I believe there are four prevailing reasons these items exist today which I categorize as follows: Sentimentality, utility, hording and lastly, hope. The small hope of passing down a memento of personal history. I fear I suffer chronically from all four! Thankfully watches are small. Typewriters are not.
Watch #1. This watch is a personal watch I purchased new circa 1982. I wore it through most of my college days. I had a Timex wind up watch without a date before this. That High School watch is long gone. I do recall I had a thing for the preppy nylon watch straps of the early 80's. A simple Timex was all you needed to adorn a bright striped band from John Douglas. They were all the rage. An adult watch with a youthful interpretation. When I went to college I wanted to upgrade. I recall searching for a basic, clean, simple watch every time I went into Mount Vernon. Back then, pre Wal-Mart, pre internet, the best cheap watch hunting was at the local drug stores. $20 was a lot of money in the college days. On one such trip into town I found what I was looking for and I had the cash. A "Q" Timex came home with me in a cheap plastic box adorned with a pedestrian black leather band that reminded me of some "old" adult. Off came the band and on went a cool nylon preppy strap. Joy! I proudly wore my accurate Quartz M Cell Timex watch with the added complication of day and date daily. To me at the time, this was a 'real watch' with both form and function. I wore the watch for three years non stop. Amazingly, 37 years later, I still have the watch in my possession.
It has not been worn by anyone for many years. Who would want to especially today? So why now I ask myself? I waited patiently for weeks for the family to send me the watch. To see if my memory was anywhere near accurate. It was not ugly. Still today I admire its clean lines. The band is tired and disintegrated the first time I wore it in 2020. I put in a new Energizer 389 battery and it sputtered. The second hand moved sporadically and would even stop for a period of time. I was resigning myself that I may just need to give up on my college era watch and admit time may have the upper hand. Like so many other Timex watches of that era, it was destined for the land fill. I figured it was a "non runner" and maybe an opportunity for my first and likely last exploration into watch repair before it went into the bin. But after a about 5 minutes it seemed to come back to life. Amazingly it now keeps perfect time, or as perfect as a $20 watch keeps. I look forward to finding a period preppy nylon strap and wear it again 37 years later.
But why go to all this effort? I believe at my age the mortality of things begin to resonate more loudly than years before. I reflect on all my sentimental possessions and what will be their final disposition? Or, what is to become of all my family possession for which only I may may hold some sentimental value? The items with zero value are the hardest. They will be tossed in the dust bin without a second thought. I often cringe when I recall all the things that were thrown into multiple dumpster loads when cleaning out the house of my youth. How many treasures are gone? Did I save material items based on value or sentimentality? Is sentimentality transferable? Or, is only the burden of sentimentality transferred?
With those heavy and somewhat unanswerable questions, I will simply ensure there is a history for this and other watches in my life. It may only entertain me. If nothing else, it satisfies me that I have done my best to clearly define what an item means to me so I can move on to the next watch or simply move on all together. Practice my writing and photography as a creative outlet. Work on collecting aka locating, researching and documenting other watches of my past and reflect on why I find watches, if not horology in general, to be a quiet yet persistent passion of mine.
Nice-looking watch. I keep all my old, broken watches in a drawer, bar none.
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