in Framingham, Massachusetts, twenty miles west of Boston, with my
3-3/4 year old son to get a snack. He hasn't napped so he's just
hanging on to serenity by a thread. Sitting next to me is a gentleman,
casually dressed in very fine clothing, sporting an asymmetric watch in
a white metal. Hmmmm. I can't help but stare. You know what question I'd
like to ask, but the man is talking with a female companion and I don't
want to be rude, so I bite my tounge.
Ah, serendipity....they make like they are going to arm wrestle and the
woman asks me to count to three. I oblige. The woman tries to win
and the man makes like he's in casual conversation with me, showing he
is not feeling any exertion. I play along, "Please tell me about your
watch," I say.
"It is a Patek Philippe." He takes it off and allows me to handle it.
It is gorgeous. I reciprocate and hand him my VC Jubile 1755. It is not
a fair trade, but the least I could do. He tells me that I'm only the
second person to take notice of his watch. It's hard having a proper
conversation with him, since my son keeps interrupting. I hand the
watch back to him with thanks. Preventing the thread of serenity from
being cut in a public space trumps WISdom.
Folks, it was a 3424 in platinum. They don't make them like they used
to and they hardly made them then. This is the best picture I could
find on the net, though it is of a white gold model (from Antiquorum).