Treasured items... Tommy

Our blog roll is constantly evolving as we discover new favourite reads and bid a fond farewell to the ones which are sadly no longer with us. This is Naive, thankfully, is one which has been an ever present fixture. As stated on the blog itself, Tommy lives in London and she likes the beautiful and the good things. Her pictures and accompanying musings have been a constant source of jealousy and admiration for us and her eye for detail really cannot be overstated. With this in mind, it was only a matter of time before we asked her to to take part in our Treasured items series. Here, she reminds us that is far more pleasant glancing down at a well crafted watch face that tells its own story as well as the time than fishing out a mobile phone...

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Tommy and the Rolex Air King

"My watch, a Rolex Air-King from the 1970s, is one of my treasured items because it is practical and goes with everything I want to wear. It has belonged to others before me but I guess it is mine now. Like many, I believed that phones have made watches irrelevant; I started wearing this watch purely because I like how it looks. After spending some time with the watch, however, I thought I had rediscovered its functional worth: there is something pleasant and polite about keeping time by checking one's wrist rather than fishing for the phone. Perhaps this is still an aesthetic reason. It will be nice to wear the watch on its original bracelet but a bent edge on one of the links gives me a rash whenever I attempt to. Instead I use a dark brown crocodile-embossed leather strap made by Japanese clothing brand, Neighborhood. It is not official Rolex merchandise although it fastens with a vintage Rolex buckle. Last year I cracked the crystal face in an accident involving a ferret and bathroom tiles. Much fretting ensued: I was hunting on the Internet for an exact matching part but decided to go with the Rolex service centre in St. James. Other than the cracked crystal, the watch was diagnosed with water damage and I was recommended a full service. "No, please don't replace the hands or the dial! I really don't need it fresh and shiny!" A bit of negotiation and a few months' wait later, the watch was returned with the cracked crystal face replaced and a new case back to prevent further water damage. Relief! At least it still looks like how I remembered it to be. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the edges of the crystal now seem sharper than the watch in my memory. Oh well! Typically this is the sort of thing that can drive me crazy but I think age has relaxed my once-pedantic nature. After all, the process of using and repairing only brings out the character in a manufactured item. And it is only with the passing of time that we come to understand what we treasure and why."

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Tommy, This is Naive and The Beautiful and the Good