When a Rolex Only Brings Back Bad Memories

[BristolCavendish]

I'm standing in line at Peet's (another one of those chain coffee shops) this morning when some guy standing behind me noticed my Submariner and simply said, 'nice watch'. The line was going slowly and we managed to strike up a brief conversation on watches in general. Turns out the guy owns an original Explorer II which he had purchased back in 1972 but hadn't worn for the past 15 years. When I inquired why, he simply replied that the watch reminded him more of the bad times than the good ones. Without trying to get too personal, I asked what he meant by that and he responded by saying that during the course of owning/wearing this watch, he had undergone two divorces, three major surgeries, a number of low-paying 'nowhere' jobs and a misdemeanor arrest where the county bailiff confiscated the watch prior to him being 'booked'.

So this Explorer II has been sitting in an old cigar box for over a decade now, probably never to be worn again and/or in need of a good servicing. When I asked if it might be for sale, he was open to the possibility but curious why I would be interested in such a watch being that it never brought him any particular enjoyment or happiness. While I've always had a hankering for an original-issue 1655, I began to wonder if the watch was cursed. I'm not a superstitious type by nature but bad mojo is bad mojo and like the scent of a skunk, it can linger on. We never got around to exchanging phone numbers or discussing prices but now I'm beginning to wonder if I should have pursued it further.