“that little, cold-blooded animal which lives coiled up in a shell, feeding on time.”

“Sasha Guitry: famous French playwright, once famously described the watch as ‘that little, cold-blooded animal which lives coiled up in a shell, feeding on time.’”

These days I’m going through a lot of historical periodicals that occasionally touch on watches, often viewed through the eyes of the 1940’s.

Came across this magazine piece from 1947 out of an Australian publication called “The Age.” Generally discussing in exalted terms the advances in wristwatch technology, I half expect the piece to have been a marketing plant from the Swiss Federation. Still, within it contained the above quote regarding the cold-blooded little animal feeding on time.

I wasn’t familiar with Sasha Guitry, and more importantly nowhere else on the internet (with some modest effort) can I find this particular quote appearing - but I found the quote charming and worth amplification. (On the other hand, since it’s not found elsewhere, perhaps it’s apocryphal!?)

Still, mostly the quote I thought worth amplifying

I wouldn’t want this watch-related content to distract from the “only pet people would understand” or “classic car spotting this week” threads 😎

Their writing is generally of a very high quality. So quite the compliment. The latter one, I mean…

The Clock of Life
Is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop,
At late or early hour.
Now is the only time you have
To live, Love, Toil with a will,
Place no faith in tomorrow,
For the clock may then be still.

I hate to disappoint you! Another Rolex thread! That cuts both ways. Those of us who like Rolex, do get rather tired of Speedmaster threads! Although I own two of them.