My watch story is a bit closer to home.

Some years ago I and my wife were visiting a large monthly collectables fair. We tend to browse separately, as anything we buy is from personal 'play money' rather than a joint household decision. (We determined this arrangement right from the start of our marriage, specifically to avoid disagreements about things one might want to buy and the other did not - it has worked very well for 22 years).

After an hour or so we met up again and I could tell she had found something good by the smile on her face. She brought it out to show me: an attractive 18K gold Omega de Ville Chronometer in really nice condition. She told me that the guy selling it was disposing of stuff from a deceased relative, and although it was not being given away, the price seemed so good that she snapped it up (after negotiating the price down to $900, because that's what she loves).

After she paid him the guy said, "Hang on, I have a box for it" and pulled out the original polished timber Omega box and outer box with the original Omega tag for the watch (but no papers). Icing on the cake....

So the best bit of this story is that while I was admiring the watch - which looked very much at home when I tried it on my wrist - my wife said, "It's for you".

I wear the watch whenever we go somewhere special, and every time that generous and spontaneous gift warms my heart.

Here it is - made around 2006 with the 1120 movement.

 

Words fail me! OMG, that is gorgeous. Had I been in your wife’s position, I would have gladly paid the asking price, it is that nice! A worthy addition to this thread, and to your collection. (Does your wife have a sister? )

 

Anybody watching their calendar? My second post today. Thank Heaven for time zones. This Tuesday post will land on somebody’s computer, somewhere, somehow, on Wednesday.

Probably 25 to 30 years ago, an elderly friend of mine passed away. He was a collector. Scratch that, he was a hoarder! His widow called me and asked for my help selling two watches. One was an 18-karat quarter repeater with an animated dial. When the repeater chimed, two jacks with halberds would strike an imaginary bell under the 12. It was an 18-karat, open faced case, Swiss in origin, and it was exquisite condition. The other was a high quality, English, open faced watch with a ruby cylinder escapement, by the London maker, John Sewill. It too was exquisite! It’s most notable feature was the dial. All twelve numbers had been replaced with letters.

it was my opinion that there was no market locally for these watches. So the owner agreed to have me send them to Sotheby’s in New York. They estimated the repeater as being valued at $2,500 (U S), and the other at $1,500 (U S). She agreed to the terms. Sothebys photographed the two watches for their beautiful sales catalog. The repeater sold at the sale for the advertised price. The other didn’t sell. They wrote and asked her if she would let it go for $850. She agreed, and it sold. This scan of the watch is from the catalog picture, and not the greatest. The other picture is from Wikipedia.

First the pictures, then the explanation.



As you will see, the numerals on the dial spell M A X I M O T A J E S. Who, or what, was Máximo Tajes. He was the president (dictator) of Uruguay for four years, from 1886 to 1890. He died two days before his 60th birthday, in 1912. There is a Wikipedia article on Tajes.

This all transpired pre-internet. I didn’t find out until about the year 2000, who Tajes was. Dam! I could’a’ owned a piece of history!

 

When being confined to barracks ends, my output may slow down. One of the parameters that was set out when this thread started, was one post per day. Too many watches, too many stories! I posted two on Tuesday, one of which was posted at 22:00 hrs MDT, and It landed on many computers on Wednesday. This will land on many computers on Wednesday as well, but it is my first submission for the day.

It was early in the 1990s. I had left my employer of 25 years (my choice) as I was as fed up with them as they were desirous of divesting themselves of a few senior managers. An acquaintance who had been a competitor, asked me if I would consider working for him. Part time. I worked for him part time for 18-months.

One day, an acquaintance of mine, and customer from my previous store, came in to ask my advice on a watch. This chap worked for a trust company, and had been asked by an elderly compatriot of his father’s, to visit him in British Columbia, to help him get his affairs sorted out. The elderly chap had his father’s railroad watch, but he knew nothing about it, and wondered what to do with it. He had a grandson that he had no use for, whatever, and knew if the watch went to him, he’d dump it and buy drugs! My friend brought the watch with him when he returned home, and brought it to show it to me. I gave him a thumbnail sketch of what was quite a collectible watch, and made him a standing offer of $300.00. I got the owner’s name and address, and wrote him, telling him all about the watch, repeating my offer.

