Marking Time - About My Omegas

If you turned up for news on the latest Blancpain release, I'm afraid you've knocked on the wrong door ; )

Innovation and the "latest and greatest" is always intriguing. But with that said, I often find myself thinking back on what started my interest in watches, or as Robert-Jan at Fratello once said -

"What was the trigger?"

The first watch was this Omega. In truth, I had owned another automatic watch which I got at a pawn shop in Tachikawa, Japan in exchange for my quartz Tag Heuer and 4,000 Yen. But 1996 found Wendy and me living in Turku, Finland. And rooting around a weekly flea market I found a pair of truly neglected Omega wrist watches. The first was in such bad shape that the stall owner refused to let me buy it. The second he only did so reluctantly. Now whether he was really looking out for my "best interests" or he thought he might get more money from a more prosperous customer than an itinerant English teacher is a matter for another time. Long story short, negotiations went back and forth, and I bought it for the princely sum of the US equivalent of $23.00.

My first stop, the same day was to a jeweler in the downtown area who fitted it with a forrest green strap. Needless to say, this was an unusual choice, but my being not only foreign, but an American allowed me a certain amount of freedom to make odd choices. 

Now I wish I had taken a photo at the time. The dial was not merely patinated, it was pretty much ruined. The white/silver finish pretty completely missing in several spots. The second hand fell off twice. And thus began the long rehabilitation process. I took it in for a service. The watchmaker at the shop in Salo (next to the NOKIA center I taught two days a week at) took it in and 100 Finnish Markka later it didn't really seem to have made any difference. And things stayed that way for the next three years until we moved to San Francisco.

Once there, I discovered Geneva Watch Repair in the old Shreve Building. The owner / watchmaker took in my Omega, arranged for a redial (sacrilege to some, but the dial was completely shot), put in a NOS crystal and crown, new gaskets, a full service, and I was back in business!

The folks at Serregin's engraved the case back with 4 important years that marked:

1992 - moved to Japan and met Wendy

1995 - moved to Portugal 

1996 - moved to Finland

2000 - moved back to the US

And I happily wore it, but not as much as before as the watch bug had sunk its teeth deep into my limbic system and dozens of different watches flowed in and out of my possession. But the Omega 30 has remained a constant.

Enter the Seamaster CO-AXIAL

Whether I was ready to admit it to myself or not, I had one fairly strong (semi) regret in terms of watches that have been in my possession.

Back in 1992 I was what could be charitably called "situationally homeless". I was working at Kinko's (remember them?) and sofa-surfing. I had graduated from the University of Oregon and spent the following year and half trying to figure out what to do with my life. To say that things were getting "chancy" would be a gross understatement. I had sold virtually everything I owned, and was down to my Thomas McGuane collection of paperbacks, a handful of CDs, 1 pair of jeans, 3 shirts and a sweater (or 2). 

One Sunday I sat down at the coffee place I would frequent (a cup of coffee was $0.75 with free refills) and as I was leafing through the Sunday Oregonian, I came across two ads in the help wanted section -

TEACH ENGLISH IN JAPAN

Now for the record, I had ZERO teaching experience, and was vaguely acquainted with where Japan was in relation to the Great Northwest. But I did have the one requirement that was needed - an undergraduate degree (Thank you U of O!). I applied for the jobs more on a whim - my job search results up to that point had been mostly for naught. But I was about to be pleasantly surprised - both companies contacted me, I borrowed a suit and tie, drove the 4 hours to Seattle for the first interview, stopped in Portland for the second and 3 days later had a job offer! The only hitch was that I would have to be ready to leave in exactly 60 days. 

The next 50 days were spent working as many shifts and as much overtime as I could manage, I temped here and there and did everything short of selling my plasma to save enough money to pay for my flight and first month of living expenses. With 10 days to go, I found myself short by $65, with no real hopes of raising anything further. But I did have one more thing that had not been sold earlier.

Family heirlooms, at least in my father's family, tended to be discarded fairly willy-nilly. As it happens, I had inherited my Grandmother's Omega. It bears mentioning that this was probably a 28 mm quartz watch. Essentially, too small even by 1992 standards. I had never worn it, and truthfully it never occurred to me to do so. It simply sat in a sock in my dresser drawer. I was 23 and had to make a choice. Hang onto the watch and what seemed like a prolonged spell of itinerant living and minimum wage "copy-jocking", or let it go and roll the dice on a new life in a strange country where I did not have a friend and did not speak the language. 

Spoiler Alert - 

I sold the watch. It netted enough to pay for my air ticket, and I negotiated enough for a camera and 3 rolls of film in addition. The next Monday I took the train to Portland, went to the Japanese consulate to process my visa, and 3 days later I boarded a Northwest flight to Tokyo.

Japan changed my life. I met my wife, Wendy. I found my vocation, teaching. And from there I would go on to live in Portugal, Finland, England, and Scotland before returning to the US.

