The watch I’ll never sell

My father has always held a love for design. Being an architecture nerd, boat-design fanatic and attention to deal-holic, our living room coffee table has always been filled with interesting foto books, magazines, and literature.

Since the day I can remember, both my mother and father have worn watches. My mother being the classy woman she is, has always worn her JLC Reverso dual-tone, and my father, being an automobile fanatic has always worn his Tag Heuer Carrera Caliber 16 (ref. cv2011).

Almost as if they constituted an extension of their respective arms, there isn’t a single day I haven’t seen my parents wear their watches.

I therefore got into this world and endless rabbit hole around the end of 2020. It was also around this time that my father was diagnosed with a major illness, and as a 16 year-old, my world flipped around. Although my dad has always been around, I never just clicked with him. Being an emotionally-intense man, he differed from me in the way we expressed our love and I always felt as if time passed, and I never had the chance to tell him how much I really loved him.

Throughout my fathers treatment, watches became a point of connection that allowed us to build a bridge of interconnection, love, and respect. For 2 years, my father and I spent puntual days reading Hodinkee articles together, watching videos, hoping on Chrono24, and overall fantasizing about watches that we will never probably own.

As 2022 began, I told my parents that for my 18th birthday in November I’d love to to get a watch. After months of consideration, careful research and lots of time spent with my father, we chose the Tudor Black Bay 36.

Since that day, I don’t think there’s been a single moment where I haven’t worn that watch. Having other timepieces in my collection, this beautiful silver-dial 36mm watch holds the most time wrist. Now, a year later, more than ever, I finally understand my parents.

So cheers to 2024, a year I hope to spend more time with my watch, and my father.