Some weeks later, my friend phoned the store to see if was would be there for a while. Several hours later, in he came. He told me he had brought my new (to me) acquisition. The owner was thrilled to see his father’s cherished railroad watch would be going to someone who knew about it, and would appreciate it. The watch:

Circa 1903, E Howard and company sold the rights to use the Howard name on railroad pocket watches to the case maker who had made a lot of the cases for E Howard. The Keystone Watch Case Co. They were not immediately equipped to begin manufacturing their own movements. So, for a time, they bought movements from the Waltham Watch Co., and put their own Howard dials on them. This company used the name the E Howard WATCH Co.

Over time, this new company acquired another watch manufacturer. The New York Standard Watch Co. The E Howard Watch Co. continued to market NY Standard watches, and a second, cheaper line called Crown. There was one particular model of New York Standard movement that Howard decided to use as the basis for a Howard Railroad Chronometer. It became known as the Howard series XI. This watch is one of those.

Howard series XI, 16-size, 21-jewel, lever set, patent regulator, adjusted to 5 positions and temperature (total of 8 adjustments), circa 1910. Howard dispensed with their customary quality standard marks that they had used on most of their other movements, when they produced this movement. For a very long time, Keystone Howard Watch collectors have looked down their noses at the Howard series XI. Perhaps because it is plainer than most other of the Howard movements, and its plate layout so closely resembles its humble New York Standard forebear. But I am pleased to see that the series XI is slowly gaining in favour. This watch has a 12-hour dial on it, as have almost all Howard series XI watches that I have seen. I have often wondered why they aren’t seen with 24-hour (Canadian) dials on them.

 

I had originally put the limit of one post per person per day, assuming that everyone had a small number of watch stories. I didn't want to loose my entertainment for the isolation period. Apparently you have virtually limitless classic watches with great stories behind them. Keep them coming. As long you are willing to share, we are happy to listen.

 

About thirty years ago I became interested in marine chronometers after reading Dava Sobel's best selling book Longitude, first published in 1996. It tells the story of the development of the chronometer in the mid eighteenth century as a means of accurately determining longitude: a major technological step forward at the time.

If you have not read it, you are in for a treat. It is very well written and hard to put down (make sure you buy the illustrated edition).

Not long after reading the book a local antiquarian clock dealer put a marine chronometer from his private collection on the market. I was so inspired by the story that I had to have it, especially as it was from the days of sail, made around 1827 by Richard Hornby, Liverpool.

The mahogany case was in exceptional condition. The chronometer was a lovely example of a Georgian timepiece, but what endeared it to me even more was a small burn mark on the back of the polished mahogany case.

The mark could only have come from an unnoticed candle flame being too close to the chronometer while a ship’s master was working out a navigation course. It was a reminder that the chronometer was not just an attractive item, but a working tool that was used every day of a ship’s life at sea.

For some reason that now escapes me I sold it years later at auction (probably to buy a watch), but of all the nice timepieces I once owned during a phase of Georgian clock collecting, the Hornby chronometer is the one I wish I still had.

PS. Although obviously not a watch, it was a portable chronometer - one of the forebears of the chronometers many of us wear today, so I hope no one minds me adding it to this thread.

 

Great thread. I posted one of these photos yesterday in another thread (https://omegaforums.net/threads/images-that-lift-your-spirits.111637/) but thought I might as well post here as well and share the story of the watch. I have done so before but with less photos.

So the watch is my Omega 2639-1.

The watch was bought by my grandfather around 1950/51. He, my grandmother, my father and my father's brother lived in a small suburb to Copenhagen and my grandfather did some book keeping for some of the local small businesses. My father later told me that it had been an expensive watch and that they didn't have a lot of money. Judging from some old Omega price lists I have seen, I guess the watch probably cost about a months salary. So I imagine that my grandfather took good care of it. He was active in the Danish resistance during WWII, which my father was always very proud of.

Here is a photo of him, probably from around 1954 or 1955 judging by the age of my father on some of the other photos. Excuse the quality as I have just snapped photos with my IPhone of the original film photos.



I can't confirm if he is wearing that watch in the photo but it very well could be since it was taken a couple of years after he bought it. I never knew him as he died in 1980, five years before I was born. My grandmother died already in the 1950's when my father was quite young.

