My interest for watches started at a very early age. Not with all the nerd details I try to understand now, but I had fun with watches. The ninja turtle watches, calculator watches, transformer watches, all those brought me joy and sparked the joy of wearing a watch. High School was a little quieter, fashion quartz watches were in full swing and I admired them from afar, but never felt like my jam. Enter my grandfather.
My grandfather introduced me to automatic watches when I was around 18 or 19. He gave me his old 1972 Citizen 8210, not an expensive watch by any means but a watch that meant a lot to him. When he gave me the watch he said “Here you can have my watch. It doesn’t need batteries” at that exact moment, my mind was blown. I was not aware of such a thing! This was so cool!
I kept the watch that my grandfather gave me but never wore it, since I was not used to wearing watches anymore, or wanted it to get stolen. While I moved out from home to find my own path, my grandfather took it back and kept wearing it. A few years later, my grandparents passed, with them, my memory of that watch that once was passed down to me.
Fast forward to meeting my wife. While dating, she gifted me a watch. A quartz Pulsar that sparked my interest in watches again. It also brought back the memory of that watch that my grandfather had given me years back. I asked my mom if she still had it, and if she did, to send it to me. Luckily for me, the watch was still there.
Now, here is the interesting part. My grandfather NEVER serviced this watch. I took it to my local watch service location and ended up paying around $350 for the service of the watch. Prior to that, I had contacted Citizen but they don’t provide service for these watches anymore. Mind you, these watches can be found for $50 on Ebay. This event makes me ask you, how much is your watch worth?
Let’s fast forward another year or so. Talking to my father-in-law, he now mentions that for his wedding, he bought an old Seiko diver. Well, tell me more! The Seiko that he had gotten, that my mother-in-law actually hated because it was too big, was an old Seiko 7A28. The 7A28 was the first analog quartz chronograph, not a diver by the way. Again, not the Rolex heirloom everyone wants, but a watch with a cool story in the family. I took this watch to get serviced to a local watchmaker, $40 for a quick test and service plus a battery. I am still debating if we should send this one to Seiko for a more reliable service, but we will see. At least now my father-in-law wears the watch again and enjoys it. One day, it might get passed down to his son, or one of his grandkids.
Finally, this year, my wife’s family was sorting through her grandmother’s things after her passing. The watch that had been given to her grandfather, as a thank you gift when he retired, appeared. This was another Seiko, a quartz one, a 5Y22. When they found the watch, I was the only man present, knowing that I like watches, they gave it to me. One of her cousins showed up later in the day. It happened to be the one that had gotten into watches recently. I offered the watch to him, since it would mean more to him. Later that night, we popped it open and had hopes for it to work with a new battery. The watch was very corroded inside, since the battery was left in it for who knows how long. After getting the new battery, no luck.
The Seiko 5Y22 is not one I am willing to let die. Sending it back to Seiko for service is around $150. Which I am ok to pay for if they can save it. Similar watches, again are around $30 to $40 on Ebay, but with the gamble that they might not work either. The ones I have found say “Might work with a battery change”. Again, how much is your watch worth? Gifts mean a lot to me, sentimental value to objects might be silly for a lot of people but it is a very romanticized idea in my head. How much are these watches worth? Not a lot if I sell them on ebay, that is for sure, but they mean a lot to me. Every time I wear my grandfather’s Citizen, I look down to my wrist and I remember him. That is worth a lot to me.
How much is your watch worth?
DL