The Watch Tradition

In 1968, while stationed on a Navy ship,my grandfather bought a thick leather-banded gold watch that he wore for the remaining three years of his service. Shortly after his discharge from the Navy my father was born, and as he grew that clunky gold watch aged with him.  As time went on the gold paint slowly flaked off revealing a cheaper silvery metal underneath, the leather band wrinkled and browned from daily wear, but the hands ticked on steadfastly for decades. Now, this watch had nothing on the beautiful, high quality watches that you see today but was love-worn and sturdy.  When my own father had his first son, the watch was then passed on from my grandfather’s thick calloused hands to my father’s softer and more inexperienced ones where it then became a main stay of my childhood. It seemed to be the first thing that was put on in the morning and the last thing taken off at night, as if it was the signal to the world (and the kids) that it was time to quiet down and go to sleep. It was a beacon of not only timeliness, but consistency during my childhood.  Now as an adult I look for those little reminders of childhood security. I wear a watch now, and though it doesn’t carry the history of my father’s watch, my Passages rose rubber & metal set reminds me to not only be on time but to live up to the example of my father and grandfather. Sometimes a watch isn’t just a watch, it’s part of a tradition and family story. 

Get your own beautiful and high quality watch from Egard Watches and find your own story.