My dads watch

Thomas brookes

Thomas brookes

RPF Chief iPhone app Reviewer
Hey all

a year ago last may my dear farther suddenly past away, we were given 3 days after his funeral to move all my dads stuff out of his rented house or we would have had to pay another months rent we simply could not afford. I boxed loads of his stuff up to store at my place. I'm currently packing to move into my new house me and my fiancé have just purchased. So I started going through dads stuff to sort it out.

I came across his watch ,an old sekonda. He used to wear all the time and had had it for years, looking back at photographs he started wearing it from when I was about 7 so I would say its roughly 20 years old.

I looked at it and it was dead as a dodo. Regardless I wanted to wear it and decided to get the battery replaced or fixed depending what was wrong with it.

I took it to a good mate who luckily owns a company making frames,trophies and does watch repairs.

He looked at it and said “yeah I can fix this mate... it will cost you about £100” he quipped I thought fine what ever the cost. Still laughing he pulled the little wheel out and started winding it up. The watch started ticking! I felt so stupid! I have never been a watch wearer and being of the “battery generation” I had never given a thought to how watches used to work!........ he did not charge me anything.....of course.

Intrigued he took the back off for me to show me the internals. I was gob smacked at the work and gearing that goes into such a small thing. I find time pieces strange things relentless reminders of what has passed and what we can never get back but when I was looking at all the cogs I thought about every moment and memory they had shared with my dad.

This is what I got would love a macro lens!!

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thanks for reading and looking
 
I have a watch of my dads, its a pretty cheap casio thing, but it has a similar effect on me ... It was a constant in his life for years!
This is of course one of the themes in pulp fiction ... although the i doubt any of could match the back story to that watch!

Nice shots too!

This might be of some interest to you!
 
Nice story and pictures Tom. And you should definitely wear it.

I too have my fathers watch. He bought it in 1961 along with one for my mother and up until the last few years of his life he wore it every day. He was then given a battery-operated watch as he could no longer mange the winder even though a larger one had been fitted. He was not one to spend money on himself but had been looking at that watch in the window of Samuals the Jewelers every week for a long time whenever they went shopping. He built houses for us in his spare time and we moved about 7 times by the time I was 10. Each time he bought a slightly larger plot with any profit until he was able to put a bit into the bank for the future. And it was a bit of this that my mother said that he should use to buy himself that watch.

I grew up seeing that watch on his wrist and, some times of an evening, I was allowed to wind it when I was very young so it had a strong resonance for me. When he died in '97 the watch passed on to me and I had it cleaned and serviced (they changed the winder back to one the correct size as the larger didn't fit so well) and I have worn it ever since. It needs to be wound every day of course and, most often, during this process he comes to my mind in some way or other even if only briefly. If I forget and it stops I always feel slightly guilty. So clean it up and wear it Tom. Wind it every day and let it act like a bridge to your late father.

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I just took out a re-mortgage on mine ... 1/30th of it went on a camera ;)

Wheres your new house then? next door to the plumbers?
 
Love Thomas's and Pete's watch stories. Coincidentally, got off to a late start this morning due to staying up too late last night watching a bit of Pulp Fiction which I stumbled into whilst surfing--specifically, the bit when Bruce Willis sets out after his dad's watch.

My grandpa passed away a couple of years ago. He was 109. (Was the oldest man in UK for about a week before his passing.) Anyway, in the later stages of his life his eyesight was fading so my aunt got him a watch that not only showed the time but actually TOLD the time using a voice. Unfortunately his hearing was away as well so that watch was merely bling. He wore it every day, though!
 
I can't imagine the same sense of affection being expressed for iPhones and the like in years to come but who knows...

I have a similar story about fading eyesight about by maternal grandfather. He was a wood carver and stone mason by trade but went blind in his late 50's due to glaucoma and could no longer work. He had done a job for someone in the late 20's but they had fallen upon hard times and couldn't afford to pay him, which was a problem for a working man in those days, but they gave him a watch in-lieu of payment. His wife was pretty unimpressed but this fob watch became his prized possession and he would wear it in the pocket of a waist-coat (as worn by many tradesmen in those days) and wind and check it when at home when the clock struck 6:00. When he went blind he still took the watch out at 6:00, flipped it open and then wound it even though he couldn't see if the time was correct. When he died (when I was less than 2) the watch was put away for me and I now have it. It needs cleaning as it won't run for long these days but it's a nice thing. It has a beautifully engraved movement but I doubt it is valuable as they were common items. But it's a nice thing to have none-the-less, especially knowing its history. I'll try to remember to photograph it when I'm back in the UK.
 
Great stories there guys. Tom, Love the first picture.
I might try some shots like that soon of an old harmonica that my nan had give me.
Dont let me forget. lol ;)
 
Nice pictures Thomas, I like the lighting and the colours in #1 very much.

I used to be a mechanical watch geek, so I can appreciate the beauty of those tiny gears and springs that made up the movements.

Have you got a picture of the watch face?
 
Medway Road eh? I was there today too..............

BTW I rate your first shot as best in show. I wouldn't worry about macro, you have got it full on here IMO.
 
I used to spend loads of time with my Granddad making stuff out of wood. When I was young he was the only person that I knew who would let me help and trust me to do bits a pieces on the stuff he would make. As a result his woodworking tools that I have mean a lot to me. The main tool though was his old claw hammer, an ancient thing with a case hardened head and a solid wooden handle. Unfortunately you won't see any photo's of it as I lent it to my cousin as he didn't have any tools who lost it!

I think it's a great idea to take pictures of things that mean a lot to you because you never know if you will always have them.
 
Paul that sounds very similar to me and my granddad.

my summer holidays where spent with him in his shed making bird boxes, bow & arrows chess pieces on his little wood turning lathe and taking apart broken appliances to see if we could fix them..... I would say a big reason for my trade now was due to the skills and understanding of all things mechanical I had learnt then.
I was allowed free reign in the shed apart from an old 12”x 6”wooden box at the bottom of his draw that contained really really sharp wood sculpting chisles.
on the lid of the old box my granddad had written in large marker pen THOMAS BROOKES KEEP OUT. I never went near them!! during the last year of my apprenticeship my grandfather fell ill and sadly passed away. after a few months my nan asked if I could help sort the shed out and see if there was anything I wanted.

as I was sorting through I came across the dreaded box!! as I slowly half opened the lid his gleaming super sharp chisels caught the light...... for years I had not been near this box through fear and I felt like a naughty 9 year old boy again. As I opened the lid fully written on the inside of it was “NOW YOUR IN BIG TROUBLE TOM!! I laughed and had a little cry on my own at my granddads last joke. I still have the box and I that was the only time I have opened it!
 
I think grandparents then were far more capable with regards to everyday stuff that kids just don't get taught these days. I sound like an old fart but I'm only in my mid 30's but it's true. My granddad kept racing pigeons and I used to hold them still while he inoculated them with a syringe. When I was about 10 he showed me how to put pigeons down when they were ill and beyond hope. Can you imagine a 10 year old today holding a pigeon in a sack with it's neck over the edge of a dustbin while the grand father brought his fit down to snap it! It may sound awful but actually it was just real life.
 
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