Memory of Scratches - Really?

[vesnyder]

I've read multiple times on the site that members take pride in their screatches and wear and tear on their wacthes as "memories". How many of you really look at the scratches on your timepieces as memories - let alone even remember how and when they got any particular scratch. I have been wearing watches a long time and have gotten plenty of marks and scratches and cannot remember any of them. For 95%+ of my sracthes I just look down one day and there it is and I have no idea where it came from or how I got it. Is it just a figure of speech when forum members say that "look at the memories"?

[tifosi]

I think it’s more a figure of speech. Just reminder that you wear your watch and it doesn’t sit in a safe waiting for the next price hike.

[Trailboss516]

"...aww, and here's the time that bloke bumped into me and I hit my watch against that brick wall. Oh, and here's the time i fell down the stadium stairs in a drunken stupor at a soccer game."

[Krash]

Same here. I do have some very minor (barely noticeable) scratches on each of my watches, but they’re definitely not “memories.” I have no idea how I got them.

Plus, I’m not a one watch guy, and I wear a G-Shock as a beater watch, so all my watches are pretty close to pristine. They all get worn. They’re not safe queens, but they’re still in great shape.


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[~JJ]

My take on the phrase is people don’t really care about scratches and a well used watch has character vs an eye sore. However, there are scratches that bring back specific memories for me… I generally get pissed for a day, then years later I do remember the time/location, which may or may not be significant, and the scratch itself is no longer a bother. Ymmv of course.

[Filipão]

I do memorize damages on plexi crystals.

Real bummer as they are fragile as hell.

[inadeje]

Like anything else, there are things one remembers and things one doesn’t.

I have had scratches i can vividly remember how they occurred and where I was. Others like you say, I have no idea what happened.

[stark1]

I banged my hand against a lamppost while waving goodbye to my then girlfriend, now wife, in Venice many years back. In doing so I made a small dent on the bezel of my Speedmaster. It hurt to see it in the moment, but it's a memorable scar now, almost 10 years later.

Like all my other watches, the Speedy has accumulated a ton more scratches over the years. I never complain and simply go on living my life enjoying my watches.

[2loaded]

Scratches, dents, dings on watches OK but NOT on cars

[IS2000]

I take good care of my watches and 90% of the scratches and nicks are memories from ADs, RSC, and other official service centers. I remembered sending in my mint 116520 and a PP 5711 for warranty issues. They came back looking like used watches. I also got marks on end links on most of my new watches from ADs when getting bracelets sized. Nowadays I just asked them to do it myself.

[Guppydriver]

My Pelagos LHD!

Like most, my rule of thumb is to avoid taking a shit at a public restroom as much as possible.

However, I was in the San Francisco airport last year after having arrived from...you guessed it....Mexico. I needed an immediate option.

Anyways, after having just paid for the sins of every white European that exploited the Americas it was time to clean up.

The TP dispenser was this metal contraption that resembled a mediaeval torture device. The first pass was uneventful, but I lacked the foresight to leave enough ply for round two. In a scene reminiscent of Roman Holiday, I had to reach under and in to search for a remnant of what can only be described as translucent tracing paper.

What I didn't see was that there was a piece of metal that was bent inwards and as my hand vacated the underside of the dispenser it caught my Pelagos and put a deep scratch on the side of the titanium case. It's a vertical scratch that goes from the bezel to the caseback.

I honestly don't think I could have inflicted a more significant scratch had I intentionally tried. The good news is that I did get my BLNR call just a short week later. Getting a huge scratch was bad enough, but to have to be constantly reminded of "meat sweat day" every time I see it just adds salt to an already bitter wound.

[MrGoat]

I don’t remember the small scratches and even some of the big dents and scratches. However, I believe a watch tells a story much like our bodies do by it’s scars. For the record I can’t remember where every scar on my body is from either.

My watch is a trusted friend and has the scars that prove it’s been with me 24/7 since I bought it. That may not appeal to you or most and certainly won’t help resale value but to me it’s priceless knowing my timepiece has made it through what I have. I just wish I bought the watch a lot earlier so I could have enjoyed it longer.


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[what.watch]

I don’t remember all of them, but I have a ding in one of the links of my Explorer II that was the result of me slipping down some old concrete steps at the beach with my kids. Never thought I’d be that person, but that ding does remind of that day when I see it - and I like it! So I’m one who this has happened for.

[Redemption144]

Yeah -I am in the camp of “frankly no idea how this happened”. I wear my watches and try to have a somewhat active life, so things happen and they don’t look pristine. But to me, it gives them a unique character linked to me, so it doesn’t bother me in least, probably the opposite.

[MRBolton]

I agree that it makes no sense to claim them proudly as “memories.” As someone who doesn’t like scratches, I remember where most all of the notable ones came from, and it’s not particularly fond.
Yeah, I really “made some memories” when I banged my watch up against the toilet paper roll dispenser in the bathroom at work. Or when I hit that doorframe on the way there.

I will say there’s only one scratch that I now look at and slightly laugh at. It happened right when I bought my new Sub LV. I maybe had owned it for an hour. My wife was putting sunscreen on my back to head out to the beach, and she accidentally scraped her diamond wedding ring on the corner of the clasp. I was upset at the time, but now I rarely notice it.

[kieselguhr]

I never understood that expression myself but definitely get that scratches are recognized as the distinction between a thoroughly enjoyed watch and a home closet exhibition piece

[Gab27]

The only mark on my watch that I have a specific memory attached to is one where I tripped and fell.

That was certainly not a moment of glorious pride.

Everything else is just from daily wear and without a known origin story.

