Adrian-VTA
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Adelaide, South Australia
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Post by Adrian-VTA on Oct 10, 2014 18:49:50 GMT -8
Geday,
I had this come up today and it made me think, does anyone wonder what the story behind a piece is?
I purchased a near mint digital from a fellow AU'er last week, and she sent quite a lengthy message to me letting me know how the piece was going to safely get to me and stuff. it prompted me to ask her what the story behind the piece was. Well, it was her dad's and he passed away a few months ago. She decided to let it go rather than keep it in a drawer. Apparently he only ever wore it to church and special occasions.
I have another piece, it's a quartz alarm (the quartz bellmatic), which is pretty much mint, and it has the inscription on the back - "Happy Anniversary With Love - Carol Matthew 9-2-67 9-2-77". You have to wonder, with a sentimental inscription like that, what happened?
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HiBeat
Global Moderator
SEIKO Iko Iko GDTRWS
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Post by HiBeat on Oct 10, 2014 18:55:19 GMT -8
'Sorry Divorced - Carol Matthew - 2/19/83'  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2014 19:10:37 GMT -8
Geday, I had this come up today and it made me think, does anyone wonder what the story behind a piece is? I purchased a near mint digital from a fellow AU'er last week, and she sent quite a lengthy message to me letting me know how the piece was going to safely get to me and stuff. it prompted me to ask her what the story behind the piece was. Well, it was her dad's and he passed away a few months ago. She decided to let it go rather than keep it in a drawer. Apparently he only ever wore it to church and special occasions. I have another piece, it's a quartz alarm (the quartz bellmatic), which is pretty much mint, and it has the inscription on the back - "Happy Anniversary With Love - Carol Matthew 9-2-67 9-2-77". You have to wonder, with a sentimental inscription like that, what happened? I have a collection of watch stories. I'll post some of them if anyone is interested. |
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Adrian-VTA
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Adelaide, South Australia
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Post by Adrian-VTA on Oct 10, 2014 19:10:41 GMT -8
Yeah I was thinking exactly that! 'Sorry Divorced - Carol Matthew - 2/19/83' |
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Adrian-VTA
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Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 5,327
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Post by Adrian-VTA on Oct 10, 2014 19:11:05 GMT -8
Definitely! Geday, I had this come up today and it made me think, does anyone wonder what the story behind a piece is? I purchased a near mint digital from a fellow AU'er last week, and she sent quite a lengthy message to me letting me know how the piece was going to safely get to me and stuff. it prompted me to ask her what the story behind the piece was. Well, it was her dad's and he passed away a few months ago. She decided to let it go rather than keep it in a drawer. Apparently he only ever wore it to church and special occasions. I have another piece, it's a quartz alarm (the quartz bellmatic), which is pretty much mint, and it has the inscription on the back - "Happy Anniversary With Love - Carol Matthew 9-2-67 9-2-77". You have to wonder, with a sentimental inscription like that, what happened? I have a collection of watch stories. I'll post some of them if anyone is interested. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2014 19:29:45 GMT -8
Definitely! I have a collection of watch stories. I'll post some of them if anyone is interested. Ok, try this one on... The watch: A 1970 Timex Electric   Original owner: Tim Exleigh Tim Exleigh purchased this watch back in about 1970 to wear as a work watch. Tim was employed by the Wichita Power and Communications Corporation. His job as a communications technician took him to many of the radio transmitter/repeater sites for the then, current state of the art teletype data transmission/repeater sites. One particularly nasty winter day, when the snow was deep and the winds were blowing a constant 30mph and had a wind chill factor of -30 deg F; he and his partner George Duffman where assigned the job of clearing snow and ice from the transmission antenna on repeater station #106. The two arrived at the station and flipped a coin to see who would have to climb the 50 foot tower and chip the ice off the antenna membrane. As luck would have it, Tim lost the toss so he donned his climbing harness and tool belt while George when inside to monitor the transmitter and make some coffee. Tim quickly scaled the tower and discovered that there was a couple of inches of ice built up on the front of the antenna membrane. He tried to reach around to chip the ice but couldn't reach because his safety harness was too