Bubbleback - back from the "spa"

After several months at Ali's "Spa" my Bubbleback is back again.  We are in stage two of the "adjustment period" in that we have it down fairly precise but we will have one more adjustment coming to get within 10 seconds a day - but I am pleased to say that this will most likely be an "out patient" procedure.

Current running about a minute fast per day.

Very amazing to think that a group of parts that had been in separate packages for more than 30 years have gone from this -

And this

and this

To this

The "Bubble" is back!

To be certain, there are a lot of watches out there, and be certain as well that each one has a story.  This is the story of an orphan, born in Switzerland, separated from it's owner, badly injured and prematurely consigned to waste the rest of its life moldering in a watchmaker's drawer - forgotten... until one day last winter when I was visiting my friend Ali.  We were talking about family heirlooms, and how some had fallen into other people's hands.  I told him of a Rolex that my father had inherited from an uncle, which he gave to a good friend, who did heaven's knows what with it.  I actually do know what he did with it, but as this is a "family publication" I will keep that frustrating memory to myself.

I made it clear that I didn't want to just get a "new/other" Rolex, I wanted something different.  Just as when my wife and I added two cats to "team Henki" we adopted them, I was looking for something special in any new Rolex.

To which Ali said "let me show you something -"

In fairness it did not look this "good" ; )  It was in several different little boxes inside of another.

Its little heart was intact - but we weren't sure if would still be "beating".

And age had visited her face just like it will to all of us -

But both Ali and I saw something unquestionably beautiful about her.

So days turned to weeks, then months.  Ali worked at restoring this grand dame to her former self.

I suppose that this restoration was not unlike trying to restore a vintage classic car.  Most of the parts are not exactly something you can pick up at your local NAPA store.  This was no exception.  More than a few trips were made south to Los Angeles to obtain the various original parts needed.  And even then there was real artisan-type work needed.  From the roller to the balance - nearly everything had to be lathed, polished, adjusted and fussed over.

Sadly, all that Ali and I know about this particular bubble back is that she was brought to a watch maker in San Francisco at "some point", and was never picked-up.  The watch maker in turn sold her along with several other items to Ali as part of a bulk lot of items in the 90s.  And so she remained - disembodied, and forgotten.  Until last June when this project started.

And now, I would like to introduce you -

She is still having a few hiccups and will need to have some further "physical therapy", but I am very pleased to say that she is well on the road to being ready to rejoin the working world.  I suspect just a few more adjustments here and there - which I know Ali will be more than ready to take care of.

Odds & Ends

Sometimes you are lucky. Sometimes it actually pays to believe that things are not entirely what they seem. Sometimes your presumptions will ensure that you miss out on something special. And sometimes if you take the time, you will find something truly special.

Meet Ali Athari - watch maker and jeweler.


On one of my many visits to the FED EX station to ship a DOXA SUB, I encountered a very unlikely shop with an extremely unlikely owner! Today Ali shared something very special with me. Full marks to the first person to guess what it is!




So speaking a bit more about Mr. Athari - an engineer, he is now living and working in Santa Barbara. For those of you looking for a GREAT watch maker - Ali is your guy!

So far the only respondents to the question of "what is Ali sharing" were things like - watch parts, etc. - in some ways I will say fair enough - but use some imagination! Surely someone out there has some idea?


Maybe you need a bit more help -


Really look -




Okay - the final piece -