The one watch to keep

Let's travel back in time to the mid 90s. I was a teenager back then, I wore Doc Martens and flannel shirts, I was angry 3/4 of the day and reluctantly went to school. Before class and in the evenings I worked random jobs, mostly checking inventory lists or moving boxes in warehouses.
I saved all the money, without even knowing what for.

But then one day when I flipped through the ads in the newspaper (remember those?) and found a watch that immediately grabbed my attention.

These subdials! These pushers! It has an alarm! This watch screamed "capability". And the best thing: I was reduced from 299 to 149 Deutsche Mark.
I grabbed my money right away and took the bus to that supermarket with the small jewellery store next to entrance.

I put my crumpled bills on the counter and asked for my watch. I even got three coupons for battery changes with the purchase! I put on my brand new Seiko SQ50 right there in the store.

It felt different. I have had watches before, but those were gifts, someone chose them for me. This one was my watch. I chose it, I bought it. And to teenage me this felt great -it felt like I was becoming an adult, as if finally I was in control of my own decisions.

It's funny what I small object can do with your head.

I wore it on the way back home and then everyday after for the next nine years. No matter where life led me, I was wearing this watch.
When later I started a job where I felt the need for a more dressy watch than my old battered Seiko, I put it into a drawer and bought a shiny new Seiko.

I sometimes put my SQ50 on different straps like this Bund one that seems to be made for it's dimensions. I rarely wear it, lets face it, unless you're teenager in the 90s this watch is fugly. Still I couldn't imagine not having it.
I like to read about alle those grail watches and watch purchases you do to give to the next generation. For me though, the one watch I know I'll always keep is this scratched old Seiko.