restricting, so he unclipped the safety and got busy removing the ice. Below in the station building, George was busy monitoring the equipment and setting up a low power test transmission that would tell him if all the obstructions had been cleared and that there would be no reflections back into the antenna. The kettle reached a boil and George turned to go to make the coffee. As he rose from his chair, he accidentally brushed the transmit button on the tester...Tim, above, had almost completed deicing the antenna and was reaching across to get one last small chip of ice just as the transmitted signal blasted out of the antenna. The jolt caused Tim's wrist to heat rapidly but the first sensation he felt was extreme heat from his wrist watch and this so startled him that he lost his grip on the tower and fell off. He plummeted the 40 odd feet and crashed through the roof of the station to land in a heap right where George had been sitting seconds before... Tim awoke in the hospital with a severe headache and some other pains he couldn't quite identify. Soon he was fully awake and aware of his surroundings and it slowly dawned on him what had happened. A quick survey of his body parts showed that he was intact but had a cast on his left arm and a bandage on his head. A nurse came in to check on his condition and informed him he had a concussion and a broken arm and third degree burns on his left wrist. She went to the bedside table and retrieved his watch from the drawer and handed it to him. It was a mess and it looked like it had been in a fire. Well, he knew there was no fire but understood what had transpired; the microwave transmission was strong enough to super heat the internals of the battery in the watch which then burst and released the contents in a flash of sooty chemical smoke. The dial was all streaked where the chemicals had force their way out from behind the dial around the hand pinions. Apart from being sooty and dirty, the pattern was a rather uniform sunburst pattern. In a fit of disgust at his own stupidity; he had always been warned not to wear metal jewelery when working around electrical and electronic equipment but had never paid much head; he tossed the watch at the waste paper basket in the corner but it caught the lip and bounced against the wall then slid under the bed. He didn't care and soon forgot about it. Later when George had come to take Tim home; Tim asked what had happened to cause the test transmission to be sent and George sheepishly told him about the accidental trigger when he went to unplug the kettle. Tim punched George on the shoulder, laughed and said he was off watches for good! They went off to have a couple of brews and bring Tim up to date on all the damage he'd done to the station building by not using the door... A cleaning lady working the evening shift in the hospital came across the discarded watch under the bed and put it in her pocket. Later she turned it in to the lost and found so that the owner might be able to retrieve it if they thought to check there. Six months later, the watch was still unclaimed and as with most of the items left and unwanted in the lost and found repository; it was taken by the Hospital Ladies Auxiliary to be auctioned off. At the auction, a bulk watch distributor purchased all the watches offered. He took them home and sorted through the assemble jumble of expensive, medium priced and junk pieces. When he came to the Timex, it went into a pile with a lot of other low end watches; some which worked and others that didn't. The distributor put the lot on eBay where they were bought by a long time Timex enthusiast and collector. The new owner sorted through his new lot of watches and put the broken, uninteresting and otherwise low value pieces; including the burned Timex; in his junk box, where it sat for a long time. One day when sorting through the junk box, he came across the Timex Electric and wondered what could have happened to it. He opened the back and discovered that the battery had had a rapid oxidation event and made such a mess that the watch looked completely ruined. Knowing that it takes a lot to kill a Timex, the new owner took the movement out of the watch and gave it a good cleaning, a little oil and a new battery. True to Timex tradition, the little watch fired right up. A little more scrubbing and cleaning removed all the soot and grunge from the dial but left little of the original markings. Still, it looked not bad and would probably do for a beater in the garden.   Tim Exleigh no longer wears wristwatches or rings on his fingers; he does carry a beautiful Hunter case Illinois pocket watch when he is not working and a plastic cased carbiner belt Swatch when he is working. George Duffman retired and became half owner in a donut franchise. |
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trandy
Needs a Life!
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Post by trandy on Oct 10, 2014 19:45:32 GMT -8
Pete...now that's one heck of a story!
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trandy
Needs a Life!
