A Do-It-Yourself Watch Organizer

Now you will no doubt have noticed that although there is a Tempus Fugit "shopping" page it is truly bereft of any sort of product for purchase.  And those who visit other blogs and "online magazines" will have no doubt noticed a "sundry goods" section where you can buy watch rolls, boxes, straps, etc.  And I think that is great.  But just as I would not spend the thousand dollars to go see "World Famous Blogger Ben Clymer" present the latest collection of watches at a press event across the country, I also have to draw the line at making purchases from other blog stores.  I mean, I am my own favorite blogger, right?

So in the spirit of self-improvement, and in hopefully passing on some potentially useful information to you who so diligently still read this little bloggy-wog (even though Jean-Claude Biver wouldn't wrap "virtual fish" in it), allow me to share with you a little project I just completed (with the invaluable help of the beautiful and talented Wendy).

If you have ever visited a watch brand's HQ, you will be somewhat surprised (then again maybe not) to see that the watches are often stored in what appeared to office filing boxes with the watches on top of micro fibre buffs. I actually liked that idea, honest and straight forward. Let's be honest, who are you trying to impress at that point?  Now the other thing that I noticed from a few of the other blog's web stores is that their storage solutions are lined with cork to protect the watches, which frankly makes a LOT of sense.  So as Wendy and I were in the process of moving into our new home, we had the opportunity to visit a lot of home-goods stores.  And it was there at the Container Store that I found the first piece of the puzzle -

Allow me to introduce you to the Bisley 5 drawer cabinet. Available for $99.00 US at the Container Store.

Now that was the easy part, the second part was highly challenging and technical and involved a further stop to Office Depot to purchase a roll of cork.

Now the good news for my fellow NAFTA denizens is that it is labeled in English, French and Spanish so you have no excuses for not being able to find it ; )

Budget about $19.00 US for this.

And now for the technical aspect - with extremely hard to find, and prohibitively expensive specialty tools I set to work on getting this project done -

The measurements were carefully recorded, the cork was unrolled, measured and marked, and then I had to draft in some help as coloring inside the lines and cutting straight edges are what most likely kept me from a promising career in architecture (and ensured a barely passing grade in Middle School Art class despite the best efforts of Ms. McEvoy).

Now here's a helpful hint for you fellow would-be handymen, once you have cut one piece of cork, simply use it as your template and trace around it for the remaining drawers.  Then with steady hands and steely eyes, cut out the remaining 4 pieces.

Place the cork in the drawer curl side down. Then arrange watches as desired. The weight and pressure of the watches will gently push the cork into a flat position.

And behold, you are now the proud owner of a "Big Boy" watch storage system just like to professionals in Switzerland use!

Enjoy your watches!