Alright, so this Seamaster 120 Omega. You hear folks going on about these watches, yeah? Like they’re something else. My own story with the one I’ve got? Well, it’s not exactly out of a glossy magazine, let me tell you.
It wasn’t some big, planned thing, not at all.
I wasn’t even in the market for a watch. Nosiree. I was actually stuck dealing with my cousin Tony’s latest disaster. He’d gone and ‘invested’ in a job lot of so-called ‘antiques’ from some dodgy website. Thought he’d found a goldmine. Turned out, it was mostly just old tat.
So he calls me, proper stressed, garage full to bursting with this stuff. Broken radios, chipped cups, clothes that stank to high heaven. Asked me to give him a hand sorting through it. You know how it is, family. So I went over, spent a good Saturday wading through dust and disappointment.
Then, out of nowhere, there it was.
We were making a pile for the tip, just chucking stuff. Tony picks up this mucky old thing, strap hanging off, glass all scratched up. ‘What’s this rubbish?’ he goes, about to lob it in the bin. I just caught a glimpse of it. ‘Hang on a minute,’ I said. Wiped a bit of the grime off. Omega. Looked like a Seamaster 120, though it was hard to tell under all that crud.
Tony, he hadn’t a clue. To him, it was just another broken watch in a pile of junk. I offered him twenty quid for it, just to save it from the skip. He bit my hand off, happy to get anything for his ‘treasures.’
Managed to get it looking half-decent.
Took it home. Gave it a good, careful clean. The thing was still ticking, can you believe it? Took some doing, though. Needed a new strap, obviously. The glass needed a polish, and the case had seen better days. I didn’t want it looking brand new, mind. I like things with a bit of a story etched into them.
- Cleaned up the case myself, real gentle.
- Found a cheap, sturdy strap online.
- My local watch guy gave it a quick once-over and buffed the crystal a bit.
So now, this Seamaster 120, it’s not locked away somewhere. I wear it most days. It’s got its marks, its history – the bit I added to it anyway. Every time I check the time, I think of that dusty garage, Tony’s face when I offered him cash for ‘rubbish’, and the buzz of finding something decent when you’re not even looking. It’s a good reminder, that watch. Not everything shiny is gold, and sometimes the best stuff is found in the mess. And it cost me next to nothing, unlike some people who spend fortunes chasing these names. Just a bit of luck, really.
