MY LIFE IN WATCHES
Being of the "pre-digital" generation, I have had wrist watch of one make or anther since childhood. I've no memory of my first watch, but in my early teens my Dad gave me his watch, he had recently acquired a new Mu-Du watch (see later).
This is the Rotary watch given to me by Dad; of course it lacks a strap. It no longer works, but might be possible to fix though I doubt it would be economical. The case is badly worn and the dial is dirty, so, presumably the mechanism will be corroded too.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
I cannot remember how many years this watch served me, but I recall it kept good time. When it stopped working I bought a replacement, but cannot remember the make.
In 1979 my parents bought me a Longines watch. This was a very special gift and I was told it was a graduation present . . . however, I graduated in 1975. I remember it cost £101, which must have equated to a months average salary at the time.
.......
In February for sentimental reasons I paid to have the Longines watch my parents bought me refurbished to working condition. It now has a stainless steel case, new glass, winder, back, minute hand, and three tiny internal parts renewed (as shown on the right) and a complimentary Longines leather strap. This watch gave me excellent service for 28 years; I had it serviced and cleaned twice. It would keep excellent time, perhaps needing adjustment of 5-10 seconds every two three months. However, in 2007 whilst on an entomological expedition in the forests of Heilongjiang Province, NE China, my watch started gaining 20 minutes in an hour. Time for a replacement!
I was staying in accommodation in a forestry railhead village, a sort of "shanty town" with extensive rail yards, a Forestry Department office complex, small street market and four shops, one of which was a watch and clock shop.
I selected a watch I liked, but it was already broken! I selected another and the son of the shop owner very kindly tried to show me that the "glass" was actually made of glass. Our mutual language barrier being a problem, he took a screw driver and tapped the glass. Unfortunately he tapped too hard and it smashed, but I certainly understood the point he was conveying to me. I selected another watch and this one has smash-proof "glass" and actually worked, I bought it. The shop owner was 30 Yuan (about £2) richer, but now had a watch that did not work and one his son had smashed.
My £2 watch purchased in rural China 2004 and still giving good service. I've no idea if it is actually a Seiko watch or a fake; my first quartz action watch, all previous watches had clock-work mechanism. Back in UK I sent my Longines watch for repair but serious money was needed, money which at the time I could not afford.
The Seiko was not of a design I liked, it is rather like a child's watch, but it kept time and served its purpose. However, when my Dad died I inherited his Mu-Du watch and wore this rather than the Seiko.
Mu-Du watches seem to be an enigma. They appear to have been made to very high standard, but nobody seems to know where they were actually made, they could not be found in retail shops. From what I can find out from Internet, these watches were made exclusively for smuggling. This is indeed how my Dad got his - in the 1960's and 70's one of my Uncles worked at London Heathrow airport as a mechanic for British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C.). There seems to have been a very active Black Market in the airport at this time - several people were making/selling baking tins for cakes made from aircraft stainless steel, my Uncle, formerly a panel beater for the luxury car maker Aston Martin, made a new stainless steel door for his old Ford Zephyr Mk I. There was also an illicit trade in a range of goods, and this is how Dad got his Mu-Du.
The Mu-Du has a self-winding clock-work mechanism, the "knob" does not wind the spring but is there for adjusting/chanmging the time. This watch served me for 10 to 11 years and when it stopped and I took it for repair assessment, I was told something about Mu-Du history. The bottom line being, as nobody knew where they were made, there are no spare parts available. So, back to the Chinese Seiko!
After a while convinced myself I needed a quality watch. I liked the clean lines of the Longines design so after much thought I treated myself (in UK we have a saying "you cannot take it with you" - an excuse to spend more money than is normal, enjoy your money when you are alive!).
And here's my new watch, remarkably similar to the 1979 Longines my parents bought me, but this has a quartz action and integral stainless steel strap. In 3.5 years I have never had to adjust the time other than when entering a different time zone when travelling or changing to daylight saving.