So after he died my father inherited the watch and wore it on a regular basis. This is the earliest photo of him wearing it that I could find. It is from when he married my mother in 1981, I believe.



My father was a great guy. I don't remember ever being angry with him but I remember a lot of evenings and afternoons when we would sit on the floor in front of the record player listening to jazz, while he told about all the musicians. He was incredibly fond of jazz and had a huge vinyl and CD collection. I seem to remember that he particularly liked Dizzy Gillespie. We also played chess sometimes. He never lost on purpose but all ways explained why he had won and what I had done wrong. My father was also very into arts and had hundreds of paintings. Almost every inch of wall in the house I grew up in was covered in paintings. He also loved books and poetry (and wrote a little himself sometimes) and generally extremely hungry for knowledge. He was probably what you would call a real old school intellectual. At one point a couple of years ago their cellar was flooded and over 1000 books was damaged and you couldn't see anything had been removed. A celler full of shelves full of books and stacks of books all over the floor. He had thousands and thousands and loved flea markeds and antique book shops. He and my mother kept five or six different newspapers and he would spent several hours a day reading usually while drinking crappy coffee and eating bread with marmelade. He was also an avid baker and baked all kinds of bread, the best was his sour dough ryebread, which is kind of a A Danish speciality.

I never really gave it much thought that he wore an old Omega as I didn't have any interest in watches, when I was a kid or growing up. Here is a photo of him sitting in the backyard of our house. Photo is from 1984 or 85 and he is again wearing his Omega.



Fast forward to 2014. Here he is on the beach playing with my oldest daughter, who was six months at the time. Still wearing is Omega



Unfortunately my incredible father died in 2016 after being ill for a long time with Alzheimers. He had been in a nursing home during the end and my mother had given me his watch, because the caretakers at the nursing home had accidently let him wear it in the shower, so moisture had gotten in. Luckily no permanent damage and it was dried and serviced. A couple of minutes after he had passed, while he was still in the bed, I put the watch on his wrist one last time

Some time ago I found his old military papers and his old dogtags from when he was in the army in the early 1960's. So I took this photo because that is what watch nerds do



And now I have the watch. It has its fair share of dings and scratches but needless to say that I absolutely love it. I don't wear it very often but it is my favourite (materiel) thing in this world.



Hope you enjoyed the story. Next time I will do a little story on the other watch I inherited from my father, which he inherited from his father in law (my grandfather on my mothers side)

 

Did you ever consider wearing it with the redial instead?

 

Not really, I still have the dial. It looked pretty bad. They used a stencil from a pre-professional dial.

 

Of course not, very cool. Too bad you sold it. Although I understand it is not so small or practical.

 

I enjoyed the story very much. I look forward to more!

 

Longitude, the Illustrated edition! A must for the best book on the topic of John Harrison! There are several books on Rupert Gould who restored the Harrison chronometers, as well. And for anyone anywhere near Greenwich, the Observatory, the ZERO meridian, and the location of Harrison’s chronometers. And of course the RMM (Royal Maritime Museum) which is nearby.

In the mid 1980s, a friend approached me about servicing his Hamilton model 21 marine chronometer. He had the service manual for it, and I read it cover to cover before I started on the instrument. Over the course of completing it, I resolved to eventually have one of my own. They are a beautiful machine to work on, requiring the talents of someone whose experience is in servicing both watches, and clocks, and with the equipment to work on an instrument that size.

In 1986, my spouse and I drove to Vancouver, B C, on the way to Portland, Oregon. We took the scenic route south, to Whidbey Island where we were going to drive south to catch the ferry to Olympia, Wash. it was a Sunday. As we drove south, we spied signs that told us there was a street market being held at Coupeville. Being a sucker for that kind of event, we detoured to Coupeville to find Main Street about six blocks long, inundated with booths selling wooden toys, batik, candles, jewellery, insence, macrame, art, flowers, candy, snacks, etc. etc. I noticed the stores were open, and there were several antique stores. I checked one out, asking if they had watches. I was told that the next antique store along the way, did. So I went. Well, they had a couple watches in a show case, but nothing that interested me. I asked the lady proprietor if they had more. She asked me to wait while she talked to her husband in their quarters upstairs. He had serious kidney problems, and was unable to work. He was in his bathrobe, but if that didn’t matter, I was welcome to visit him. Well, he was an antique dealer whose main personal interest was watches and clocks. He had one room which had shelves groaning with clocks, and chronometers. I asked if he had a Hamilton series XXI (21) marine chronometers. He had to search, but he had one. I was smitten! He told me it was for sale. I told him I wouldn’t be able to make an offer that would interest him. He asked what the going rate for a good one was. The guides indicated $1,200.00 (U S). I told him. He told me I could have it for that amount. I went outside and found my wife, and took her to his quarters. I needed time to think about it! We backtracked to a campground for the night. I didn't sleep.