[OrangeSport]

I lost a pip from a dive bezel whilst playing around in a very rough sea with my son. Was a fun day and I never replaced the pip as a reminder. My son has the watch now.

[joli160]

I don’t care much about scratches so I really have no idea where they came from.

[ArsenX]

Well to me it’s just a figure of speech that shows just how much I enjoy wearing the watch which is why it has the scratch(es) as evidence. I really can’t remember how I got them though, I just look and there it is: ouch:


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[Fanofsteel]

Originally Posted by Guppydriver

My Pelagos LHD!

Like most, my rule of thumb is to avoid taking a shit at a public restroom as much as possible.

However, I was in the San Francisco airport last year after having arrived from...you guessed it....Mexico. I needed an immediate option.

Anyways, after having just paid for the sins of every white European that exploited the Americas it was time to clean up.

The TP dispenser was this metal contraption that resembled a mediaeval torture device. The first pass was uneventful, but I lacked the foresight to leave enough ply for round two. In a scene reminiscent of Roman Holiday, I had to reach under and in to search for a remnant of what can only be described as translucent tracing paper.

What I didn't see was that there was a piece of metal that was bent inwards and as my hand vacated the underside of the dispenser it caught my Pelagos and put a deep scratch on the side of the titanium case. It's a vertical scratch that goes from the bezel to the caseback.

I honestly don't think I could have inflicted a more significant scratch had I intentionally tried. The good news is that I did get my BLNR call just a short week later. Getting a huge scratch was bad enough, but to have to be constantly reminded of "meat sweat day" every time I see it just adds salt to an already bitter wound.

Very well written - I did not expect to be so captivated by a toilet experience.

[Reikolexguy]

Originally Posted by Guppydriver

My Pelagos LHD!

Like most, my rule of thumb is to avoid taking a shit at a public restroom as much as possible.

However, I was in the San Francisco airport last year after having arrived from...you guessed it....Mexico. I needed an immediate option.

Anyways, after having just paid for the sins of every white European that exploited the Americas it was time to clean up.

The TP dispenser was this metal contraption that resembled a mediaeval torture device. The first pass was uneventful, but I lacked the foresight to leave enough ply for round two. In a scene reminiscent of Roman Holiday, I had to reach under and in to search for a remnant of what can only be described as translucent tracing paper.

What I didn't see was that there was a piece of metal that was bent inwards and as my hand vacated the underside of the dispenser it caught my Pelagos and put a deep scratch on the side of the titanium case. It's a vertical scratch that goes from the bezel to the caseback.

I honestly don't think I could have inflicted a more significant scratch had I intentionally tried. The good news is that I did get my BLNR call just a short week later. Getting a huge scratch was bad enough, but to have to be constantly reminded of "meat sweat day" every time I see it just adds salt to an already bitter wound.

You sir, get my vote for best “how I scratched my watch” story yet.


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[Forty6nTwo]

I take it as a figure of speech, that you actually wear the thing, and not just a safe queen.

[Calatrava r]

Nobody likes scratches on anything including watches. But watches if worn will scratch and putting yourself in a frame of mind to appreciate a well-worn watch in well-worn condition is key to enjoying the experience.

[t65tampa]

Did a difficult hike up a mountain to a waterfall with my family while I was wearing my GMT Master BLRO. Once we made it up to the waterfall, I slipped on a rock and plopped right into the water slamming the bracelet/buckle side of my watch onto a rock. Left a pretty bad ding/scratch/gash in my buckle with no damage to the watch head. Every time I wear that watch and see/feel that gash in the bracelet, I remember that absolutely beautiful day I had with my wife and sons.

[bobernet]

Originally Posted by Guppydriver

My Pelagos LHD!

Like most, my rule of thumb is to avoid taking a shit at a public restroom as much as possible.

However…

Not every story needs to be told. I’m sorry about your scratch, but am also sorry for having read the play by play commentary. ;-)

[VincentM]

I wear my BBPro while kitefoiling. After an epic session in the waves of Sandy Hook beach, Iles de la Madeleines, I noticed a scratch on the crystal… Was disappointed at first and thought to replace the crystal. But after a few days, I accepted this scratch as part of my dedicated kite watch… and I do not fear to wear it while kiting as I know it will get lots a new scratches in the future…

But for sure, there is a memory associated with this scratch!




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[Chester01]

Originally Posted by vesnyder

I've read multiple times on the site that members take pride in their screatches and wear and tear on their wacthes as "memories". How many of you really look at the scratches on your timepieces as memories - let alone even remember how and when they got any particular scratch. I have been wearing watches a long time and have gotten plenty of marks and scratches and cannot remember any of them. For 95%+ of my sracthes I just look down one day and there it is and I have no idea where it came from or how I got it. Is it just a figure of speech when forum members say that "look at the memories"?

No, sometimes I remember the scratch. I had two on my speedster when I owned one. One that the AD did changing my bracelet and the other at dinner with my kids. Its not each individual scratch, but the collective that I see when I look down at my 16610, now almost a quarter century on my wrist and that's the life I have lived over that span. It will never be polished. Perhaps when I hand it to my son and he can make his own. Who knows.

[Guppydriver]

Originally Posted by bobernet

Not every story needs to be told. I’m sorry about your scratch, but am also sorry for having read the play by play commentary. ;-)

Lol. My apologies. This is why my wife won’t take me to parties. Here’s the scratch in all her glory.



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[~JJ]

Originally Posted by Guppydriver

Lol. My apologies. This is why my wife won’t take me to parties. Here’s the scratch in all her glory.



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Lol, I had the same exact thing happen with my Tudor heritage chrono, but was at the office.