Father and son watch thread

elephantcage · Aug 20, 2026

I tried to find an old thread like this but found none. If there are others, I apologize. My dad passed in 2001 at the age of 62. It would be easy to slip into a long-winded tribute, but I'll try to make it brief. The intent of the thread is to post one of your watches and one of his together and maybe include an anecdote or other info about your dad. I won't be paragraphing. Sorry. His birthday just passed, and I just picked up a watch that is meaningful to me for a few reasons. He was a bricklayer and an excellent builder. He could build anything, and his hands, unlike his son's, were like 100 grit sandpaper all the time. He never spoke ill of anyone, but was beset by a couple of tragedies that were more than he could manage, it seemed. And, like many young men, I missed a thousand opportunities to tell him how much I loved and admired him. Here is a watch I remember him wearing in the early 70s, a Timex Dynabeat. It keeps awful time...probably always did. Mine is a Daytona I just got. If you don't have his watch, maybe a photo of it? Or maybe a description?

Canuck · Aug 20, 2026

The watch I’ve shown is one of two identical 214 model Bulova Accutrons my jeweller father (deceased) bought in 1964. One for me, one for him. He converted his to a Spaceview by removing the dial and setting it aside. His watch is long gone! This is mine, the dial on mine WAS the dial on his, and I used it to replace my original (damaged) dial. Still runs and looks like new after 62 years.

MRC · Aug 20, 2026

Calling @nonuffinkbloke !

My dad did give me my first Heuer but had no interest in watches as far as I knew.

bsowers34 · Aug 20, 2026

I remember my dad wore a gold accutron that I could hear from across the room. Gold with gold dial, I think it had day/date too. I didn't get anything of his after he passed, his wife didn't even tell my sister and I he was in hospice. I would have liked to have the watch and his guns, but I guess my step-brother in law got them.

Canuck · Aug 20, 2026

My late father was a watchmaker. He’s no longer with us. For years, his bench chronometer was the Hamilton grade 992 (shown). I have it now.

vbrad26 · Aug 20, 2026

My father was not around much. I saw my grandfather more.
A Navy man turned mechanical engineer graduating from Louisiana Tech. He went on to develop jet engines for General Electric.
Smart, humble guy who could fix or build anything.
I always liked watches, even as a kid - so I always admired his Seamaster - a gift to him from his wife on his 40th birthday in 1967.
I look after it now....

PA73rJWRvE96AcRaTICShA%26_nc_ht%3Dscontent.ftpa1-2.webp

Yep, that's me in the green and the Seamaster on his wrist.

Paedipod · Aug 20, 2026

This was my father's Dennison cased bumper Omega. Apocryphal story was my grandfather brought it back to England after serving in Italy in WW2. More accurate was that it was bought in England in the early 50s. My father absconded with it when he left England for Canada in the late 50s.

I was without a watch when I left Canada for England in 1980 and so I took it from him then and never returned it.

At the time he was wearing this one most of the time anyway.......a gift from his father in the ?early 70s?

And the watch I most associate with him while I was growing up. It was daily wear (including mowing the grass) until about 2000 or so when he decided no longer safe in his locker at work and switched to a couple of Rados. He was not really a watch-guy but he was never without one on his wrist.

He gave me Connie shortly before he passed, my wife has one of the Rados and my sister the other. The connie comes out on special occasions, but sadly the bumper is a little small for me to wear regularly.

elephantcage · Aug 20, 2026

Canuck
The watch I’ve shown is one of two identical 214 model Bulova Accutrons my jeweller father (deceased) bought in 1964. One for me, one for him. He converted his to a Spaceview by removing the dial and setting it aside. His watch is long gone! This is mine, the dial on mine WAS the dial on his, and I used it to replace my original (damaged) dial. Still runs and looks like new after 62 years.

I just read your telling of this in a recent post. It's cool that his watch lives on in yours. I like Accutrons, but I live in constant fear of them just dying on a given day. That Hamilton 992 is a looker. Hamilton made some great pieces. I was just looking at the movement again. Even the 7j pocket watches are often beautiful, but these movements are amazing. I have a Riverside Maximus that is like a work of art.

Duracuir1 · Aug 20, 2026

I found this one when I was 15. I thought it was big and ugly. Gave it to my dad. He gave it back to me a few years ago. Not big and ugly after all. I enjoy wearing it.

https://omegaforums.net/posts/2090606/

Duracuir1 · Dec 8, 2022

At age 15 I quit playing hockey and got into tennis. Sacrilegious for a Canadian boy!

One very early morning I arrived at the tennis courts and found this huge ugly watch at the deserted outdoor complex.

The watch did not seem to work - looked abandonned too. I took it home where it sat in a drawer for years until I got it fixed in the early 90s and gave it to my dad. The repair was over $200 back then and my dad wore it on occasion.

In 2012 I became interested in vintage watches and although not on OF, I looked at Hodinkee every day. When I visited my folks I would ask to see the...

thefranciscoram · Aug 21, 2026

If you're a father, this is one of many reasons we're into watches.

bralofsky · Aug 21, 2026

Beautiful story. Watches really do have a way of keeping memories alive. I’m sorry for your loss, and I love the idea of pairing a watch with a memory of our dads.

