The beginning of time

The beginning of time…well, the beginning of my interest in watches anyway. Every watch enthusiast has a memory or collection of moments that was the beginning of their fascination. For me, it was almost a ritual of sorts, though I was not a direct participant.

As a young fellow growing up in central Illinois, deer hunting was a part of my life. The family hunting grounds were wonderful and many of my best memories are of spending time with family in the woods. One memory is that of watching my dad wind and set a watch.

Long before the sun would rise, my dad would come into the bedroom and wake my brother and I. We would slog around in the dark getting a couple layers of clothes on so sitting in a tree for hours was tolerable. On the other side of our bedroom wall was my parent’s room and I know that one of the things my dad was doing was opening the top left drawer in the large dresser and grabbing his pocket watch.

My dad would make his way to the kitchen and my brother and I would soon join. Dad had to have a bowl of Corn Flakes every morning, so he would sit down at the table and eat. At some point, he would pull out the watch, push the crown, and the hunter case latch would release. (That’s not a pun, the case/latch is actually called a “hunter case.”)

Dad would look at the time on the stove clock then wind the stem, sending the hand wound movement into action. After setting the time, he would tuck it away in his pocket. I never saw him take the watch anywhere else except hunting. It was as if the sole purpose of the watch was for checking the time when in the field. If one of us wanted to know the time as we sat in the tree or walked the hedge rows, he would calmly reach for the watch and assess the time.

When I think about what sparked my interest in watches, my mind drifts to those early mornings and the simple winding of a pocket watch.

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As for the watch itself, it is a lightly gold-plated Arnex. Though not an extremely valuable watch in the monetary sense, it has plenty of reserve when it comes to sentimental value. This watch was a gift from my mom to my dad on their wedding…some 41 years ago.

A good overview of Arnex watches was once provided here: [http://www.vintage-hamilton-wristwatches.com/2016/02/whats-value-of-arnex-pocket-watch.html], but for some reason the article is missing [https://vintage-hamilton-wristwatches.com/]. Arnex was mostly made for department stores (e.g., Sears, K-mart) and small jewelers.

I have yet to open the back of the watch since it is still in my dad’s possession, but I expect it will look something like this.

Perhaps when I actually have the chance to open it I may find an ETA Unitas 6497 movement. Regardless, this is the watch that wound my interest and led me to be an enthusiast, collector, and tinkerer of watches.