A little over twenty five years ago Wendy and I were living and working in Helsinki, Finland. We had met in Japan as foreign English teachers, and living and working overseas for nearly 10 years. We were teaching English at the time, and I had unwittingly started a second career in the watch business. It was a seed that was planted and would germinate for 3 years, coming to bloom when I started at Tourneau in San Francisco.
Although I taught, I was also responsible for recruiting, hiring, and managing English teachers to come to Finland to work. This required a fair bit of travel, so to some extent Tintin, that globe-trotting journalist became my "guardo camino". And that travel took me through Heathrow's international terminal more times than I can count. One of the things that caught my eye on my last trip through on my way to San Francisco was a display featuring Alain Silberstein's watches. It was January, 2000 and that image stayed with me. It's important to note, while the internet certainly existed, it was nowhere near the evolved communication tool it has become. So I filed the image away.
So a bit about this picture -
On my last official business trip to San Francisco, I was referred to a job that seemed to fit my skill set & experience. It was Martin Luther King Jr. day, and the day after I went to a small mom & pop copy shop on Market Street that opened early - I was there at 6:15 AM. I rented some computer time (remember, it was 2000), typed up a resume, printed two copies and faxed one to the hiring manager. I had one interview the next day (Wednesday), and a follow-up interview with one of the owners that Friday.
I returned to Finland, and waited for what seemed to be an interminable amount time (in hindsight I think it was about 10 days), and got the call. I had been offered the job, and the owners wanted to fly Wendy and I to San Francisco for a week for a bit of a "getting to know you" visit. On our last day in San Francisco, we visited Globe-Trotter (a wonderful store on Sutter street that sold Tintin goods among other things). Sadly the store has long since closed, but 25 years ago they had a booming business and wonderful selection - including the tie you see in the photo above. Wendy got it for me as a Valentine's Day gift that year.
As for the watch? Pretty fitting that 25 years later, I was able to finally become the steward of one of Mr. Silberstein's signature pieces. It has clearly been worn and loved by at least two previous care givers, but for me that just adds to the charm. 25 years is a long time, more than a quarter of a life for most, but in many ways it passed in an instant.
I leave you with a quote from that other great commentator on watches (and life) Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller -
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it".
Enjoy your watches!
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