My Dad's Watch

[MyDadsWatch]

My father was a Vietnam Veteran, Navy.  While stationed at a port in Southeast Asia (I forget where, exactly) he spotted a Zodiac chronograph he liked and bought it.  He always called it his "diver's watch" but I'm not sure of its real moniker.  Even the repair shop I took it to referred to it as a diver's watch, but we will get to that later...

This watch was one of the few possessions he brought home after his tour was completed.  This was before I was born so as long as I could remember he wore that watch.  He wore it almost every day.  The watch had a cool looking patina to it.  The once shiny stainless steel was turned to a matte gray finish.  Still looked cool, still looked classy.

I was always fascinated with it and would often ask to "time something" using the stopwatch feature.  He showed me that a mile took 60 seconds to complete whilst traveling at 60 mph.  On long road trips, he would have me time a mile and calculate how quickly we were going down the highway.  Great distraction, great time waster for a kid.

Fast forward a bunch of years and we get to the first in a series of events about my dad's watch that will forever remain in my mind.

1.) Catastrophe
My dad volunteered at our church.  He would cut the grass fields on the new, large property the church had purchased.  This was a half day's work and included big, heavy-duty equipment.  I was always tasked with trimming the fence line with a beast of a weed eater.  (Great way to build up those shoulder and upper back muscles!)  My dad ran the tractor with the bush hog.
One day my dad had, as always, put his possessions in a fanny pack: sunglasses, wallet, keys, watch, etc.  Unbeknownst to him, a small hole formed in the bottom of the pack.  As you may have guessed, his watch slipped out, fell to the ground, and was pulverized by the bush hog.  He heard the initial clunk, looked down to see the watch tumble, but didn't have the time to stop the machine.  He said his stomach turned every which way when he pulled the tractor forward and dismounted; the watch was in 14.6 million little pieces spread amongst the freshly mown grass.  Understandably upset, we both went home tasting a weird defeat.

A week or two later, my dad had tracked down a replacement.  The watch was a spot on match, though clean and shiny.  I don't know where he found it and if it was used, original unused stock, etc.  Mind you, this was a few years before the internet was readily available to households across the nation.  My guess is he spent hours on the phone talking to various people across North America.

The newly purchased watch was supposed to be delivered in 14-18 days!

2.)  Missing
Three weeks after purchase, my dad began a series of back-and-forth calls with the USPS.  They insisted the watch was delivered.  He insisted it wasn't.  Sparing details I don't know, he somehow tracked down the address the watch was delivered to.  Now, a detail I do know was the address didn't even come close to matching.  It could be appreciated if the correct house number was 123 but erroneously delivered to 133. Simple mistake.  Happens all the time.
 
As an example, the correct address was 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA.
It was delivered to 8738 Pine Logging Trail, Apartment 27, The Next Town Over, USA.
Not even a shade close by any stretch of anyone's imagination.

So, with the info and new address in hand, my dad set off to find his misplaced parcel.  Upon arrival, he met the recipient and was dumbfounded that the guy opened the package, thought it was a cool looking watch, and gifted it to a family member.  My dad questioned the guy as to why he didn't think to check the address, ponder if he had ordered a timepiece, etc.

Dumbfounded, my dad jumped through flaming hoops suspended over snake pits and finally got the USPS to relent and refund his money.  This included going back to the dufus to get a signed document affirming the wrong delivery.  The series of events that happened here still make me shake my head in disbelief.  I mean, come on, the guy either had zero common sense or lied and made off with treasure.  No other options...but I digress.  To my astonishment, he was able to purchase another watch.  This time, he used FedEx and put all types of insurance and tracking features on the shipping.  It arrived a few days later and all was right with the world.

3.) The Passing
During the last few years of my dad's life, the watch found its way into a box within a box in a corner of his closet.  He didn't wear it much any longer, so my guess is he was keeping it safe.  Once he passed, my family had the sad task of gathering his belongings to donate to charity.  I was struck with the thought of the watch and announced that, when found, I would take it.  We never ran across it and I figured it was lost. 
A few weeks later, the chronograph was discovered while the house was being packed and readied for moving.  Overjoyed and moved to tears, I accepted the watch from my mom's loving hands.  Even now, I'm getting misty thinking of that moment.

I took it home and found it didn't function.  Maybe this is why he mothballed the thing.  I promised myself I would get it up to running condition and back into the box it went.

4.) Overhaul
After about a year and after some searching, I found a "reputable" repair shop in town.  We agreed on a price to overhaul the vintage watch which included a full servicing and replacement of anything questionable.  About a month later, I retrieved my newly fixed heirloom.  "Here is your new, vintage diver's watch!  Just like new!" exclaimed the owner of the shop.  [See attached pictures.  The two of the watch displayed on the pillow are post-overhaul.]

5.) Pools and Friends
A month later, I went to a friend's house and took a dip in his pool.  The next day, I put on the watch only to find, to my horror, the watch was flooded with water.  I called the watch repair shop and they confirmed the watch repair was under warranty and would make all necessary repairs.  Explaining what happened, I delivered the damaged watch.  The guy at the counter even quipped, "I know you'd expect a diver's watch to hold up to a little water."  I waited over a year for it to return to my wrist.

6.) Invoices and Heartburn
Many details left out and names withheld, the "warranty repair" came with a hefty price.  The shop wanted me to pay for what I estimate to be the entirety of the repair.  The bill was greater than what I have found for working watches being sold online!  A few emails later, some hemming and hawing, and a few dollars handed over, the watch was returned in the condition seen in the pic attached.  The picture with the black band shows the sub dials' numbers and markings have been washed away.  The watch was not made whole after all of the time and drama.  Their failure to properly seal the watch in the first place led to this.

Now, I am willing to admit that it may have been foolish of me to wear the watch in the water after an overhaul.  However, I will never fully accept that answer because the watch spent its life in water.  My dad was an avid swimmer; both his original watch and the replacement have each spent a collective of a few years underwater.  Living in the tropics, we were always in the ocean, countless pools, rivers, lakes, etc.  I distinctly remember my dad always having the watch on his wrist.  Both watches (original and replacement)  had seen days and days and days of exposure to all kinds of water.  Nary had a problem come about.  Ever.  Add the fact that I was told this "diver's watch" was restored to like-new condition, I thought nothing of it and took a quick dip in a pool. 

Today I am left with a working watch repaired 80% of the way, but it was my dad's so I'm happy to have it back.  I hope and pray that this is the last of follies this watch sees.  May it boringly stay on my wrist, collecting no new stories, for years to come.

[Butch]

Thanks for sharing!