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Post by trandy on Oct 10, 2014 19:46:59 GMT -8
Geday, I had this come up today and it made me think, does anyone wonder what the story behind a piece is? I purchased a near mint digital from a fellow AU'er last week, and she sent quite a lengthy message to me letting me know how the piece was going to safely get to me and stuff. it prompted me to ask her what the story behind the piece was. Well, it was her dad's and he passed away a few months ago. She decided to let it go rather than keep it in a drawer. Apparently he only ever wore it to church and special occasions. I have another piece, it's a quartz alarm (the quartz bellmatic), which is pretty much mint, and it has the inscription on the back - "Happy Anniversary With Love - Carol Matthew 9-2-67 9-2-77". You have to wonder, with a sentimental inscription like that, what happened? The watch was a gift for their tenth anniversary. |
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Adrian-VTA
Global Moderator
Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 5,327
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Post by Adrian-VTA on Oct 10, 2014 20:24:43 GMT -8
Yeah it's just odd, because normally you'd hang onto something like that. I guess one of them passed away or they got divorced. Geday, I had this come up today and it made me think, does anyone wonder what the story behind a piece is? I purchased a near mint digital from a fellow AU'er last week, and she sent quite a lengthy message to me letting me know how the piece was going to safely get to me and stuff. it prompted me to ask her what the story behind the piece was. Well, it was her dad's and he passed away a few months ago. She decided to let it go rather than keep it in a drawer. Apparently he only ever wore it to church and special occasions. I have another piece, it's a quartz alarm (the quartz bellmatic), which is pretty much mint, and it has the inscription on the back - "Happy Anniversary With Love - Carol Matthew 9-2-67 9-2-77". You have to wonder, with a sentimental inscription like that, what happened? The watch was a gift for their tenth anniversary. |
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Adrian-VTA
Global Moderator
Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 5,327
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Post by Adrian-VTA on Oct 10, 2014 20:25:19 GMT -8
That Timex story is insane! keep them coming!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2014 20:43:10 GMT -8
That Timex story is insane! keep them coming! Ok, one more before I go  The watch: 1970 vintage Tebana  - 15 jewel manual winder - Pin lever movement - gold plated basemetal - chrome plated back/movement holder - not running...probably due to dog saliva or tunnel debris The original owner: Hans Besorgt Hans lived in East Germany during the late 60s and early 70s and he was housed in an apartment complex only a stone's throw from 'the wall'. Like many of his generation, he wanted desperately to escape to the west where he thought he would have a wonderful life. He worked at a state run kitchen utensil factory where he ran a pot stamping machine. This was not only extremely boring work but could be dangerous if caution was not taken. The rewards were non-existent and the lure of the west was ever present. One spring, Hans decided to treat himself to a wrist watch. This was actually a hardship to his family because there was no extra money for frills but he had set his mind to this acquisition. After searching in all the few places one could actually find a wrist watch in those days, Hans came across a vendor who had a watch in the price range that he could just barely manage. It was the Tebana. Hans took the watch and wore it proudly around the apartment( being seen with such an extravagance outside the home would have immediately called attention to himself and instigated an inquiry by the authorities). It wasn't long before Hans realized that he had to get to the west. With a like minded neighbour, he hatched a plan to get beyond 'the wall'. His first idea was to pole vault over the wall but that would leave his family behind to take the brunt of abuse from the authorities. He and his neighbour came up with the idea of digging a tunnel under the wall so they could take all their family members with them. Plans were made, adjusted, dismissed, remade and eventually a workable scheme was in place. Hans, being the only one with a watch of any sort, was responsible for keeping watch on the patrols that walked 'the wall' and working out a schedule for digging, earth removal and disbursement. The tunnel took several months to complete and there were many close calls with the patrols; probably because the soldiers on patrol wore only Russian made watches of the least expensive kind and where therefore often early or late on their rounds. Eventually the day came when the final earth was to be broken on the other side of 'the wall'. Timing was critical as the authorities had become increasingly suspicious and were running random inspections of the apartment complex. On the night of the big escape there were 42 people all lined up inside the tunnel awaiting Hans signal that it was all clear to break through on the other side. Hans being the only one with a watch, was also the last to enter the tunnel. As soon as he saw it was clear, he passed the word down the tunnel and the break out began. Almost immediately that the earth was broken on the western side of the wall, powerful search lights were illuminated to help the escapees exit from the tunnel. Unfortunately, the lights also alerted the already suspicious eastern border patrols who quickly entered the apartment building where Hans and is friends had lived. In very short order they discovered the tunnel entrance in the basement. It had been hidden behind the antiquated washing machines but now that the escapees were 'in tunnel' there was no one to cover up the entrance. By this time more than half the escapees had already exited in the west and Hans was only about 30 feet from freedom. The border patrol set three doberman dogs loose in the tunnel and they would have missed catching anyone had Hans not slipped on climbing up out of the hole in the west...one of the dogs managed to grab hold of his shoe and partially drag him back into the tunnel. Fortunately the tunnel was not wide enough for the other dogs to get at Hans foot or legs and with determination, he began kicking the dog with his other foot. The dog would not let go and when Hans tried to grab the dog's head, it snapped at his wrist and caught a tooth on his watch band. As soon as Hans realized the dog had let go of his foot, he dashed back up the exit to the tunnel leaving the dog to molest his watch. Hans and 41 of his friends and family were now free in the west...the doberman had wandered back to his patrol master; Otto Vinder; and presented him with the stolen watch. It is not known how the watch eventually came to be offered on eBay in 2006 but the early life of this watch surely presents us with an intriguing story. I am now the proud owner of this heritage piece of horology. With the right collection of parts and saliva cleaner, it may run again :>) |
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cobrajet25
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"Underweared curmudgeon!"
