Man and His Watch, A: Iconic Watches and Stories from the Men Who Wore Them

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I really wanted to create a new watch device-a tough watch and a digital watch. The ideas came from existing products and things: a car tire, a caterpillar’s body. I asked myself what kind of design was needed, and what kind of basic function it should have. These were early considerations, but the starting point was to make a tough watch. A wonderful meditation not just on watches, but on how men use them to better understand their fathers, their families, and ultimately their own place in the world." To be frank, I wouldn’t dare calling myself a watch-nut. There are far too many timepieces that are widely known to the community of watch lovers that I’ve yet to be able to recognize. In fact, I’m more of a crafts guy. And watches turn out to be my vessel for expression. I like to modify things to make it more personal. While all watches in the book are personal, here are a few beautiful pieces that tie well with our theme and the stories by their owners. When I joined Casio, the company had just started making digital watches, so I was keen to develop that business, which I felt was the future.

This book, naturally, is about remarkable watches. But it's really about why objects have meaning--who made them and why. Together it's a collective history about what we inherit, what we pass on, and the stories we tell that become more important over time." Great watches not only tell time--they also tell stories. Matt Hranek has assembled a wonderful collection of stories and images representing a diverse and fascinating group of horological devotees."

A mechanical watch consumes no power and possesses no energy except that which you bestow upon it by winding it or simply moving. And in return it becomes your most trusted companion, allowing you to navigate the glorious pathway that is life with unfailing precision. With A Man and His Watch, Matt Hranek brings to life the ineffable bond we make with the amazing machine with a heartbeat that lives on our wrist. And I can't think of a better person to chronicle this." My grandfather was a blue-collar guy through and through, not into watches. And the way I was raised, you got presents for Christmas and your birthday; in between, nothing, unless you saved a bunch of nuns from a burning bus or something. So you can imagine my surprise. I was like, “What’s your game, Grandpa?” But the thing about my grandfather was, he supported passion-whether it was my writing, on sports, I was into, or music that my sister and I listened to. He trusted me with his story and with his watch. He just put it in a FedEx box and sent it to me. That made me very anxious when I got that watch. As I explained to them, if you wash the watch in enough clear water, the dye will come out of the plastic and it will be white again.

The story behind the New Bedford is that I wanted to make a blue-collar version of a double-wrap watch like the Hermès Cape Cod. The name of the watch comes from the idea that the people who work on Cape Cod actually live in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I sold a short run of these-maybe a dozen.He continues, “The US President’s proclivity for Omega rings true to his apparent values as a president as well. Both the Omega Seamaster and Speedmaster models are workmen’s watches—utilitarian and absolutely classic. An appreciation for these models in particular, I feel, is indicative of how this president honors U.S. history: the Speedmaster was worn when man made his first steps on the moon, and a Seamaster was worn by JFK at his own inauguration—two incredibly prominent moments in the American story.”