Man and His Watch, A: Iconic Watches and Stories from the Men Who Wore Them

Product Information

I didn’t choose the calculator watch, the watch I wanted, because I knew that my grandparents didn’t have a lot of money and I wasn’t supposed to be getting presents for no reason. So I settled on the Casio F-7, which had one button that activated a light-and I mean a little lightbulb, not some electroluminescent panel. It told time. No alarm, no calculator, no-frills. But it was a watch, something I really wanted and had never had before. He continues, “The US President’s proclivity for Omega rings true to his apparent values as a president as well. Both the Omega Seamaster and Speedmaster models are workmen’s watches—utilitarian and absolutely classic. An appreciation for these models in particular, I feel, is indicative of how this president honors U.S. history: the Speedmaster was worn when man made his first steps on the moon, and a Seamaster was worn by JFK at his own inauguration—two incredibly prominent moments in the American story.” Growing up, spent my summer with my grandparents in upstate New York. In the Oakdale Mall there was a store called Bradlees where my grandmother liked to shop. My grandfather must have noticed that every time we were there, I was just glued to the watch case. So one day-I was seven, going on eight-he comes up behind me and says, “Adam, which one do you want?” Awesome. . . . Contains dozens of beautifully photographed watches. The real joy, though, is found in the stories that unfold about each one." PDF / EPUB File Name: A_Man_and_His_Watch_-_Matt_Hranek.pdf, A_Man_and_His_Watch_-_Matt_Hranek.epub

A wonderful meditation not just on watches, but on how men use them to better understand their fathers, their families, and ultimately their own place in the world."This book, naturally, is about remarkable watches. But it's really about why objects have meaning--who made them and why. Together it's a collective history about what we inherit, what we pass on, and the stories we tell that become more important over time." Great watches not only tell time--they also tell stories. Matt Hranek has assembled a wonderful collection of stories and images representing a diverse and fascinating group of horological devotees."

To be frank, I wouldn’t dare calling myself a watch-nut. There are far too many timepieces that are widely known to the community of watch lovers that I’ve yet to be able to recognize. In fact, I’m more of a crafts guy. And watches turn out to be my vessel for expression. I like to modify things to make it more personal. While all watches in the book are personal, here are a few beautiful pieces that tie well with our theme and the stories by their owners. As I explained to them, if you wash the watch in enough clear water, the dye will come out of the plastic and it will be white again. Anyone with the financial means can buy many watches. But a true collector is consumed by passion for storytelling, artisanship, history and value.”I really wanted to create a new watch device-a tough watch and a digital watch. The ideas came from existing products and things: a car tire, a caterpillar’s body. I asked myself what kind of design was needed, and what kind of basic function it should have. These were early considerations, but the starting point was to make a tough watch. The story behind the New Bedford is that I wanted to make a blue-collar version of a double-wrap watch like the Hermès Cape Cod. The name of the watch comes from the idea that the people who work on Cape Cod actually live in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I sold a short run of these-maybe a dozen. My grandfather was a blue-collar guy through and through, not into watches. And the way I was raised, you got presents for Christmas and your birthday; in between, nothing, unless you saved a bunch of nuns from a burning bus or something. So you can imagine my surprise. I was like, “What’s your game, Grandpa?” But the thing about my grandfather was, he supported passion-whether it was my writing, on sports, I was into, or music that my sister and I listened to. A grand testimony to the idea that, rather than just telling the time, a watch can serve as a marker of a particular moment or memory. . . . Sumptuously photographed."