In 1963, my mother gave my father a Hamilton watch for his 55th birthday. It was unique in three ways. First, it was electric, among the first ever created. Hamilton had launched the first battery powered wrist watch only six years before, but those were plagued with problems, as was my father’s timepiece. Somewhere along the way, a jeweler decided to replace the watch’s movement and now it refuses to function at all. Two different repair shops recently declared it dead, but I’ve only begun to fight. The second way it’s special is the extraordinary onyx wristband, redolent of a particular time and sensibility. But the last feature is the most remarkable of all.
© 2024 John Oliver
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