Horological Meandering

Anyone have fond memories about the scratches and dings on their watch?
May 13 2008,06:05 AM

How about bite marks!

Just a little background

The family celebrated my father's 70th birthday last week.  He also finally decided to retire after many years of pleading by my mother and his doctors to "slow down".

It hasn't been easy for my dad.  Imagine being 38 years old, packing up a family of four, moving to the US, no job planned , speaking only Chinese.  Quite honestly looking at what he's been able to achieve the United States is really "the land of opportunity" but with it came great personal sacrifice.  He's never taken a vacation.  He never took his health seriously.  And he didn't enjoy the finer things in life because everything earned was put into building my sister's and my own future.  Seriously how many people here remember living on large blocks of "orange" government cheese? (don't get me wrong, I was extremely thankful just to have food to eat)

At the last Boston get together I found a fitting Birthday / retirement gift for my father.  I'm finally begining to understand what he has endured trying to raise two kids of my own. So since no one at work celebrated his retirement, I figured I should  thank him for all his hard work helping me get to where I am today. 

A gold Rolex Day-Date is the "classic" symbol of prosperity in Asian culture.  This one was even more special because it was built and sold in the year of my birth.  This was a lucky find!

 

When I presented the Rolex to him at the party, he immediately smiled and said "How did you know I was also going to give you a watch?"  Then he handed me my great grandfather's gold pocketwatch for inspection while he happily strapped on the Rolex.

It was a 18K "Jack Watch Factory" pocket watch with an interesting dent on the cover.  As I looked over the watch, my mother said "Do you remember it?"  Your father showed this to you when you were two years old.  I told your father that you were to young to be playing with it but your father didn't listen.  You immediatly put the watch in your mouth and that dent you see is your teeth mark when you bit down! "

I think I got the better present!  Now I need to get the pocketwatch working again.  Do you think I should have my two year old son bite the other side?

My father with his new Rolex

 

 
Cheers, Mike

This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2008-05-13 07:41:18 This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2008-05-13 07:44:10

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The best Rolex that I have ever seen
May 13 2008,08:42 AM

Mike,

That is the best Rolex that I have ever seen...from a guy who vowed never to have that model. 

"The value of a watch is more than the cost of gold used; it is what 'heart' is put into it." 

 

Regards, MTF

This message has been edited by MTF on 2008-05-13 10:22:41

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Touching story Mike and thanks for sharing it with us!
May 13 2008,08:51 AM

Awesome gift for your dad, and hope he enjoys his retirement.

Cheers,
Anthony

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My favorite post of the year . . .
May 13 2008,10:01 AM

. . . and by far the most touching. I've got a similar story, Mike, but it doesn't involve a watch: my Dad had his USC diploma rolled up in a paper tube, and guess who repeatedly rammed it into the toilet? I can just imagine the phone call to the Dean's office when he had to ask for a replacement :-[ . Of course, I ended up at UCLA, which makes the story even sweeter from my perspective ;-) . . . best regards to you and your Dad, Art

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Wonderfully touching story. Thanks Mike for sharing.
May 13 2008,10:48 AM

My best wishes to you and your father. I wish him to wear the day-date in the best health.

Jon

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Great story - here's one about my friend's watch
May 13 2008,10:17 AM

Soon after I became a watch maniac and started sitting under a watchmaker for instruction,
one of my friends brought me a watch to look at. He wondered if I could "clean it up a bit"

Now this guy is a ferocious surfer - weeks at a time up and down the West Coast.
He got this watch in high school and had been wearing daily for more than 15 years.
And then he decided to get a "real job" as a fireman, at the age of 32.
He was the oldest ever graduate of our local fire academy, and graduated at the top of his class.
It's no wonder his poor Seiko is suffering.

I cleaned the sand and smoke out, overhauled the movement, and replaced the bezel with a plain black one for a stealth look.
New sapphire crystal and it was ready to go. He was thrilled and immediately strapped it back on.

Here's how it looked then.




Two weeks later he called and asked if the sapphire crystal was supposed to scratch. Of course I said NO, it shouldn't.
Bring it back.

