By Patrick F. Cannon

The first good watch I ever owned was a Hamilton that I got when I graduated from high school. It told the time in various time zones and had a 21-jewel movement. It would have been a real stretch financially for my mother then. It disappeared when I was in basic training for the Army.

            Since then, I’ve owned a variety of timepieces, including a fine pocket watch my first wife Mary bought me. I had it on a watch chain and would fish it out of my pocket to find the time. I thought it was cool. It eventually stopped running and I never got around to getting it fixed. I replaced it with a cheap Timex, which served me well until my second wife Jeanette bought me a gold Seiko as a wedding gift in 1986. It needs a battery but keeps perfect time. It also tells me the date if I remember to adjust it every month.

            My second watch is a Hugo Boss. It has a Swiss movement and was a gift from a Korean international director of Lions Clubs International when we had our convention in Seoul in 1995. His name was Tae Suo Lee, and he was the former Minister of Political Affairs in the Korean government. He became president of Lions in 2003-04, after I retired. I confess when I got it,  I thought it was a “copy watch.”  Cheap knockoffs of almost any prestige brand could be found in Seoul in those days.   

            Rolex was a popular brand to copy. They did look the part but had cheap domestic movements. I remember going into a public restroom and finding a fellow at a table selling a variety of famous brands. Unfortunately, one of my colleagues bought six of them as gifts; alas, US Customs confiscated them when he landed back in Chicago. They probably would have stopped running soon in any case. But my Hugo is still running after more than 30 years, so I assume it’s the real thing.

            At some point, especially for young people, wrist watches went out of fashion, replaced by the ubiquitous cell phone. In addition to being an actual phone, it tells you the exact time, sends texts and emails; acts as your credit card; replaces your camera; stores tickets and boarding passes; gets you to your destination with as little fuss as possible; and no doubt occasionally reminds you what a fine and generous person you are. Have you noticed that more people never let it leave their  hand? As if their life depended on its immediacy?

            Many people predicted the end of watches, but they had forgotten the obsession that rich people have to own something no one else has. Watch collecting has become the thing. While the average Joe would love to have any Rolex – the least expensive is about $8,000 – the serious collector will lust after the Petek Philippe Grand Complications Dial Watch at $14 million, which of course includes the band. And it comes with a guarantee.

            At a lower price point, the “smart” watch began to appear. At first, it was a hard sell, but as features were added, it began to catch on. It can’t completely replace the cell phone, but it can be used as a phone (and a watch), but most folks buy one because they can track their vital signs on a minute-by-minute basis. Why apparently healthy people need to know their blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen, and most important of all: how may steps they’ve taken in the day are beyond me.

            Another area of collecting nostalgia is the fountain pen. As it happens, I once owned two – a Waterman and a Mont Blanc. I got the Waterman as a gift at a dinner at the Ritz Hotel in Paris from a PR agency we employed; the Mont Blanc was a gift from my wife Jeanette. She paid about $250 for it; I see now they go for nearly $800. I used the pens generally to sign correspondence, although I’m sure the recipient didn’t notice or  care. After I retired, my son sold them for me on E-bay for a nice profit.

            Anyway, feel free to ask me the time of day. I never go out without my watch. And I do carry my cell phone with me. If I recognize the caller’s number, I’ll even answer it. But if you ask me my blood pressure, I’ll have to tell you it was normal the last time I had it checked by my doctor.

Copyright 2026, Patrick F. Cannon