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Post by cobrajet25 on Oct 11, 2014 1:01:58 GMT -8
I bought a '75 6105-8119 off of Craigslist a few years ago. This is reprinted from "TOF". "With Craigslist, we win some and lose some. As a few recent stories here have demonstrated.
Just got this off of Craigslist today. Had to drive 240 miles and four hours to get it.
The 6105 you see here was LITERALLY dredged off of the bottom of the Willamette River near Ross Island, northern Oregon, in 1987. The fellow I got it from, Bruce, was a tugboat skipper, and was pushing one of the barges that took the dredged sediment off of the river. "Big clamshell buckets of it.", he said. He got into the habit of looking at the muck being deposited on his barge because he collected agates. One day, he noticed something unusually shiny in the sediment. He investigated further, and pulled out this watch. When he found it, it had one springbar and no band. Who knows how long it had been down there...but it didn't leak! Bruce told me that this particular spot near Ross Island was a popular spot for waterskiers. Guess one skier had a bad day... He threw the watch into a drawer in the deckhouse of his tug, and remained there for a few days. Bruce eventually brought the watch home, cleaned it up a bit, and put it on a velcro band. After wearing it a few times, he decided it was too heavy. It was then tossed in a desk drawer at his house, where it stayed for the next 25 years.
When I talked to him, I asked him all the usual questions about the watch since he didn't have a picture of it. It sounded...pretty nice. When I inquired about what he might want for it, he said, "I have seen these online. One went for $350, and another went for $400." Even though his prices were two or three years out-of-date, my heart sank. Though I was salivating, I didn't know if I was going to want to drive to another state AND pay $400 for this watch...sight unseen. My mind raced...maybe he'd take $200 cash?? Before I could even make an offer he said, "But I don't want anything near that. Finding it was serendipity, and I want $100 for it."
"SOLD!!!"
I asked to pick it up tonight, and when he said that was fine I couldn't get into my car fast enough. I was on the road within 15 minutes of hanging up the phone. But I had to get gas before I left town. As I was leaving the station, Bruce called again. Oh no...HE HAS CHANGED HIS MIND! "Hey Aaron, there is a bit of an addendum to the price we agreed on. I will let it go for $95, and a pack of Camel 99s."
"DONE!!"
In my haste and excitement, I made the mistake of buying the cigarettes in Washington for $9.34 instead of waiting until I got to Oregon and paying $5.30. :-[ I cranked Duran Duran and Journey all the way down to Oregon. When I got to his house, I saw a few medical oxygen tanks laying about...and I had a pack of cigarettes for this guy. : I felt a bit guilty. But Bruce answered the door and immediately put my mind at ease. The first thing he said when I handed him the smokes was, "Gotta die of something, right?" Quite a nice old fellow. Amazingly, he told me that he almost never uses Craigslist. But he was "bored that morning." More serendipity, I suppose...
We got to talking about the usual guy stuff...watches, cars, etc. Guess he took a shine to me (and his dog Gunner certainly did) because as I was pulling my money out he said, "Tell you what...make it $80 even. Gas is expensive."
Who was I to argue? It was Scorpions and Night Ranger on the way home. Boy, did it sound SWEET."