So in he came with a huge grind mark across the bezel and glass.
I said I don't think this is warranty work, and he laughed, OK, replace it anyway.
Wondering how he could have done it, I had to ask.

"Well I had this lady over my shoulder, and then remembered I had to get my oxygen or I wouldn't make it down the 2 flights of stairs,
so I grabbed the oxygen bottle and in the dense smoke I stumbled into a concrete wall.
Then I broke the door down, ran down the stairs, handed the lady through a window,
and jumped out myself. Somewhere along the line the watch got scratched again."

We made it a warranty repair.

Mike

PS - this one's for you Graham.

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thanks Mike :) [nt]
May 14 2008,02:37 AM

No message body

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Now if that had been an ice-hardened steel case.... :-) [nt]
May 14 2008,05:58 AM

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Great story Mike. I used to work in law enforcement
May 14 2008,06:10 AM

Remember the watch " that takes a licking and keeps on ticking" well it stopped ticking after a few of the lickings I experienced   Thank goodness I am still around!

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Wonderful story!
May 13 2008,10:43 AM

It's these memories that give our watches  a "soul". Thanks so much for sharing! 

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Such a lovely story, but something is missing...
May 13 2008,15:18 PM

pictures of the PW movement!
-a

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Pics to follow! (nt)
May 14 2008,06:25 AM

/

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Mike, your father is a hero.
May 13 2008,16:35 PM

I always have a lot of respect for the Chinese who travelled thousands of miles away from home land and landed in a foreign land with their bare hands and they excel.

Yours is a touching fact in hard life not a story.

Regards

Ling

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The strength of community and new friends
May 14 2008,06:27 AM

I remember my dad returning home after working 16 hours and spending at least 10 minutes scrubbing his hands under the sink to get them somewhat clean.

Even with all his hard work though he would not have been able to succeed without the help of new friends and the community we lived in. 

"strength in numbers"

Thanks Ling.  My dad is a Hero!

Mike

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Mike, this is a beautiful post, and a magnificient story
May 13 2008,16:46 PM

I really loved to read it, it brought some very nice fresh air to my blooody day! LOL.

These are 2 fantastic watches here.

One which express Father's love for his son, and the other which is just the reciprocity..

Funny that you both thought to gift yourselves the same way!

And the story of the dent...Wow.

This is even stronger than a friendship watch.

Thanks a lot, my friend, and thanks to your father...This is just a Pursits post!

Best to both of you.

Nicolas

 

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Hi Nicolas! I hate to say this but my relationship with my dad was a slow evolving one
May 14 2008,11:23 AM

It was difficult growing up not quite understanding why Dad was never around and why his decisions were always so "old and outdated".

At the time I didn't appreciate needing to get a job to pay for something "nice".  I remember asking "why can't we just spend another 10 dollars to get a pair of Levis?  Why do I have to buy this genric brand from Kmart?"

It took more than 30 years, getting married, and two young kids at home for me to finally understand.

He is a very wise man. Thanks for your kind words

 

Mike

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Fantastic post Mike.
May 13 2008,21:53 PM

Your dad is truly a hero. Thanks for sharing this touching story to us.

Cheers

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What a wonderful story!
May 14 2008,04:01 AM

I'm sure the case can be fixed, but then again the dent adds to its true value!  Nice watches by the way!

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What a story!
May 14 2008,05:57 AM

Thanks for sharing Mike.

- SJX

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One of the most touching ...
May 14 2008,06:27 AM

and  inspiring story I have ever read or heard.

I felt a bit of pinch in my heart as i remember my fathers dedication to providing our family our needs and securing our future.

Fathers day will be coming soon, and this is a good reminder to us how to show our gratitude and appreciation.

Thanks for this.

Cheers,

Noel

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My father wants me to thank everyone for their kind thoughts! (nt)
May 14 2008,13:24 PM

.

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So, let him play with the Keyboard! LOL
May 14 2008,13:26 PM

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Thanks for sharing this, Mike.
May 14 2008,20:48 PM

And what a wonderful, thoughtful gift!

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