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My grandfather's watches

After my grandfather passed away a few years ago my grandmother gave many of his belongings away. She chose to give me his pocket watch. I am lucky to have gotten so much of my grandfathers things to remember him by. I also was able to get most of his safety razors. Recently ,when my interest in watchs has grown, I asked my grandmother if she still had anymore of his watches. She did and was happy to give them to me. None of my family was interested in any of his belongings really. Kinda sad but I am more than happy to keep as many memories as I can.

I grabbed the watches she had as well as some tie clips and a pair of cufflinks. I may grab the rest of it later. The cufflinks are shaped like a trout or salmon so I had to grab those being an avid fisherman. Although I have never worn cufflinks and don't believe I have a shirt for them haha.

On to the watches. I believe there were four total. One was a throw away plastic watch that looked as it if was maybe a freebie from years ago. There was a manual wind watch, and automatic wind, a quarts, and a digital. Unfortunately a new battery didn't fix the quarts watch. All but the digital were missing bands. They are all well worn and in need of some polishing or repair but here they are...

This louis 17 jewel seems to be in the best shape. Other than some polishing it works perfectly. It is manual wind. I stole a band from one of my other watches so I could start wearing it. I'm thinking of getting a new band for it but I'm not sure what would look good with it.

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Next was a technos 21 jewel automatic wind. While it winds itself and works fine the crown is missing. I am currently looking for the proper parts to do a stem and crown replacement. It is also in need of a band and some polishing.

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I remember him wearing this digital so I was excited about this one. But I didn't fully realize what it was until I did some research. It is a casio dw5600c with the 901 module from the 80's. The original "speed" watch. The original resin bezel, band, and bezel screws are long gone. It was sporting a metal expanding band. With a new battery it funtions great. The buttons are a tad stiff and the crystal is a bit scratched but all works even the backlight. I have sourced some replacement screws and a reproduction bezel/band for it.

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Last but not least was the pocket watch my grandmother gave me shortly after my grandfathers passing. An Andre Durango 17 jewel. It is manual wind and keeps good time as well. I believe she told me it was a gift from the plant he used to work in years ago.

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I was lucky to have been given all of his fishing tackle as well before he passed away. I will cherish all of his belongings always and hopefully pass them on to my kids someday 😊.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Although I have never worn cufflinks and don't believe I have a shirt
Great watches great memories.

You can get a shirt that takes cufflinks and wear them for special occasions ... your kid's wedding and so forth. Talk about them so your kids (and grandkids?) know the significance of them.

"These belonged to my grandfather and I wore them at your father's wedding and your graduation. Now they are yours "

I'll stop now, before I give away any more of your stuff.
 
Great watches great memories.

You can get a shirt that takes cufflinks and wear them for special occasions ... your kid's wedding and so forth. Talk about them so your kids (and grandkids?) know the significance of them.

"These belonged to my grandfather and I wore them at your father's wedding and your graduation. Now they are yours "

I'll stop now, before I give away any more of your stuff.

Thats a good idea 👍. Definitely going to have to get a shirt to use them on occasion. I'm not much of a dress up person anymore. My dressy clothes selection has been dwindling to embarrassingly low levels haha.
 
You're fortunate to have cherished personal items from your family's past. My Aunt (Dad's brother's wife) decided to garage sale Grandpa's footlocker form WWI. It had his uniforms, an old silk hat, and other valuable heirlooms. She was thoughtless enough to not even contact me or other family first to give us an opportunity to buy any of it from her curbside roadshow. This happened many decades ago & I still find it difficult to consider forgiving her, even though she's been gone many years now.
I did have the great fortune to inherit my Dad's Dad's pocket watch. It was given him around 1912, and he carried it most of his life. It followed him into WWI where he was a pilot training instructor in San Antonio. The watch served as a reminder of how much fuel/flight time remained, since the planes apparently had no fuel gauges. Thru a complicated series of pass-arounds, I also have the Colt 1911 he acquired while a flight instructor. In a non-combat area, instructors weren't armed, but the guy he replaced sold him this one to be "rented out" to recruits who wanted to get a Marksmanship Medal to show off for family back home. The war ended before he could pass it on to a successive replacement instructor, so he was "stuck with it".
Grandpa's 1911.jpg

Top: Grandpa's Colt 1911
Bottom: Mine
 
You're fortunate to have cherished personal items from your family's past. My Aunt (Dad's brother's wife) decided to garage sale Grandpa's footlocker form WWI. It had his uniforms, an old silk hat, and other valuable heirlooms. She was thoughtless enough to not even contact me or other family first to give us an opportunity to buy any of it from her curbside roadshow. This happened many decades ago & I still find it difficult to consider forgiving her, even though she's been gone many years now.
I did have the great fortune to inherit my Dad's Dad's pocket watch. It was given him around 1912, and he carried it most of his life. It followed him into WWI where he was a pilot training instructor in San Antonio. The watch served as a reminder of how much fuel/flight time remained, since the planes apparently had no fuel gauges. Thru a complicated series of pass-arounds, I also have the Colt 1911 he acquired while a flight instructor. In a non-combat area, instructors weren't armed, but the guy he replaced sold him this one to be "rented out" to recruits who wanted to get a Marksmanship Medal to show off for family back home. The war ended before he could pass it on to a successive replacement instructor, so he was "stuck with it".
View attachment 1116061

Top: Grandpa's Colt 1911
Bottom: Mine

Beautiful watch and pistols! I can certainly understand the family frustrations. My father had a similar experience when his grandfather passed away. His uncle who lived closest to the grandfathers house pretty much raided it the instant he passed away and sold off anything of value. Never have understood how people could do that. Lucky for me the rest of my family had no interest in my grandfathers "old stuff". I was more than happy to keep as much as I could. I feel connected to him when I use it and remember all the times with him as a kid. I use his razors regularly and some of his fishing tackle. Repaired one of the rods he gave me recently as well. I am enjoying wearing his watches when I can as well. But they will be saved for lighter use. I don't want to risk loss or damage to them when bumping around in the woods or fishing.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I have some of my paternal Grandfathers wristwatches and some of my maternal Grandfathers pocket watches. I should wear them more often. I much prefer mechanical watches to quartz watches.
 
I have the cuff links etc of both my father and father in law. You will never regret taking possession of that stuff.
The suggestion to pass a set on for a special occasion is spot on.
 
I had my grandfather tie stick pins but who wears those anymore?
I have some of those as well. Haven't worn ome in a while but didn't pass up keeping them haha. I've never worn cufflinks but have a set or two of his as well. Couldn't pass up the trout cufflinks being a fisherman haha
 
I have some of those as well. Haven't worn ome in a while but didn't pass up keeping them haha. I've never worn cufflinks but have a set or two of his as well. Couldn't pass up the trout cufflinks being a fisherman haha
I have a set of cufflinks from Tiffany's that were a gift in the 60s! I havent worn them since mid 70s. Have my initials on them so they cant be given to anyone.
 
I was extremely fortunate to receive my grandfather’s Gruen Precision Watch, the very same model as worn by James Bond in “Dr. No.” Legend has it that it was Sean Connery’s own watch that he wore in the movie.
 
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