Monday, we were driving south, past the Coupeville exit, and I kept going. I had decided to not buy the chronometer. She blew up, and told me I’d never have a better chance. We u-turned and went back to Coupeville. The stores were closed on Monday. We were at the antique store before noon, and rang their upstairs doorbell. She came to the veranda, and I told I wanted it, but I had to arrange funds. I phoned my bank back home (1,000 kms away), and the manager (friend of mine), wasn’t there. The loans officer didn’t know me and couldn’t help. We killed some time, and phoned again. He was there. The money was on its way via a Seattle bank. But it still wasn’t there when the local bank closed. So we spent another night on Whidbey Island. We got to the bank on Tuesday when they opened, and my bank draft was there. We drove to the daughter’s address (the parents were away in Seattle), and the chronometer was waiting for me. The chronometer.

Hamilton series XXI marine chronometer, 85 ligne, S# 6125, 14-jewels, finished September 7, 1944, key wind and set, Earnshaw dead beat escapement, fusee, 52 hours running, Honduras mahogany cabinet and carry case. Hamilton completed over 600 of these in October of 1944, more than the total production of most chronometer makers during their operation. My Mrs. paid the $1,200.00 (Cdn.), and I paid the exchange. Love it. I’ve serviced it twice over the decades I’ve had it, and it is due again, so I haven’t run it for several years.

 

This is a relative short and common story in comparison to what others have shared with us previously, but still, this watch - and how it became mine - is important to me.

To most, the Speedmaster Pro below is just another “run of the mill” watch, especially on this forum where we get so used to seeing this model day after day. My reality is that it is likely the one in my collection that has the most sentimental value!

This watch was purchased in 1988 by the wife of one of my dear friends to mark his 50th birthday. My friend, Armand, spent most of his life as a member of the French Marine Nationale and eventually got the “flying bug” and became a private pilot, flying cessnas around France and parts of Europe. He was a real adventurer at heart, and I always looked up to him when I grew up as a teenager.

At the time I started to get into watches with the purchase of my Bond Seamaster 300 (may be an upcoming story about what should have been my “only watch”?), in 1998, I remember noticing his Omega chrono, but I didn’t think much more about it for another 20 years or so. In the meantime, I had become a real Omega fan boy, and on one of the many occasions when paying a visit to Armand, I actually asked him about “that big Omega chrono watch” he used to wear “back in the day.” Within a few minutes, he had located the watch in one of his drawers, no longer on its original bracelet, but on a dressy brown croc band... which struck me as being quite a contrast to all the battle scars that the watch had!! Clearly, he had not babied this watch and had worn it well over the years!!

As I was examining the watch, his wife suggested that he should gift it to me since he was no longer wearing it or using it. I could see some surprise and, frankly, sadness in his eyes, so I immediately refused the offer. I could nevertheless see that this comment had caught his attention and that the wheels were turning in his head. He then said: “yes, someday it will be his, but just not yet!” I almost felt a bit embarrassed at the situation, as it had never crossed my mind to even get his watch (even though they had no children), so I just politely declined the thought anyway.

Over the course of the next couple of years, I would see Armand and his wife each time I returned to France, and while I never broached the watch topic again, Armand was always reminding me of “his promise” when we were saying our goodbyes, but I would just tell him that I wished for him to keep it as long as possible.

On one of these visits in the Summer of 2018, I brought my son with me to pay them a visit as we were about to fly back home later that day. By then, Armand’s health had severely declined, and he and his wife were now under the constant care of an aide at home. We were recounting the good old days of us playing tarot (the card game, not the fortune telling kind) together, and we were so happy walking back down memory lane together. At that moment, he asked the aide to please help him get something from his dresser, and after a couple of minutes, they came back, and he presented the watch to me, asking me to take it with me as he felt that the moment had now come, and he was worried that the watch might someday “walk away” by itself.

