Gaun Yersel!

Another little known piece of Henki lore, I spent four summers teaching English at St Andrews University.  And while it was my responsibility to impart the more standardized aspects of the English language, I often found myself the language student as I walked the streets of Dundee, Edinburgh, and particularly Glasgow!  

"Ya ken?" 
Translation:
"Ya feel me?"

At any rate, the weekends were always magical, and had Anordain been around back then, half of my pay-packet would have gone for this little bijoux -

Courtesy of Anordain

This is the Model 1 in Post Office Red, and it is, gentle reader, THE SHIT THAT KILLED ELVIS!  When you have worked in the industry as long as I have, and you get to wear, touch and hold pretty much anything you want (granted, you have to give it back), it takes something special to get your attention.  You start to get to the same level of working at the Chipper (fish and chips shop), and the absolute last thing you will want in your off hours is fish and chips.  

This watch sends me, it hits the visceral button that strips away pretty much every other argument about movement, size, brand history, etc.  This is special.

And that's me away!

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

Detailed specifications:

Case diameter
38mm

Lug to lug length
45mm

Case depth
12.3mm

Strap width
18mm

Dial
vitreous enamel on copper

Movement
Sellita SW200-1 with Incabloc

Case
38mm diameter, 5 ATM, exhibition back Stainless steel, polished, hardened to 800 Vickers.

Sapphire
double dome with 6 layers of anti-reflective coating

Hands
made by Estima to our design

Straps
Italian shell cordovan or hypoallergenic suede, German made

Show Your Colors!

I am, at the heart of it, a Northern Youth.  I grew up in a very small college town in Ohio, and the closest I came to crewing was when a work crew was assembled to tackle a particularly labor intensive project at my after school job.  

But there were two things pulling on me.

One that was clear from the off - my imagination and the dreams that it fueled extended far beyond the realms of Oberlin.  The sartorial gas that was dumped on this fire was the film Chariots of Fire.  I was particularly taken by the clothing.  Specifically?  The blazers worn by the members of the various colleges and/or clubs.  I often pictured my future (better) self, sitting by the fireside in my rooms, enjoying a brandy and plotting my future.

The second string tugging at me?  My mother was an aspiring fashion designer who would later make that her second act.  So I guess it is fair to say that some of it is in the genes. 

A lot of time has passed since then.  I did not take up rowing, I enjoyed and benefited from a degree taken at the University of Oregon, and I found myself pursuing and completing a graduate program in the UK.  And where a lot of  my childhood flights of fancy came full-circle was living and working at the University of St. Andrews with Wendy during our summer vacations. 

So it was with no small amount of interest and curiosity that I walked the the two blocks to Newbury Street yesterday to check out the Rowing Blazers pop-up shop during my lunch break.  I have been stalking this online purveyor of niftyness for some time, but had never been able to see their wares up close and personal.  So a quick pop in, and I was able to meet the owners, set an appointment for a more in-depth follow-up (longer story coming Friday), and get my own copy of the book that helped start it all, Rowing Blazers -

 And Doctor Jack L. Carlson very kindly inscribed my copy -

 So more to come shortly, stay tuned!