Mom's prepping her house to rent out, which means removing a bunch of stuff from my childhood room. Not much in there, to be honest. A handful of toys (Lego, PlayMobil, Super Nintendo console and other high-quality vintage stuff) are worth keeping {feels old}. The rest is organized in a plastic box, aka the mystery box.
The mystery box is a great source of inspiration. There's always something in there to tell a story, or to photograph, or to remember someone. Most are trinkets. Others are kinda valuable. It's the case with this silver Omega pocket watch.
Omega Grand Prix Paris 1900
Dad can never remember whose watch this was and grandpa is no longer here to confirm. He says for sure it passed from his uncle to my grandpa, then to him and, finally, to me. However, the person who originally owned the watch is a mystery.
Omega Grand Prix Paris 1900
Years ago I did extensive research about the watch. If memory doesn't fail me, the serial number dates it back to 1913ish. Possibly my great-grandpa bought it?! The back reads: Omega Paris Grande Prix 1900, which refers to Omega's Grand Prize winning at the Universal Exposition in Paris. Experts say pretty much every early 20th century Omega had that stamped onto the back cover.
Source: Omegawatches.com
I don't think this watch is rare, even though it's made of 900 silver. Can you imagine carrying a silver pocket watch and a bunch of silver coins in your pockets in early 1910's? Talk about heavy trousers {\o/}.
The mechanism still works. Loud, but works. I used to keep the watch on my bedside table, but the tic-tac disturbed my sleep. Plus, one has to remember to manually wind the watch daily. Yes, younger Padawans, wind the watch. No bateries, just pure spring-loaded gears.
Winding crown
A #photographylovers post cannot be without talking about the photos, right? Well, here's what happened: le wild dog ate my camera's SD card. Yup... I forgot the stupid SD somewhere and stupider dog ate it. I never heard of developing photos through a dog's butt. Got a new SD on the way from mom's place and decided to test. The result are the photos here presented.
Back cover
I never realized how hard it is to photograph a watch under natural light. Or any light for that matter. Turn a little bit to one side and the glass shines; a bit to the other and the silver shines. Holly madness!
In the end, the photos turned out boooooring. I was about to give up before hitting the magical button: Black & White! Now I have something. The shadows appeared and the dull colors hid.
The lens used here is a 1980's all-manual 50mm from a Nikon F1 (the only lens I have). It plugs perfectly into the more modern (2013) Nikon D7100. The photos are taken in f2.8 and f4, ISO 100, and whatever speed the camera chooses (aperture priority).
Can you guess the book?
I'm no photography geek of any sort, let alone in B&W. What hooks me is finding photography-worthy items and grabbing stuff around the house to build the scene. Works more or less as a meditation moment. Layers, shadows, depth — all very interesting.
I hope that you've enjoyed today's story.
Peace.
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
