"My grandfather collects them. These pocket watches are what everyone used to wear before wrist.w.a.tches were debuted about eighty years ago. Several of these were owned by our family members, but most have been picked up by my grandfather over time. His collection is much bigger than mine, and he has at least six of these boxes. Each box has about twenty watches inside." He lifted the first panel of ten, revealing another row of ten watches."When I was a teenager, I used to sit with him and watch him work on the broken watches, and try to fix them. That was always a hard task, as the pieces are practically microscopic inside and it requires both knowing what you are doing, and having a delicate touch."
Stephen took the 1905 Elgin, and produced the key, which slid into the back panel and opened up the inner workings of the watch. He handed it gently to Grace so that she could look inside.
"Those are some really tiny pieces," she noted, observing the watch up close.
"Yeah, fixing anything is a very difficult task. Sometimes, we just can"t fix them on our own, so we have to take them to a watchmaker to do the job. I"ll probably have to do it with that one, as I can"t see why it"s not working." Stephen wound up the watch several times. "With a normal watch, just winding it up like that should provide enough energy to power it for a whole day. But listen. Do you hear anything?"
Grace put her ear close to the watch, and then after a few moments shook her head, "Nothing."
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"Yeah, something is wrong with this one. Potentially a broken piece inside," he said, setting the watch back down. "The best part about doing this was spending time with Grandpa and learning about watches. He was always fascinated by them and collected as many as he could find. When I turned twenty, he gave me this small collection as my gift. He always told me that they would be worth money some day, and to either hang on to them, or give them to my children one day."
Stephen a.s.sumed a faraway look as he remembered the very day when his grandfather told him that. He so much enjoyed the idea of it being a family heirloom, pa.s.sed down from father to son. How fitting that the man that was the closest to a father figure initiated it for him.
"That"s just beautiful, Stephen," replied Grace, looking at him with emotional eyes, and her trademark smile.
"I think you"re the first person to ever be interested in it, apart from me and Grandpa," he laughed. "Most don"t see the use in collecting old junk. Even my mom can"t see the appeal."
"But if it"s something you enjoy, and something that brought you closer to your grandpa, then why wouldn"t you continue to pursue it?" She asked, making a lot of sense.
"Well, it"s not exactly the s.e.xiest hobby to have," he chuckled. "Most would rank it up there with stamp collecting!"