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Post by saul on Oct 11, 2014 2:38:24 GMT -8
While not nearly as dramatic as either of Peter’s stories this is my one and only Seiko story with any sense of serendipity attached. Still a somewhat newbie to vintage Seiko collecting I had been bitten by the bug for a gold dialed 6139-600x. I had been perusing auctions for some time, regularly checking in with Jonathan Koch for his spot evaluations on them. Over the course of a year I had gained a pretty good armchair education on what to look for, considering I had never actually seen one in the flesh. One popped up that seemed promising. The pictures were poor, the seller was not a watch person, the bids were low. I solicited some better pictures and under a seemingly very scratched crystal you could clearly see nice white markers all housed in a clearly unmolested case. Jonathan concurred that it was worth going after. I managed to outlast the looky-loos and obtain the watch for the princely sum of $84.99. The location of the seller was my own actual city here in Floriduh. I contacted the seller to see if we could just do a face to face seeing as we lived less than 5 miles apart. We agreed to meet at the 7-11 down the road from my house. I gave her a description of my car and my appearance and we scheduled the meet. I could sense her apprehension at my barely contained enthusiasm but I quickly set her at ease when I explained to her some of the reasons why the watch was so cool and gave her an understanding of the nature and passion of the community of Seiko collectors. The watch as it turns out was her father's, a mechanical engineer, now deceased. A September 1971 piece that he purchased in early 1972 as a student of aeronautical engineering at Embry Riddle, now how friggin’ appropriate is that? It was his daily wearer for 10 years and then it was retired to a jewelry box, original end links attached. There it sat for 26 years waiting for the next person to love. I told her all that I was going to do to it to restore it and how much it was probably cost. She seemed suitably pleased that her father's watch was going to be revived and cared for. The watch was much better looking in person and started right up with a shake. The pushers were sticky but that was to be expected. The gear for the rotating ring was smooth as silk, the quickset day/date was functional. Just needed some love. I picked up a crystal, gasket set and a magic H-Link from Jonathan. The watch was sent to Ken Setser for service and lume. Came back in spanking working order. Sometime later the winding stem broke. I sent it to Jonathan for a new one and a nos crown and a proper case refinish. At some point I had a nos Kanji day wheel installed but I swear for the life of me I don’t recall who did it. Possibly Jonathan, maybe Lew Brown? Seller’s pic:  Unrestored:  Today:    With it's best friend and a -6001 that was passing through from Spencer to a friend of mine who bought it from him:  |
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Post by SteveX on Oct 11, 2014 5:03:40 GMT -8
From a similar thread I did back in march:I bought this 6139-8050 YEARS ago on the bay... Back when prices were fairly reasonable... lol Sellers pic:  I asked the seller if he was original owner, and he was more than happy to share the following story with me: "...I am the orignial owner, my father brought the watch back from Japan for me in the mid to late 70's (I don't remember exactly) I wore it for many years until I bought a digital watch and it was put back in the box. I would get it out and wear it from time to time. I was doing some cleaning and thought it was a waste for it to just sit in a box so I sold it. I figured I would take the money I sold it for and buy something that I would use more. I did, I bought some sunglasses. When I wear them I will think of the watch and have happy memories. I hope this gives you some history of the watch. If you follow Golf, professional golfer Xxxx Xxxxxx bought the watch for his oldest son Xxxx. That is me. Thanks so much for you purchase, interest, and enjoy the watch. Have a great and safe new year." I have X'ed the names out to protect the innocent...  Original bracelet and all, love this watch.
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Adrian-VTA
Global Moderator
Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 5,327
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Post by Adrian-VTA on Oct 12, 2014 5:20:21 GMT -8
You'd really never think of the history behind these guys. Fascinating I reckon.
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Post by Groundhog66 on Oct 12, 2014 6:12:16 GMT -8
Great stories guys!
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Post by mwbuss8 on Oct 12, 2014 8:01:12 GMT -8
I'm copying a post of mine from back in Feb, as I find it quite relevant here...
OK, so I asked the seller if he could send a little bio for the 6619 I bought recently, since he had mentioned getting it at a PX. This was his reply:
"I was stationed at a special forces compound, with a MACV squad to provide communications. It was Special Forces group B-32 and their compound was a building in the town of Tay Ninh, fairly near the border with Cambodia, and not too far from Black Virgin Mountain. (not sure of the Vietnamese spelling but it sounded like Nui Ba Din). I'm not too clear on what the compound originally was but I think it was some sort of medical/hospital facility. There was a dining area, and we had local people to cook. Good meals, no "C" rations. There was a "Friendship Bar" where all soldiers were welcome, officers and enlisted. The PX was in a small room just off the dining area and was only open for a few hours a day. It supplied our cigarettes, 20 cents a pack or $2.00 a carton, no taxes. Beer and soda was 10 cents a can, whiskey was very cheap also. Most of us there bought a Seiko and this model was the most popular. We also bought a lot of reel to reel tape recorders. Those we had to order from a catalog.