I had a really hard time accepting this gift, as it seemed to signify much more about our journey together in life than just “receiving his watch.” He insisted, and a lot of tears were shed in that moment. The picture below is of me wearing the watch for the first time while sitting on the plane that brought me and my son back home.

Since then, I have removed a good portion of the wrist cheese the watch had, noticed that it was likely never serviced as it still has that “red dot” on the case back, installed a 1450/808 bracelet on it (probably not the type that was initially installed, but good looking anyway), and have been marveling at how well it is still running, 32 years after having been manufactured and after heavy usage!!

Armand is stil with us, but his health has now declined so much that he and his wife are living in an assisted living facility. It is just a great reminder that while we all want to accumulate “stuff” in this world, at the end of the day, we will not take any of it with us. I have been fortunate to collect quite a number of great watches, but my son and I will always remember why we have this “plain vanilla” Speedmaster, and it will always remind us of our dear friend Armand. My son will inherit the watch someday. I am hoping he will remember the day we “inherited it” and look fondly at the times we spent in France together.

Epilog on April 15, 2020:

Well, sadly today I need to follow-up on this story, having received the sad news of the passing of my friend Armand on Saturday April 11th, 2020, a few days short of his 90th birthday.

Godspeed Armand, and RIP! We will never forget you and we will be enjoying your watch in your memory.

 

Hamilton series XXI marine chronometer, 85 ligne, S# 6125, 14-jewels, finished September 7, 1944, key wind and set, Earnshaw dead beat escapement, fusee, 52 hours running, Honduras mahogany cabinet and carry case. Hamilton completed over 600 of these in October of 1944, more than the total production of most chronometer makers during their operation. My Mrs. paid the $1,200.00 (Cdn.), and I paid the exchange. Love it. I’ve serviced it twice over the decades I’ve had it, and it is due again, so I haven’t run it for several years.

View attachment 959252 View attachment 959253 View attachment 959254 View attachment 959255 [/QUOTE]

These stories are the rock on which many collections are built - I love reading them, and hope we see many more from Forum members. Apart from giving us a window into the world of each person who posts, we are seeing some lovely pieces.

I am reminded of the times that I have perhaps unwisely shown a visitor something from what I have collected over my life, and had only a blank response - even the question "But why do you collect?". On such occasions I know that if that person doesn't already know, there is nothing I can say that will help them understand.

 

What is there about having an audience that encourages the extrovert in us. It is indeed refreshing to see a number of other folks coming forth with their stories, and pictures of the things that makes them hum. I got lots, yet. Stay tuned. As I said in my first submission in this thread, the collectibles we enjoy most as individuals are often those collectibles that come with a story. In the thread An Accutron Each Day, I discussed about 32 Accutrons. Since that thread is so recent, I have avoided re-introducing Accutrons to this thread. When I find my trove of stories running thin, I’ll get into Mrs. Canuck’s collection. In fact, I have one of those in mind right now. Tomorrow, maybe!

 

Sentimental value is much greater than monetary value in my opinion! Thank you for sharing.

 

I mentioned my wife’s collection. Well, I have collected them on her behalf, to be honest. But this one was not collected, but inherited.

In a previous post in this thread, I mentioned my late father who apprentice as a watchmaker in 1920, at age 20, in northern Alberta (at Viking). He also worked as a watchmaker in Saskatoon for 16 years. In 1927, he gave the subject watch to his mother who lived in Ontario. The name on the dial is MARS, about which I know nothing, except over decades, I have seen that name many times. I have many artifacts in my accumulation (which is not part of my collection) with Mars on the dial. The tonneau shape and size, and the texture, were popular in the 1920s, as was the white gold filled finish. This one has a garden variety 15-jewel, oval movement in it. She has watches that she prefers, but will wear this one on occasion, to please me.

 

Hard to come up with something after these fantastic stories! Thanks so much for sharing.

Probably my favorite part, such great stories meandering into the present by great collectors.

 

Lol. By the look of the timestamp, you made it about 20 minutes.