9. (Reader's Watch) Rado DiaStar Tuning Fork | The Fisherman

His fishing buddy doesn’t understand why, of his vast collection of watches, the fisherman has been wearing this funky, futuristic looking vintage on their fishing trips lately. Today, the fishing buddy decides to ask him.  Before the fisherman replies, he thinks for a moment, as the answer is far from straightforward.  

In fishing, ‘catch and release’ is a practice intended as a method of conservation.  Often after capture, and after a fast measurement and weighing, and most importantly photo taking, the fish are unhooked and returned to the water.  A similar practice, most likely borrowed from fishing, is also practiced by most watch collectors.  However, the intention is often not the conservation of watches, but rather the conservation of financial resources.  The criteria for ‘keeper’ watches vary from collector to collector.  There are as many reasons for ‘releasing’ a watch as there are reasons for keeping them.  A collector could be motivated to hold on to a watch for sentimental reasons when it comes to watches that fall in the lower price segments or for investment purposes in the luxury sector.

For the fisherman, the Rado DiaStar Tuning Fork falls more in the former category.  Most of the fisherman’s non-watch collecting friends have never heard of the brand, which is a fact he enjoys.  Sure, he’s got Rolexes and Omegas to show off if he really wanted to, but it’s quite a different satisfaction one gets from knowing that what you have on your wrist isn’t just something money can buy.  And indeed the Rado is a special watch.  The brand, which was founded in 1917 in Lengnau, Switzerland was first to launch a scratch resistant watch, the DiaStar in 1962.  This particular Rado specimen the fisherman has is from 1970, the year that he was born.  For some, in watch collecting circles, a ‘birth year’ watch, is as collectable as a particular complication, such as a chronograph for a novice to a dead-beat seconds for a connoisseur.  The Rado is not the fisherman’s only birth year watch, in fact, he’s got a few just for his birth year alone, and additional birth year watches for his wife and daughter.  It’s a common watch collector trait, to justify a purchase, to him/herself, and more importantly, the spouses, by giving the purchase(s!) meaning.  When he brought home the Rado, to an understandably annoyed wife, the fisherman knew the birth year alone wouldn’t suffice.  Amidst her complaint, the fisherman, luckily a quick thinker, sold his skeptical wife on a reason even she can’t deny.  ‘It reminds me of our time with Anna, when she was little’, the fisherman says casually.  ‘What are you talking about’, replies his wife.  Although she sounds irritated, the fisherman knew he’s got her hooked, he knows exactly how much she is missing their only child, since she moved away to college this year (that, or menopause).  He continues, ‘well remember when she was a baby? We would try to put her to sleep by playing those white humming noises?’ ‘Of course I do, so what?’ she replies curtly. Without saying anything, the fisherman puts the Rado next to his wife’s ear, ‘listen’, he says.  And indeed, in the brief moment of silence, she did hear a humming noise coming from the watch.  ‘That’s what reminds me of our time with her, when she was small’ says the fisherman sheepishly while putting his arm around her shoulder.  ‘I miss her too, our little girl’ he adds, although the fisherman does miss his daughter dearly, perhaps he’s overdone it with the sentimentality. ‘The tuning fork watch, is neither a mechanical watch nor a quartz’, not wanting his wife to see though his ruse, he quickly changes the subject.  ‘These tuning fork watches were kind of the in-betweens. They were only produced by a few brands for a few years, and are quite rare. Some people call them the humming watch’ he adds, relieved that his wife is walking away, a sign that she’s lost interest (or hope).

The fisherman finally replies to his buddy, ‘Oh, this old thing? It’s just my lucky watch.’ And indeed his buddy has noticed that ever since the fisherman started wearing the Rado on their fishing trips, his number of catches has increased.  But the truth is that the fisherman knows that it isn’t luck, he’s certain that the mosquito sounds coming from his well-adjusted tuning fork Rado is attracting the fish, which just adds another reason to keep it in his eclectic collection.