Nearly 25 years later, I got an email offering me the CO-AXIAL in trade (with cash) for a watch that I felt was not really for me and was trying to sell. And to be honest, I really wanted cash, and the Omega was not really on my radar. I opened the next email in my in-box, and it was a copy of an old letter from my Grandmother that one of our cousins had found. And it included a picture of her with me, her wearing the Omega I had sold so many years before, that had made it possible for me to really start my life. Sometimes fate whispers, but in this case it shouted. I accepted the offer for the Omega (with cash) and didn't look back. Sometimes you have accept that the universe, however flawed, tends to reveal itself as it is meant to be ; )

Enjoy your watches -

Further - 7 Days and More with the Paulin Neo B

A few observations about my wife Wendy. She is really pretty - but that is an easy (and obvious) one. She is kind, and far more patient than I could ever be. She is Canadian, albeit a dual citizen of the lower 48 now, which probably explains the kindness and patience. She is far smarter than I will ever hope to be, and she is always finding some interesting new thing, be it a podcast, a story, or a far-away town well off the beaten path that makes me question whether or not she has some telepathic link to the universe at large that the rest of us lack.

One of my favorite writers (albeit an occasionally short-fused one in real life... sound like anyone we know?), Richard Ford wrote a wonderful essay about his wife Kristina for Esquire (US edition) back in 1990.  I remember reading and being knocked out by it, cutting it out and putting it up on my wall next to my desk my final year at the University of Oregon back in the summer of 90.  Should you wish to read it in its entirety you can find it here -

https://classic.esquire.com/article/1990/6/1/kristina-ford

In the essay, he shared a comment that many of us married to remarkable women get from friends and acquaintances, essentially -

How did a guy like you get a woman like her to marry you?

And while he offered a few very witty ripostes, my simple answer is that I got lucky.  And I continue to get lucky, so far I've enjoyed a lucky streak of 26 years. For another possible answer, Mr. Ford turned a John Milton/Branch Rickey (and God knows who else) quote on it's head -

"Anybody with any brains knows that design is always just the residue of luck".

And yes, I've had enough luck for several lifetimes.

Wendy has an interesting eye, particularly when it comes to watches. You can't really assign a "type" when it comes to what she likes: 

• My Omega Seamaster 30 (circa 1962) purchased for approximately $30 US in a Turku, Finland flea market.
• A briefly owned and loved (and still deeply missed) Rolex Explorer. 
• A bright red Angular Momentum sport model (one of my personal favs).
• A Nomos Tangente (great watches, absolute turds working in the PR office - that's my comment, not hers).                                                                       

She's not really impressed by brand names or celebrity ambassadors. She likes what she likes based on her own opinion. And...

This is by long way of saying that Wendy has been wearing the Paulin Neo B for the past few days and like Mikey of Life Cereal fame, I think she likes it. 

So I'll be back next week with an update and final impressions - stay tuned.

And stay lucky!

The First Kiss

My wife and I were living and working in Turku, Finland back in the mid 90's. One day I had some time on my hands between classes and went for a walk, ending up in a "thrift/flea market/antique" store. After nosing around something caught my eye half-buried under a heap of Soviet era war ribbons and decorations. The dial was "splotchy" to say the least, having acquired a pattern well beyond patina. The hands were dinged up and the crown was somewhat rough. But it worked! I asked the gentleman how much, and he told me the equivalent in US dollars - about $50.00. Probably my only regret is that I never took a "before" picture.

As an English teacher I was not blessed with a great deal of disposable income, so I went off to teach my class. The next week my wife and I visited the shop and it was still there. Another two weeks went by and I just had to have it - and luckily it was still there - I went to the Merita bank ATM and withdrew the Markka (pre- Euro days), and made my purchase.

This Omega Seamaster is from 1963 - about 5 years older than me - and had been the retirement present for someone named Janne. That spurred what I rather naively imagined as a great research project, a triumphant discovery of the identity of the original owner. Phone books would be consulted and cross-referenced, family members sought out, utility company clerks charmed, whatever it took to get the real identity of the original Janne of 1963 - I would go the distance! Sadly, owing to the limited scope of the Internet at that time, as well as my limited (read 0) ability in the Finnish language, the great Seamaster 30 research project of 1997 came to an screeching halt one Friday evening at the Old Bank one of Turku's re purposed pubs, exactly one week after it started! Over what would become the third of several rather "hoppy" beverages, my erstwhile research partner Raimo had had enough and was throwing in the towel. As I walked him back to the bus station, the folly of my vision became startlingly clear through rather foggy eyes.

I suspect the original Janne has long since left the realm of us who measure time in hours and minutes, and I feel bad that his family had, for whatever reason, decided to part with this watch - this treasure. Ultimately, it is a possession, a thing. It is steel and levers and springs. It is utilitarian - it tells the time. It is not Janne. But for me, the interloper, there is more. This is something that Janne strapped on with pride every day. While this is not him, this is something of him. I can imagine Janne winding it every morning as he looked at the Helsingin Sanomat. A second cup of coffee, and maybe now he's ready to take the dog out for a walk. He probably still talks about talvisota - the Winter War. He might have even known Paavo Nurmi - after all, Turku wasn't such a big town.

Sitting here in Santa Barbara I imagine the two of us having a beer together at the Old Bank, talking about ice hockey, the end of the Cold War and sharing stories about our Seamaster 30. I would proudly show him the restored watch - "Look at this Janne! New hands, crown, crystal - all original from Omega!". He would probably just smile politely and shake his head at my extravagance. "Does it still tell the time?" he'd ask me, and only then would I understand.