Fine Jewellery Heirlooms

When my granddad retired from Uniroyal, he was presented with a neat rectangular leather case with a small push button to the front. Inside was delicately lined in silk and underneath the little paper receipt from an Edinburgh Princess Street jeweller was his retirement gift.

Some people receive a carriage clock when they retire, but in my grandfather’s case it was a beautiful Tudor Rolex watch encased in a hand finished Dennison case. The back was inscribed with a personal message for his loyal service of 40 years.  The face was oyster coloured adorned with stunning roman numerals and gold hands that, rather than tick, swept effortlessly around its face.

(Photo by: BudaKedrova)

It was wound manually by a little gold Rolex crown winder, that just felt perfect between your fingers and although you would have to listen very closely, the ticking was seemed to be more precise and half the beat of any other that I have ever heard. The sweeping ticks just seemed to blend into one.

The dark brown leather crocodile strap complimented the gold Rolex buckle and its face wafer thin against the wrist, nestling warmly into the fold of your hand.

Only brought out at special occasions, his Rolex lay unattended in a box for the majority of the year. It was never serviced as fine watches should, but simply brought out, wound and worn, for the good part of another thirty years until grandfather passed away. It never failed, never let him down and his time keeping was always precise and punctual, he was not a man that could ever be late.

I dint know him particularly well, which is something that I regret deeply, however he left my own father nothing other than his watch as they shared the same first name. In fairness to both of them he did have another elder son and three daughters to consider in his will, but his watch came to my dad.

He wore it once, but dad’s fat wrists compared to my granddads skinny ones, he could hardly get the pin in the last hole of the leather strap.

My dad, complete opposites from my granddad believed that watches or indeed any jewellery for that matter should be worn and enjoyed and not hidden away from the sunlight.

So after a week or so, scared to lose it, scared to break it, he gave it to me, still in its original red leather case. Dad is more at home with hammers than he is with delicate items.

It wasn’t a special occasion, a birthday or a Christmas; it was just a spontaneous passing between father and son.

I have owned many watches over the years, sun and moon faced dials, digital watches, diver’s watches and watches that glow in the dark.  But, realistically this will be the only watch that I will ever really own, care for, wear with pride, be able to talk about passionately and someday bestow it on someone that will hopefully treat it with the same care and respect.

It has been my daily watch during some periods of my life and other times it sits waiting in its case due to various fads and hobbies requiring something more robust.

I do concede that  I have had it cleaned, serviced and have gone through a few straps over the years, and sometimes its timekeeping can lose a minute or so over the course of a day, but these are all minor details that I can live with.

Fine jewellery will last a lifetime and often the lifetime of others.