Fairly recently I was helping my stepfather clear out his house. My mother had always moaned ‘he’s got around fifty pairs of shoes.’ I Guess they are larger, therefore more visible because she never mentioned his watch collection.
When he visits me in Spain he’s always drawn to shop windows containing shoes and watches. Now I understand why. He’s a compulsive window shopper and often purchaser of shoes in Spain. But I hadn’t understood his fascination or knew the number of watches he owned.
On my last visit after the not-so-nice experience of helping to clear his and my late mother’s house after they had been living there for 35 years he told me the story of one of his watches. A Breitling watch ( which I have to admit I’d never heard of.) He’d taken his Breitling to a jewellers to see how much it would be to have it cleaned. The jeweller told him it would cost £300 to clean it.
My stepfather was rather taken aback. He had paid £36 for it back in the 1980s – a chronological watch for refereeing – I have to say it is incredibly hard for me to imagine him running around a football field or even later on playing cricket then umpiring as he is now at 78 years old.
He had paid more than a whole month’s wages for it back then (before he married my mother!) Has he ever had any trouble with it? No. When worn every day and then later on not so often it has never lost time – or been cleaned!
Declining the offer of a clean for £300 he asked how much it was worth. The jeweller told him to wear it until it broke and then he would give him £1,000 for it.
How much it is worth now in working condition he couldn’t say. One owner from new – any offers?
No, sorry it is not for sale, he just wanted to make me aware that it was quite valuable and wasn’t just any old watch. He has no plans to sell it.
I, of course, had to check out Breitling watches, having never heard of them, and found a great selection on Chronoexpert.com. I discovered similar ones to his reach $9,000 and there is a second hand Breitling watch section too. I’ll have to check the model he has to give him an idea of what it is worth today, he’ll be chuffed to find out, but still won’t part with it. Not a bad investment and a nice little story too.
I’m not much of a watch wearer these days. Between my step counter and my mobile phone I haven’t worn a watch for ages – but seeing some of the Breitling collection who knows? It is Valentine’s Day, my birthday or my wedding anniversary soon surely. I may yet drop a hint or two. So which one would I hint about? The Breitling Callistino is the one I fancy – $2,560. I’m sure my husband would go for that.
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This is a sponsored post. I was paid for the link. I agreed to this my first sponsored post because of the connection. The story written by me and is true.
Luxury Spain Travel 