Watches have been and remain one of the most desired gifts, they continue to be given with pleasure, and, as they say, all ages are submissive to the donee and donors - fortunately, the choice is great and very diverse. Of course, we are talking here about gifts exclusively within the framework of family or romantic relationships. Next time, let's leave the watch-gifts with a romantic component. Let's focus on those that are given and received as a gift by fathers + mothers and children, grandchildren and granddaughters.
The reason for the continued popularity of watches as a gift to loved ones lies in their very essence - as a tool for determining the time (in their primary purpose), they firmly connect the past with the future through the fabric of the present, ensure the continuity and transmission of ideas about values from generation to generation, and, among other things, teach (ideally) careful attitude not only to valuable items, but to the world in general.
Let us recall one of the most prominent political figures of the last century, Winston Churchill, or rather, his watch. In the 1890s, when Winston was still a young man, he received a Breguet pocket watch as a gift from his father. The famous British Prime Minister nicknamed his breguet "the turnip", constantly wore this watch on a gold chain in his waistcoat pocket, and there are many stories written by biographers in which this watch is given not the last place.
Today, Churchill's pocket Breguet is in excellent working order and is owned by Winston Churchill's great-grandson, Randolph. My colleagues gave a detailed description of this famous watch more than once, so we only note the presence of a round gold case at the end of the chain, in which the prime minister kept several “talismans”: V, that is, Victory, victory; a mini-sculpture of the head of Napoleon Bonaparte (made of silver), Winston greatly admired the emperor; and two hearts of gold, gifts from his wife Clementine on their wedding day in September 1908 and on Churchill's 90th birthday, less than two months before his death.
The famous advertisement of watches that “you don’t own, but only keep them to pass on to a new generation” fully reflects the traditional attitude to the subject - something valuable, not at all disposable and, to a certain extent, eternal. But it's not free to pass on a watch to a new generation - remember Woody Allen and his “I'm very proud of my gold pocket watch. My grandfather on his deathbed sold me this watch.” Such an approach, be it a joke or the truth, is quite in the spirit of the Allen family, agree?
Ideas about values in different families vary considerably. The "star" couple, Cardi B and Offset, American rappers, for example, gave their daughter Kultura a Richard Mille watch for her birthday last year, the price (approximately) exceeds a quarter of a million US dollars. So what, you say, why count other people's money? We don’t even think, it’s just that our daughter turned 3 years old. This is love, how not to pay such attention!
Although, perhaps, this couple does not reach Nicki Minaj in terms of the strength of parental emotions - her son, at the age of 3 months, lit up in a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch, this is a copy completely studded with diamonds, the price, as they say, “on request”. Churchill's dad, you see, didn't love his son so much - just think, Breguet ...
Joking aside, let's get back to serious people and understandable values. A couple of years ago, I published a note about military watches that were produced in the USA for the Soviet troops by order of the Russian War Relief organization. This fund was created in July 1941 (before the US entered the war) and officially registered in September, its mission was to supply the Soviet troops with everything possible and necessary through private donations to help in the fight against the Nazis.
Russian War Relief ordered a batch of watches from the famous American manufacturers - Elgin, Waltham and Hamilton, on the back of the watch was engraved: "To the Heroic people of the USSR - Roshen War Relief USA". A pleasant surprise was the response to the publication from one of the readers, who said that his family kept watches with such "identification marks", and that he was ready to share their story. I don’t remember why, but our contact did not take place further, which I regret very much now - time moves us further and further away from historical events, their participants and even heirs are becoming more and more inaccessible, and in fact, there was probably something to tell ...
Among my close friends, by the way, quite a few keep watches that they inherited from their grandparents, and which have a "military" origin. That is, they hit like a trophy. I saw women's IWCs in a gold case with erased numbers, a World War II trophy, I came across Tavannes in silver from the First ... Who wore them? Who could get from the new generation?
Of course, it is always interesting to find out how representatives of the digital age treat watches as a gift, not even millennials, but who is even younger. If any of you read this blog, share your thoughts - mechanical watches as a gift from one generation to another - is it relevant? Is it valuable? Is the “unique style” conveyed?
