365 Watch Stories

The businessman carefully surveys the shop before he takes his sunglasses off, letting go of the hand of a beautiful young woman, young enough to be his daughter.  Reassured, he leads the young woman swiftly past the other brands, towards the Omega counter.   He had called ahead to make sure the AD had the model he wanted to get her in stock, a two-toned Seamaster Aqua Terra, with a mother of pearl dial and diamond hour markers. At 34mm, it should fit elegantly on her delicate wrist, which he cannot stop himself from caressing, ever since she came into his life.   The businessman had stayed true to Omega over the years.   As the young woman happily tries on her Seamaster with the energetic assistance from the salesperson, he glances down at his wrist, not to check the time, but to simply admire that beautiful dial of his first Omega – the Speedmaster Automatic.   Decades have past yet this watch still manages to put the occasional smile on his face.   He remembers clearly that it w

At 65, the entrepreneur is an unlikely candidate to open her own business.   Friends and family are unanimous in their disapproval of her business venture.   Her son was the most vocal opponent of the idea.   He told her that she should enjoy her golden years in peace, that she doesn’t need such stress at her age.   Although the entrepreneur silently suspects his opinion has something to do with her now limited availability as a babysitter.   As she packs the last apple pie ready for her first delivery, she puts on her watch, a Junghans FORM date, which had been sitting on the kitchen counter.    Before she puts it on, she glanced at the engraved case back which says ‘carpe diem’, her favorite Latin phrase. She saw it in a shop window and the simplicity of the dial attracted her.   She’s had this watch, a birthday present she got for herself, since she was 40. The J645 quartz movement had kept good time without servicing the last two and a half decades, the original light blue sued

With Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline playing in the background, the sommelier ceremoniously but efficiently uncorks a bottle of pinot noir which coincidentally bears her name.   The sommelier has just been to Germany recently to visit the winery, run by the award winning winemaker Caroline Diel for whom this pinot noir is named.   The sommelier is usually given samples of wine to try and review but she had decided to purchase a case of this wine herself.   A fine vintage, but it wasn’t just the wine itself that attracted her.   Most people have, understandably, a natural attraction to their own names. But for the sommelier, ever since the first time she’s heard the song on the radio at her neighbor’s house, she’s slowly developed an affinity to hers, which is what makes her birthday present even more special. The sommelier doesn’t know anything about watches. In fact, she’s really just owned one watch, a diamond studded, Rolex Datejust in rose gold, a floral motif dial, and on ju

The cook has never been a talkative person.   If you ask his close friends, they will confirm that it’s difficult to get even a few words out of him, unless of course, it’s about food.   For the cook, his love for food started, when he began working as a stock boy at Glenn Yasuda’s Berkeley Bowl many years ago.   Since then, he’s worked up the culinary ladder, by working at famous restaurants, under world renowned chefs, such as Keller’s The French Laundry in California, and Ducasse’s Spoon in Hong Kong.   The cook has always regarded himself as, first and foremost, a cook, and feels uncomfortable at the idea of a celebrity chef, which he is, even he would have to unwillingly admit. Ever since the opening of his restaurant in Hong Kong and its subsequent success, he’s come on the local culinary scene as the new maestro.   With his focus on locally sourced produce and poultry, the restaurant has become the darling of both Instagram foodies and serious food critics.   After being on

The watchmaker hasn’t repaired or serviced a watch for customers for a while now, ever since he’s been too busy with his own creations.   The Zenith Ladies Caliber 1110, though, is not just a watch for any customer.   He had found this little gem, desperately in need of care, a few months ago when he was strolling   at a flea market not far from his workshop and home in the south of England. He knew immediately that this would make a great anniversary present for his wife.   Because, with her vintage elegance, his wife prefers smaller time pieces over modern masculine models.   At 20mm, this little hand-wound would certainly fit her taste.   It was also at the flea market that he picked up, for a bargain, a little tricycle for his 5-year-old daughter, who, he had promised a bedtime story, which was as important a task as working on his wife’s surprise present. His daughter was already waiting for him patiently in bed.   His wife had just kissed her goodnight and was leaving her

Nomos Tetra | The Architect The architect finds his next watch purchase quite fitting as he ponders his upcoming retirement from full-time practice to dabble as an architectural consultant for his sons’ architectural firm. Throughout his long and illustrious career, his style had been described by many as thoroughly modernist.   He was known for combining traditional architectural principles with forward thinking designs, based on simple geometric shapes.   Circles, triangles, and squares were common elements of his works.   And although his works are celebrated throughout the world of architecture, for the public, he will most likely be forever associated to his last project, which upon its completion in 1989, quickly became a landmark of the city of lights.   The construction of it was so controversial, in fact, that it triggered strong and lively aesthetic and cultural debate.   With its modernist style of the structure, it was deemed by many locals to be inconsistent w

The professor lives a frugal life, compared his friends, who are either in the financial sector or property speculation.  He makes a comfortable living on his professor’s salary, teaching English at the most renowned university in Hong Kong, where he was born and bred.  The only thing that he has in common with his peers is perhaps his Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust. Although at 31mm, it looks awkwardly small on his boney yet large wrist.  His friends have asked why he would wear such a small watch, knowing that he could very well afford another one, even on his academic’s salary.  ‘That’s the biggest Rolex I could afford’, he would say jokingly, brushing them off.  He’s never told anyone the truth that the watch belonged to his mother, who passed away many years ago.  If there’s one watch that can define the zeitgeist of Hong Kong in the 80s, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust would certainly be one of the top contenders. In an era of what seemed like endless financial oppor