February Challenge - Time

A watch face. My watch . Well to be precise it was my grandfather's watch.

This watch was given to my maternal grandfather as a leaving present when he left government service in Kenya. By modern standards an Omega Seamaster is a very good quality watch that costs quite a price.

A Seamaster was selected for a reason, and shows to me that the present he was given was obviously thought about and selected carefully. My grandfather served in the Navy during the war. It is something that we as a family know very little of. He didn't speak much of it after he left the navy. As I understand it he joined possibly the merchant navy (or at least 'went to sea') as a young man and when needs arose he joined the Royal Navy.

By all accounts he didn't have a nice time. There was 2 weeks when my grandmother believed he was dead. He was pronounced missing at sea, presumed dead due to his boat being sunk in the Mediterranean sea. We also believe that he may have been involved in the submarine service for a while too. He never really spoke about his time in the Navy during the war after he left. He never went back to sea as a profession either after that torrid period of history.

After the war he got a job with the government out in Kenya (as Kenya was still part of the British Empire) on their road building program. They travelled over many parts of the country over a couple of decades. By all accounts, had a pretty enjoyable time. My mother and her two sisters were born out there and they lived out there for many years. On his retirement from government service and his departure from Kenya for the UK he was given this watch.

I was given my grandfather's watch when he died, probably some 25 years ago now (sadly I am not good with dates). It languished for some time in a drawer, not working for a long time (in his latter years he suffered from dementia and had a habit of taking things apart to 'fix' them and then couldn't put them back together again). It was then serviced and it has for a long time now been my every day watch. As an Omega some may feel it is a bit showy (though these older ones are much less ostentatious than the modern pieces). I feel naked with out it, and it has very special connections for me.

I remember my grandfather, though we didn't see him that much as I was growing up as they lived at the other end of the country, in their native Northumberland. We would visit probably 2 or 3 times a year perhaps. They had a small shop and he was postmaster. I have fond memories of my holidays visiting them as a small child. Sadly the north east doesn't smell right to me any more as back then the colliery was working and the pervading smell was of coal fires. It makes me reminisce when I smell them now.

One day I will probably hand the watch down to my son. Maybe by that time it will be the best part of 75 years old. Hopefully some of the stories that go with it will be handed on too, and he will appreciate it as much as I do.