Harbormaster · Aug 21, 2026

I found this watch on my father’s dresser after he passed. I had no idea what it was. My Mom told me he stopped wearing it in about 1980. This is one of the first pictures I took. He wore a cheap Timex to work but I can’t find it. I miss the old man. 😎

elephantcage · Aug 21, 2026

Harbormaster
I found this watch on my father’s dresser after he passed. I had no idea what it was. My Mom told me he stopped wearing it in about 1980. This is one of the first pictures I took. He wore a cheap Timex to work but I can’t find it. I miss the old man. 😎

I hear ya. How cool to have his Speedmaster, though. My dad must have gotten his Timex watches from those old rotating displays that were in every drug store in America in the 60s and 70s. Probably about 5 bucks each. He wore one to death then laid out 5 bucks more for the next.

OneTwo · 2026-08-31T19:53:10-0500

Harbormaster
I found this watch on my father’s dresser after he passed. I had no idea what it was. My Mom told me he stopped wearing it in about 1980. This is one of the first pictures I took. He wore a cheap Timex to work but I can’t find it. I miss the old man. 😎

That’s a heck of a watch to find stowed away in a drawer. Your dad sure had good taste. Looks like it would easily cleanup nice with a sympathetic service from a qualified watchmaker. FWIW, I personally would not have Omega service this directly.

Harbormaster · 2026-08-31T20:11:04-0500

OneTwo
That’s a heck of a watch to find stowed away in a drawer. Your dad sure had good taste. Looks like it would easily cleanup nice with a sympathetic service from a qualified watchmaker. FWIW, I personally would not have Omega service this directly.

Thank you.

It did clean up nicely.

OneTwo · 2026-08-31T20:22:55-0500

Cheers @elephantcage! I really admire the sentiment of this thread. Coincidentally, I have been working on something that is in line with this subject that I figure this is the best thread to post about the recent arrival.

If you search my threads created or history here on OF, you quickly see that I’m quite enamored with the double signed 166.028 / 168.022 reference, specifically the 166.028 examples with orange seconds with black hour and minute hands. So much so that I’ve owned two of these pretty uncommonly seen in the wild references. The first i eventually gifted to my younger brother, as I had two by that time, and he always expressed a similar admiration for the watch. The second I’ll always keep for me as I wore it on my honeymoon. Which brings me to my dad, who when both my brother and I have worn our watches simultaneously, has remarked multiple times that he likes our watches. Now if you know my dad, you’d know that his commenting anbout our watches was something of note as we lovingly say about him that he’s more than bit of an absent minded professor.

While the story goes that a father usually buys their son a watch, I always thought it would be special to gift him one. So I knew it had to be the double signed reference like ours but for his, I wanted to find something a bit more elevated for him. And what could be more elevated of our watches that the 166.028 chronometer example with the similar cigarette hour and minute hands styles along with the matching concentric circles dial. It took me some time to find one in the condition I would want in my watch, but one recently became available, and I jumped at the opportunity.

So here’s my 166.028 on the left and soon to be his 168.022 on the right.

OneTwo · 2026-08-31T20:26:58-0500

Harbormaster
Thank you.

It did clean up nicely.

Oh wow! And a chocolate appearing dial, really nice! I hope you are able to enjoy it for years to come!

elephantcage · 2026-08-31T21:42:21-0500

OneTwo
Cheers @elephantcage! I really admire the sentiment of this thread. Coincidentally, I have been working on something that is in line with this subject that I figure this is the best thread to post about the recent arrival.

If you search my threads created or history here on OF, you quickly see that I’m quite enamored with the double signed 166.028 / 168.022 reference, specifically the 166.028 examples with orange seconds with black hour and minute hands. So much so that I’ve owned two of these pretty uncommonly seen in the wild references. The first i eventually gifted to my younger brother, as I had two by that time, and he always expressed a similar admiration for the watch. The second I’ll always keep for me as I wore it on my honeymoon. Which brings me to my dad, who when both my brother and I have worn our watches simultaneously, has remarked multiple times that he likes our watches. Now if you know my dad, you’d know that his commenting anbout our watches was something of note as we lovingly say about him that he’s more than bit of an absent minded professor.

While the story goes that a father usually buys their son a watch, I always thought it would be special to gift him one. So I knew it had to be the double signed reference like ours but for his, I wanted to find something a bit more elevated for him. And what could be more elevated of our watches that the 166.028 chronometer example with the similar cigarette hour and minute hands styles along with the matching concentric circles dial. It took me some time to find one in the condition I would want in my watch, but one recently became available, and I jumped at the opportunity.

So here’s my 166.028 on the left and soon to be his 168.022 on the right.

Very nice story, and most importantly, you still have time to spend with your dad...and your watches. Thanks for sharing.

Father and son watch thread

elephantcage

Canuck

MRC

bsowers34

Canuck

vbrad26

Paedipod

elephantcage

Duracuir1

thefranciscoram

bralofsky

Harbormaster

elephantcage

OneTwo

Harbormaster

OneTwo

OneTwo

elephantcage

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