I retained the old watches purely for sentimental reasons, and now have two reliable quality watches and the unstoppable Chinese Seiko . . . do not worry, I only ever wear one of them at any time (I might be nerdy, but I'm not weird!).
This is the Rotary watch given to me by Dad; of course it lacks a strap. It no longer works, but might be possible to fix though I doubt it would be economical. The case is badly worn and the dial is dirty, so, presumably the mechanism will be corroded too.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
I cannot remember how many years this watch served me, but I recall it kept good time. When it stopped working I bought a replacement, but cannot remember the make.
In 1979 my parents bought me a Longines watch. This was a very special gift and I was told it was a graduation present . . . however, I graduated in 1975. I remember it cost £101, which must have equated to a months average salary at the time.
.......
In February for sentimental reasons I paid to have the Longines watch my parents bought me refurbished to working condition. It now has a stainless steel case, new glass, winder, back, minute hand, and three tiny internal parts renewed (as shown on the right) and a complimentary Longines leather strap. This watch gave me excellent service for 28 years; I had it serviced and cleaned twice. It would keep excellent time, perhaps needing adjustment of 5-10 seconds every two three months. However, in 2007 whilst on an entomological expedition in the forests of Heilongjiang Province, NE China, my watch started gaining 20 minutes in an hour. Time for a replacement!
I was staying in accommodation in a forestry railhead village, a sort of "shanty town" with extensive rail yards, a Forestry Department office complex, small street market and four shops, one of which was a watch and clock shop.
I selected a watch I liked, but it was already broken! I selected another and the son of the shop owner very kindly tried to show me that the "glass" was actually made of glass. Our mutual language barrier being a problem, he took a screw driver and tapped the glass. Unfortunately he tapped too hard and it smashed, but I certainly understood the point he was conveying to me. I selected another watch and this one has smash-proof "glass" and actually worked, I bought it. The shop owner was 30 Yuan (about £2) richer, but now had a watch that did not work and one his son had smashed.
My £2 watch purchased in rural China 2004 and still giving good service. I've no idea if it is actually a Seiko watch or a fake; my first quartz action watch, all previous watches had clock-work mechanism. Back in UK I sent my Longines watch for repair but serious money was needed, money which at the time I could not afford.
The Seiko was not of a design I liked, it is rather like a child's watch, but it kept time and served its purpose. However, when my Dad died I inherited his Mu-Du watch and wore this rather than the Seiko.
Mu-Du watches seem to be an enigma. They appear to have been made to very high standard, but nobody seems to know where they were actually made, they could not be found in retail shops. From what I can find out from Internet, these watches were made exclusively for smuggling. This is indeed how my Dad got his - in the 1960's and 70's one of my Uncles worked at London Heathrow airport as a mechanic for British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C.). There seems to have been a very active Black Market in the airport at this time - several people were making/selling baking tins for cakes made from aircraft stainless steel, my Uncle, formerly a panel beater for the luxury car maker Aston Martin, made a new stainless steel door for his old Ford Zephyr Mk I. There was also an illicit trade in a range of goods, and this is how Dad got his Mu-Du.
The Mu-Du has a self-winding clock-work mechanism, the "knob" does not wind the spring but is there for adjusting/chanmging the time. This watch served me for 10 to 11 years and when it stopped and I took it for repair assessment, I was told something about Mu-Du history. The bottom line being, as nobody knew where they were made, there are no spare parts available. So, back to the Chinese Seiko!
After a while convinced myself I needed a quality watch. I liked the clean lines of the Longines design so after much thought I treated myself (in UK we have a saying "you cannot take it with you" - an excuse to spend more money than is normal, enjoy your money when you are alive!).
And here's my new watch, remarkably similar to the 1979 Longines my parents bought me, but this has a quartz action and integral stainless steel strap. In 3.5 years I have never had to adjust the time other than when entering a different time zone when travelling or changing to daylight saving.
I retained the old watches purely for sentimental reasons, and now have two reliable quality watches and the unstoppable Chinese Seiko . . . do not worry, I only ever wear one of them at any time (I might be nerdy, but I'm not weird!).