366 Days of 2012, Day 104 - Timeless

I remember a time when I could not wait to own my very own watch. To an eleven-year-old boy, watches held an incredible fascination. I could not say which held the greater part of my awareness: the exquisite craftsmanship, the precision manufacturing, the sense of some control over time or the sense of affluence.

My first watch when I was twelve was a hand-wound Citizen, a symbolic confirmation gift from my parents. I remember I was so proud of it. However that very same year was the cusp of change as friends began sporting new LED display digital watches. From that moment on I was torn between tradition and technology.

It was many years before I came back to a watch with real hands even though still electronic and it was many more years again before finally abandoning electronics altogether with a purely mechanical timepiece. The irony now is I no longer even wear a watch as almost every gadget around does the job of showing the time for me.

Although I'm now officially timeless I still love the craftsmanship, the precision and the engineering of a well-made timepiece. From time to time I might even wear one!


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 104 - Timeless'. 10 secs at 200mm f/22, ISO 400