Watches, these objects that tell a story

This article is dedicated to the memory of the man who was a mentor and a friend: Joël Duval, writer and watchmaking historian, whose hand stopped on the morning of Friday January 22.

Few objects are capable of conveying as many memories as a watch. We all have other objects in mind of course: our father's glasses, our grandfather's cane, a friend's perfume, a pair of cufflinks... we all have in mind these objects which seem to wear in them the memory of these beings who marked our lives. Yet, in the middle of all these objects one stands out above all: the watch. So let me leave the selections of new watches to talk to you about these small personal objects that have marked my life and that of so many other people.

THE WATCH WITH THE BROKEN HANDLE

One day, while he was tidying up his things, my father called me on the phone to tell me that he had found a small box. He was very happy because, when he opened it, he found a long-lost souvenir: his own father's usual watch. He hadn't seen this watch in decades. Yet it was there before his eyes, this little 35mm watch.

It was neither a diver, nor a military watch, nor even a chronograph, it was not made of gold, it was simply gold plated. It was a Lip Dauphine. My grandfather had other watches, much more expensive, but the one he wore most to work during the week was this little Lip.

This Dauphine was a neat model , the models have a classic design of very good taste, the production is done in France and not just the assembly as too often today for the rare French brands that have survived.

The dials and hands, the cases and the movements really come mainly from France - and also from Switzerland. This model was however not a rare model which today would be resold at crazy prices like some Lip models or other brands. But this little watch was my grandfather's watch and that changed everything.

Although carefully kept in a box, the watch was unfortunately broken at one of the horns : the handle at the bottom right of the case showed signs of twisting of the metal and a piece had come off, a mutilated watch.

Strange combination of circumstances: my grandfather was wounded in war, during the Second World War, the Battle of France in 1940 cost him half of his right hand . Objects sometimes have this strange power to evoke not only the image of a man but also what he has experienced.

My grandfather had left us – far too soon – and my father didn't know what had happened, perhaps the watch had suffered a violent impact during a day at work. My grandfather was someone who loved to get out into the field. Whenever he could, he preferred to leave his office to be in contact with clients, an attitude that I myself strangely inherited whether in consulting or journalism. In my opinion, all the reports, all the technology and all the data in the world will never allow us to do without real feedback from the field, real contact with real interlocutors.

When my father and I met again, he brought this watch still in its box and even with the piece of the broken lug. It was just to show her off, my father was happy to have found her, even in this condition. I asked him what he was going to do with it and he told me that, not being able to carry it, he would put it away with his father's things. I kept all of this in memory, the model, the references and the dimensions, as a matter of habit. Some time later, I started doing some research on this model. I had one idea in mind: restore it.

RESTORATION FOR A RENAISSANCE

When the caseband or a handle is damaged in this way, restoration using only original parts is impossible; even an excellent watchmaker would not spend time trying to repair this type of damage, especially for a watch of little financial value.

One of the Rolexes worn by legendary actor Steve McQueen was also seriously damaged, but this time during a fire. The actor gave it to the stuntman who doubled him during filming. The stuntman had kept it for decades, but after that fire, the watch was nothing more than a charred wreck. As it was Steve McQueen's watch and a Rolex, it was restored.

I sincerely doubt that many of the original parts could have been preserved and even that they constitute a majority of the parts of the current watch but the work has been done, the immense value of this model linked to its famous and former wearer has certainly played a lot in this work. This type of achievement still remains an exception.

To return to the little Lip Dauphine, unable to have the case repaired, I decided to look for a new one: an OUR as they say in the jargon.

Although the Lip brand disappeared for a time and its machines and staff were dispersed as well as its network of suppliers and the industrial fabric that depended on orders from the brand, many spare parts were still available.

Over time, stocks dwindle, used by independent watchmakers to repair old models. Independent watchmakers build up stocks of spare parts; it is an integral part of their activity to constantly search for stocks of parts in order to be able to repair period models.

And it was from a supplier specializing in vintage spare parts that I found a NOS gold-plated case. Stock displayed: 1 copy. I hastened to order it. Shortly after, I received the long-awaited package. After examining it from every angle, the part was indeed NOS, without defects, like new.

I secretly asked my mother to entrust me with the watch without saying a word about it to my father. Then I went to a watchmaker who had already done excellent work on other watches that I owned. I asked him to recover all the original parts apart from the case: movement, hands, winder... to obviously overhaul the movement which really needed it after so many years and at the same time I ordered a bracelet from a French saddler at the measurement of the watch.

A few weeks later, the job done, I was able to collect the restored watch, I put the leather strap on it and I was finally able to give my father for his birthday his own father's watch which was working again.

THE WATCH AS AN OBJECT OF TRANSMISSION

Seeing your father's smile is priceless. Neither does seeing him wear a watch that belonged to his own father. Our consciousness and memory cannot always hold on to abstract ideas or images floating in our thoughts.

Sometimes, they need other attachment points: objects which then act as vehicles for our memories. The watch is different from most other objects in that it can continue to be worn afterwards and form the link between generations of the same family. The mechanical watch is perhaps the only legacy item that we can continue to wear on a daily basis. With a little maintenance.

And besides, this idea of ​​intergenerational transmission is not exclusive to the family. Watches can convey other images: significant events in life, fascination with a famous person, memories of loved ones and friends.

A writer I knew very well liked to tell these little pieces of life through these timepieces which span the ages and eras. I was fascinated by these stories in which the watch was always implicit, like a constant observer of times and our lives.

The story of a man met by chance who was wearing a Rolex that belonged to his war journalist father and which was passed on to him in turn to wear. Asked whether he was carrying a treasure, he replied that he was not carrying a treasure but simply his father's watch.

The story of a watch that went through the years and trials of its wearer until ending up in the hands of its descendant, the story of a watch given by a woman to her husband, from a friend to another friend... this writer himself passed away, he who loved watches and the stories they conveyed so much. Many knew him as Zen, for me it was Joël. He left not just one watch behind but thousands of stories about them.

If watches have such importance in my eyes, it is because of the stories they carry within them, like a memory of the people we loved. A memory that can span generations. One day it will be your turn to pass it on.

To Joel.