Community Stories

Bag o' trash watches . . . and one absolute treasure!

Dr.Sascha
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My best mate's colleague gave an academic talk recently, and he happened to mention that he collected vintage wrist watches. Why this was relevant, I have no idea, since he's an analytical chemist, but hey, whatever keeps them awake, I suppose. Afterwards, a retired faculty member approached him and offered a "bag of junk watches." Mostly, they fit the description. And then he found this:

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Being an honest bloke, he's giving it back to her. I hope he wears it at least once, first!
 
noelekal
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I'd be awfully keen on that Heuer if obtained in a bag of junk watches, but it is the right thing to do.
 
abrod520
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Wow, how cool! Instead of offering it back, I'd offer to pay for it. Those Cal 12s aren't the easiest to service and it'll probably be sold eventually.
 
JwRosenthal
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abrod520 abrod520
Wow, how cool! Instead of offering it back, I'd offer to pay for it. Those Cal 12s aren't the easiest to service and it'll probably be sold eventually.
Agreed. I would let her know it has value and offer it back or offer to buy it if she has no interest (there was a reason she gave it to him). Even if he doesn’t want it for himself, he can make sure she gets a fair price for it (more than she would get from pawn or a dealer) and then offer it along to the watch community.
 
Canuck
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I was recently offered a nice pocket watch for free, to use as a parts watch. It needed a LOT of work, and he wasn’t prepared to spend the money. I declined his offer to accept it for free. I offered him $50.00 (Cdn.), and he was surprised and quite happy! Not as happy as me! I did the work it required, and it is now a treasured watch in my collection.

Then, there was a pocket watch with long chain that was given to me. I didn’t pay any attention to the chain until I got home with it. I removed the chain from the watch. Hmmm! Heavy, I thought! 16.5 grams! A close check revealed it was a 40” long, curb link chain of 10 karat gold. Scrap value close to $450.00! I gave the chain back to him! I love the watch.

My conscience has cost me a lot of money over the years, but at least I rest easy!
 
pdxleaf
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Dr.Sascha Dr.Sascha
My best mate's colleague gave an academic talk recently, and he happened to mention that he collected vintage wrist watches. Why this was relevant, I have no idea, since he's an analytical chemist, but hey, whatever keeps them awake, I suppose....

Love this. Always has watches on the brain.

Try to get him to join the forum. He's our type of people. Plus, don't want him wandering the world alone.
 
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