is your watch more than just a watch?

[andromeda160]

Over the past year i've hardly been active on the forum, and it's not because my love for Rolex or the forum has subsided. it's been an interesting past year and as i've been more active on the forum again over the past few days i've kind of thought of my absence. I bought my first Rolex right when I graduated highschool as a gift to myself and became a forum member here later that day. It wasn't so much the fruits of my monetary success as much as something I had wanted my whole life and it seemed fair to reward myself with at the time.It also really opened my interest into Horologie. My watch became apart of my daily wardrobe immediately, which surprised everyone around me, after all it was a Rolex, it should only be worn on special occasions. I'm more of a free spirited type who lives every day as his last and could care less the depreciation of an item I never planned on getting rid of.

I ended up dating the person I thought was my soul mate shortly after getting the watch and she was always by my side. She loved my watch as much as I did and she saw it an extension of myself as I did. I had that watch on on our first date, and every date after, I had it on when I lost my vcard, I had it on when I got my first well paying job, I had it on through everything. We were inseperable, lived together, and sometimes things got financially tough for us, whenever I brought up selling my watch to help pay bills though, she always told me that my watch was apart of me and she'd live in a box before she made me sell it. I never would've let that happen obviously, but it really showed me that she understood how much the watch meant to me. we were dating almost 5 years when she broke up with me to be with some guy who had been her best friend throughout our relationship.so that was my final memory with her wearing that watch.

For 3 or 4 months after we broke up, I didn't wear the watch, I was really deep into a depression, almost got banned from the forum for a fight over purses before deciding to taking a little break from here. partially from embarassment, partially because I knew I was in a destructive mode and the last thing I needed to do was alienate my online Rolex Alias rofl. I wore my Omega through that time though, tried putting my rolex on, and would Cry, just remember everything, and it wasn't the bad memories, I just remembered the good, and that seemed to drive me even further into depression and alcoholism knowing she was gone from my life. eventually I hit my bottom one night after waking up in bed, not knowing how I got home, and the last thing I remembered was hitting my breathalyzer at a buddies house the night before. I had blown a .28 ( we were drinking to get drunk, I had 0 intentions of driving that night.) sometime after that I went into a drunken rage, beat my friend up, ended up talking to my boss blackout drunk, drove home and lost my wallet and keys to work. I had a nervous breakdown when I woke up and pretty much signed up for Rehab right then. Rehab isn't for everyone, but I probably wouldn't be here right now had I not gone.

When I went to Rehab I took my Omega with me, it had been my daily for quite some time now figured it would be fine while I was getting myself clean. well, after about 48 hours of me not drinking my body held alot more water than I was used too and my wrists swelled. (they don't have watchmakers or tools to add links in rehab ) So when my parents came to visit I asked them to bring my Rolex again. Floods of memories came rushing back, I literally spoke to therapists about my watch explaining how the watch was an achievement that I had worked my whole life for, and i've made alot of memories wearing that watch, but it just didn't make me happy like I used too. I used to see a future with the person I had all the memories with, now I have a watch, and memories. I guess it could be equated to wearing a wedding ring after marriage, as I truely thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with her.

it's been 6 months since i've sobered up , and I can wear the Rolex now, but it doesn't hold the charm it once did for me. I keep thinking I should make new memories in it because there will be plenty of people in life that will come and go, and not all the memories I had with the watch were with her. but when I bought this one, I planned on having it for life, an heirloom to pass on to my son someday so I feel conflicted. most days it's just a watch and I feel nothing, but other days there's a great deal of pain associated with it. I hate to sell my first Rolex, and feel I will regret it because you only get one first, but I also just started a new relationship a few days ago and wonder if i'm better off selling the watch and buying a new one with new happier memories. am I insane? or is anyone else this emotionally connected to their watch. either way, still probably sticking with the Omega for now.