- Posts
- 263
- Likes
- 378
Adam2941
路For my 200th post 馃榾, I thought it only fitting to get a little sentimental. Here are my father's watch, and his father's watch. First, my father's 14k gold Omega Automatic from Tiffany, presented to him by his parents (my grandparents) on the occasion of his college graduation in 1952, with a picture of him wearing it maybe about 8 years later.
I have a distinct memory from when I was about 5 years old, of my father holding me on his lap and showing me how the bumper would wind the watch. I was fascinated by this, but he would not let me hold the watch and feel the bumper myself. He wore the watch every day for about 40 years, and never had it serviced. It finally stopped working, and he wore a quartz watch until he passed away ten years ago. A few years ago a relative who knew my interest in watches gave it to me. Apparently it was sitting in the back of her drawer for years. All we know is that someone in the family tried to get it fixed for my father, but was told it could not be fixed. When I inherited it, the dial had already been refinished, and had a notable dent. The case was heavily polished, and the watch had an unused Tiffany band on it. My theory is that this person took it to multiple places for repair, one being Tiffany, and along the way the dial was refinished and later dented. Maybe Tiffany threw in a new band as a consolation prize because they could not fix it!
I brought it to an excellent watchmaker who has a lot of vintage Omega parts. He replaced the plate and other parts, and got it into excellent running condition. He also convinced me to have the dial refinished again, claiming his people could make it look original. Well, I wish I had left it with the refinished dial it had when I inherited it, but I was not as experienced then as I am now. Still, it does get compliments when I wear it, and it makes me think of my father. It looks better on the wrist because the font is of course way smaller in person than in this enlarged photo.
Next, the "Dad" in the previous inscription is "Alex," my grandfather, the recipient of this Tiffany IWC tank watch from his mother, my great grandmother, who I never knew. I am pretty sure 1946 would have been his 50th birthday. Now this watch is all original, the only flaw being a fold crack at the upper left corner of the dial. It runs perfectly.
Apparently there was a two-generation tradition in my family of buying gold watches at Tiffany, New York. Unfortunately, this tradition never reached me, although I do have these!
Let's see your own family heirlooms--either ones you have inherited, or ones you have, or plan to, pass on within your family!
I have a distinct memory from when I was about 5 years old, of my father holding me on his lap and showing me how the bumper would wind the watch. I was fascinated by this, but he would not let me hold the watch and feel the bumper myself. He wore the watch every day for about 40 years, and never had it serviced. It finally stopped working, and he wore a quartz watch until he passed away ten years ago. A few years ago a relative who knew my interest in watches gave it to me. Apparently it was sitting in the back of her drawer for years. All we know is that someone in the family tried to get it fixed for my father, but was told it could not be fixed. When I inherited it, the dial had already been refinished, and had a notable dent. The case was heavily polished, and the watch had an unused Tiffany band on it. My theory is that this person took it to multiple places for repair, one being Tiffany, and along the way the dial was refinished and later dented. Maybe Tiffany threw in a new band as a consolation prize because they could not fix it!
I brought it to an excellent watchmaker who has a lot of vintage Omega parts. He replaced the plate and other parts, and got it into excellent running condition. He also convinced me to have the dial refinished again, claiming his people could make it look original. Well, I wish I had left it with the refinished dial it had when I inherited it, but I was not as experienced then as I am now. Still, it does get compliments when I wear it, and it makes me think of my father. It looks better on the wrist because the font is of course way smaller in person than in this enlarged photo.
Next, the "Dad" in the previous inscription is "Alex," my grandfather, the recipient of this Tiffany IWC tank watch from his mother, my great grandmother, who I never knew. I am pretty sure 1946 would have been his 50th birthday. Now this watch is all original, the only flaw being a fold crack at the upper left corner of the dial. It runs perfectly.
Apparently there was a two-generation tradition in my family of buying gold watches at Tiffany, New York. Unfortunately, this tradition never reached me, although I do have these!
Let's see your own family heirlooms--either ones you have inherited, or ones you have, or plan to, pass on within your family!
Edited:
