Baron - Mr Red
14613
The very first watch in my collection.....
The very first watch in my collection was, in fact, the same very first watch in my father's collection. Back in the early 1960s, my father bought a gold JLC that he had on a solid gold bracelet. I remember thinking when I was a boy that it was extremely flash and showy. Yet my dad only ever wore it when he was in a dinner suit....it was that sort of watch. My dad died in 1979 and I was left the watch. Several years later, I found myself at university and absolutely broke. I remember thinking that I needed to sell something as money was so tight. Food or watch? I took the JLC to a jewellery shop in Dalston, London. He offered me £400 for the bracelet and £70 for the watch itself. The gold price at the time was a record high....in fact it was almost at its then-high point. I was touch and go on selling the whole package. I know it was my dad's watch, but I was desperate and I wasn't that interested in watches at that point.
Still, I sold only the bracelet and kept the watch. And that started my interest in the watch itself and also the beginning of my watch collection. The next 3 watches I bought were all variations on the original...all JLC....all gold.
Some 50 years after my dad first bought the watch, of course I still have it. And thank goodness the rashness of youth didn't let me sell it. The memories it carries of my dad are priceless so having his beloved watch still is a tremendous treasure. Last week on the wristscan, I started the theme by saying if there could be "just one" watch for you, what would it be. In my own definition, i chose the Rolex 1665, but that was on the proviso that there was no sentimentality involved. If sentimentality was an issue, then there is no doubt, my dad's JLC would be my one and only watch. So, why the thread now?
Well, last January disaster struck when I asked my 85 year old mum if she wanted to wear my dad's JLC for a bit. She was of course delighted....unfortunately, during the 2-3 months when she wore it the glass lifted a touch and my mum didn't realise this. As a result, water, dust, soil from the garden etc etc gradually found its way into the watch and the movement. One day she said to me: "Joe, the watch isn't working any longer". My thoughts were agggggghhhhhh!
I looked at the watch and could see what a state it was in. I took it to the JLC boutique in London and they sent it off for assessment. Estimated service cost £2300. Estimated service time.....1 year.. Good grief. Of course, it was sent away for repair. The dial had become severely pitted (that really was not my mum's fault!) and the caseback was damaged. I have a long list of problems that JLC sent me that needed urgent attention. The second hand on the watch had never been with the watch for as long as I had known it.....
Well, this week I got a call from the boutique saying my watch was ready to be picked up. And here it is....
It is absolutely glorious. It is like a new watch. In particular, the dial is now essentially without blemish. The case has been very carefully polished and now look!....a gorgeous second hand.
A service cost of £2300 is probably more than the watch's market value. Yet, what is it that separates Purists from other forums? It is that market value so often is quite a meaningless concept when it comes to the love of our watches. When i was as the manufacture in 2006, I took this watch and JLC kindly authenticated it as born in 1957. It is not my oldest watch. It is not my most valuable watch. It is certainly elegant, but it is not my most elegant watch.
But it is my most precious watch.
