Watches of the men who made us.
So, this is a bit more of an emotional and reflective post today.
I have recently found a couple of my paternal grandfather's watches, thus completing the trifecta of watches that belonged to the men who made me. I thought I would tell you all what they mean to me (the watches and the men), and I hope to hear a bit about yours as well.
Starting with the newest addition to my watch family...
My Grandfather's Benrus. As I mentioned, I recently found this while visiting with my folks and going through some old things. I found this and a Bulova that I need to get fixed, as it will not even wind. But this little Benrus here fired right up, albeit running a bit slow. This watch is hugely important to me because out of the men who made me, He is the one I never got to meet. To be truthful, my father hardly knew him. He passed when my father was nine years old and the oldest of three. He passed in his early 30s but obviously had refined tastes in watches. I am very similar to my father in many ways, but everyone who knew my grandfather says we are most alike to my other family members. This watch makes me feel more close to him than I have ever felt. For years, I did not know how to refer to my grandfather. I would always refer to him as "Dad's Dad."My dad didn't talk about him much, so I didn't know much. But since I have spent some time with this watch, I now find it easier to call him Grandpa. I put on a leather strap and cleaned it up a little, and now I think it looks amazing. It might be the prettiest watch that I own. But, what is more, I have a solid, tangible piece of a man I have never known but apparently understand quite well.
Next....
My Maternal Grandfather's Wittnauer. This one is special because my Grandfather ( I call him Pepere per my French-Canadian blood) lived with my family for about eight years, and during that time, he became one of my best friends. In the opposite style from my other grandfather, I know a lot about my Pepere. He grew up dirt poor during the great depression, lied about his age to enlist in WWII, was on a battleship in Okinawa, and got torpedoed all before he was 18 years old. He returned, married his life's love, and worked a factory job making tools. Over time, he became the formen of said factory. He traveled back to Japan for work to meet with engineers and others in his field. Oh, did I mention he did all of this with an 8th-grade education? He moved in with us a few years after my Memere passed, and he was in a bad way. That was when I was a sophomore in high school. Over the years, after many games of chess, card games, breakfasts, and countless laughs, my Pepere's mind started to slip, and during the height of the pandemic, I lost one of the most influential people I have ever known. Despite his age and the time he grew up, he never had any of those nasty tendencies or behaviors that you associate with people of that generation. He was the ultimate role model. He could talk with crowds and keep his virtue, and walk with King and not lose the common touch. A few months after he passed, my mom gave me his watch. I wear it on his birthday every year, no matter what I am doing that day.
And lastly...
My father's Seiko. Now, this one has a funny story to it, but it does not take away from how seriously I take this watch. My Father is an electrician and THE hardest-working man I know. I'm not just saying that because he is my Father. This watch was gifted to him by my Mother, I believe for his birthday one year. He wore it to work every day (which is evident if you can see how truly mangled this watch is). As you can imagine, a blue-collar, scraped knuckles electrition like my Dad should probably not be wearing this watch to work every day. I repeat, should NOT be wearing this METAL watch to work. You guessed it, one day, he touched it to something live, and the watch kinda welded itself to his wrist. OUCH! Don't worry; the volts were high, and the amps were low. Needless to say, he stopped wearing it for safety reasons; also, the kinetic movement was FUBAR. A couple of years ago, he gave it to me, and I wear it around the house sometimes. Despite what you may think after hearing that story, my Father is the smartest man I know. Again, I'm not just saying that because he is my Dad. With only a high school education, my dad could talk to you about literature, a bit of quantum physics, economics, history music, etc. This watch reminds me of hard work and how refinement can afford to get a bit rough and tumble sometimes. That I should look to push as much out of life as I can. That I can and should fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
All in all, when I look at these watches, these combinations of gears and springs, I can feel each man with me. Reminding me that if I follow their lead, that Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
How about you? What are some of the watches of the men who made you? Do you have them? Tell us a story.
Thank you for your time.
Bonus candid shot of my Dad's gold Seiko that my mom got him for their wedding and my Mom's Citizen. Pictured at my wedding.
Affordable watch collector. Just happy to be here.
Beautiful sentiments and watches. I have several of my father's watches and my paternal grandfather's. I am only sentimental about one of my father's watches. (He is not, at all.) Here is my grandfather's daily:
Quartz and easy to read. This is the more important one.
what a truly wonderful, heart-warming story! Your father and grandfathers seem like great men for sure and remind me of my own late grandfathers, both of whom had very little formal education but both of whom ended up working in technical fields with machinery. They literally could, as we say here in my little corner of eastern Canada, "put an ass in a cat". My late father, though a generation younger than my grandfathers, was very much of the same ilk but with a bit better education 😀
Today, as type this reply my late father's old Caravelle sits on my desk as a daily reminder of him and on my wrist is his old Vostok Amphib that I gave him for Father's Day back around 2000.
What a wonderful story, beautifully told. And the Kipling references are icing on the top.
Sounds like you’ve had some wonderful men in you life. That’s a tremendous blessing.
Beautiful sentiments and watches. I have several of my father's watches and my paternal grandfather's. I am only sentimental about one of my father's watches. (He is not, at all.) Here is my grandfather's daily:
Quartz and easy to read. This is the more important one.
Right back at you. A great watch, and I loved your article. I very much resonate with the part about all the stories that we will never know. I am ok with that. I will never know when or why my grandfathers came to own these watches. Or where the many deep scratches came from, but that's okay. The man lives on as long as there is someone to remember and tell their story. Watches are just a great and irrational way of being reminded of those stories that we'll never know.
What a wonderful story, beautifully told. And the Kipling references are icing on the top.
Sounds like you’ve had some wonderful men in you life. That’s a tremendous blessing.
Thank you. I really don't know where all of my post came from. I just started writing and had to keep from crying at times. That's a good way of knowing how much of an impact each man has had in their own way.
Despite Kipling's problems, IF has always been my favorite poem. Thank you for picking up on my heavy-handed references lol.
Thank you. I really don't know where all of my post came from. I just started writing and had to keep from crying at times. That's a good way of knowing how much of an impact each man has had in their own way.
Despite Kipling's problems, IF has always been my favorite poem. Thank you for picking up on my heavy-handed references lol.
It’s an amazing poem. Too bad we have to preface everything with an apology nowadays. Lord knows we’re no better than most men of history.
Thanks again for a great story.
Wonderful, deeply sentimental stories about the men who made you! I never knew my maternal grandfather, he like so many Chinese men of his generation wandered west to make his fortune, my parents never talked about his fate but I was able to piece together an unfortunate tragic end in Kentucky, my paternal grandfather was a successful businessman in Manhattan but fell in love with America and started a second family in his adopted country, I met him briefly when he travelled to Canada a million years ago to make peace with his oldest son, my dad whom he abandoned but did support financially until he was able to make his own way. My dad was not even 5ft tall but the most influential man in my life growing up. I am just over 6ft so you can imagine the chatter that he put up with when he and I were walking around in our neighbourhood. He was an academic but found work in Chinatown kitchens in Toronto when we emigrated to Canada. He enters my conscious mind daily despite having passed away so many long years ago, reminds me of potential mistakes, to never be lazy about any activity. I was the man who removed the simple steel Rolex OP from his wrist, that moment haunts me today decades later. My nephew who does not wear a watch is the guardian of that simple token. I admit some guilt whenever I buy a new watch since my dad believed one was all any sensible person needed. We never chatted about watches but my love for mechanical timepieces was influenced by him.
We don’t get many Benrus over here, which is a shame.