I kept this watch for many years after Tay Ninh. I was next stationed at Fort Sheridan, near Chicago, Ill and only about 180 miles from my home town in Wisconsin. I left the Army in 1969, got married and started my civilian life. I have a new Seiko now that my wife bought me for our 25th anniversary 20 years ago. It's still running good, although it takes batteries not a self winder like the Sportsmatic.
Glad you enjoy it."
I left his name off as I don't feel it is appropriate or relevant for me to list it. As stated before, I don't have the watch in hand, but I was able to get my mom to send a pic. Its not the best pic, but its good enough to see it should clean up nicely, and it is running.
Edit: I should also mention that I'm quite grateful to the seller for opening to a page in his history that I'm sure many would like to forget. I did a search for "special forces b-32" and was able to recover even more background to fill in around some of the details the seller gave.
I've always believed that every watch has a story to tell, some interesting and exciting, some sad, and anywhere in between. Its not everyday we actually get to hear the story though. This one is quickly becoming one of my favorites due to that.
Thank you OP for reminding me and inspiring me to ask a bit more about this one.
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ibr
Can't Tell Time
Posts: 24
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Post by ibr on Oct 12, 2014 8:09:32 GMT -8
I definitely can't match some of the more involved stories, but I inherited my grandfathers Seiko after he passed away years ago. My dad took his old Tissot, and I got the Seiko. This is basically what sent me into my downward spiral of loving watches. Although to be honest, I'm a total car nut and IMO the two hobbies are really just a stones throw from each other. i.imgur.com/JEf5Wvn.jpgI  |
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Post by 69ChevelleSS on Oct 12, 2014 10:48:37 GMT -8
Nothing too exciting here. These ones belonged to my Dad and I got them when he passed:  This one sat in a drawer for years because I had no idea what is was.  I have the original bracelet for this one but it's a smidge tight so i put it on this strap.  This one has the original bracelet and my Dad was the original owner. I guess the old man had good taste in watches! |
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Post by timewatcher on Oct 12, 2014 11:30:27 GMT -8
Years ago when I lived next door to a major shopping mall there was a kiosk that sold some really nice Citizens, Seikos, Oris and other assortment of watches such as Luminox etc. I got to be quite friendly with the owner and also bought quite a few watches from him. Over the years I sent him a lot of business which in turn yielded me some "freebies" such as a case back opener, and often times free services. Getting on with my story .........one day this guy came in to have some work done on a couple of his Seiko divers and we struck up a conversation. He told me he was a Navy SEAL and that he had a few more watches to bring in and have work done on them. I was wearing a 6309-7040 at the time and he said he had one almost like it that he needed to have serviced and a new crown for as his was an AM one and he wanted an original. I asked what kind/model it was and he said he wasnt sure but described the watch. Tom (the kiosk owner) and I looked thru the NET as the guy was standing there to see if we could find the watch he was describing! After a brief moment we found a pic of a 6105-8110 and he said thats it...........thats the one. My heart started to pound and I asked him if it was possibly for sale and he said he had to think about it. We shook hands and I figured that was the last I would ever see from him. About 2 months later I was at the mall and stopped by the kiosk and Tom said I want to show you something.........Lo and behold it was the SEALs 6105. He had apparently brought it in to see if Tom could find a OEM crown for it. Another 2 months past and the watch had come back and had been sitting there waiting for the guy to show up which he hadnt. Tom said that if he didnt show up in another month that he would sell it to me as he was only obligated to keep it before so many days. (BTW Tom couldnt locate a crown) Another week or two passed and I went to the Kiosk and Tom said he had picked his watch up and so I thought that was the end of that! Tom said.......not so fast, all may not be lost! He then gave me the SEALS E-mail addy and told me to E-mail him thinking no harm could be done. I E-mailed him and after a few weeks got a reply back. We exchange #s and set up a meet at the mall to discuss the possible sale of some of his watches. A week or so later we met up and he was carrying 4 or 5 watches with him. Long story short we struck a deal on the 6105 and one more and we were both happy campers! He knew I was a Former Marine and a Vietnam vet and asked me if I read books or not! I said I read once i awhile and to my surprise he pulled a book from his back pack and said here.......you may enjoy this! It was a book he had written about his time in Vietnam and he had also signed it for me! I have since lost touch with him which is too bad but perhaps some day we will meet again......... The watch........... (which has since been re-furbished)  Gene as he was in Vietnam............  His book.............  |
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