Greetings,
Everyone.
I am Morpheus,
And I am a watch collector.
Phew.
Glad that bit is out of the way.
According to the 12-step program developed by.
.
.
Alcoholics Anonymous.
Identifying the addiction condition issue.
Whatever it may be,
And putting a name on it.
Stepping up to it and embracing it.
Is the first action to take on the road to recovery.
This is because so often we skirt around these things,
But it's only when we Give the thing a name.
That we're able to begin change.
It's a bit of practical alchemy,
As it were.
Be that as it may.
I'm not really a watch addict.
I look around my Morpheus cave.
And note that there are probably other items on display that would indicate an addiction of some description.
Books,
CDs,
Guitars,
Basses,
Various Japanese masks hanging on the wall.
Perhaps my condition is one of healing.
Avarice rather than addiction.
But.
.
.
In my defense.
My books are necessary tools for change.
Entertainment,
And continuing self-education.
Music too falls in that same basket.
And guitars.
Also,
Actually.
And,
Really.
.
.
The interest in music goes back such a long time.
That Morpheus without musical guitars would be.
Last simple.
And getting back to these guitars,
Which I may talk about one day.
Of course they're all different.
There's some electric.
And there's Class School.
A couple of classicals,
Different makers,
Different woods,
Different results,
All that kind of thing.
And most recently,
Lots of efforts in the base department.
Much to the consternation of my wife.
Blessed be she.
But anyway.
.
.
I could go on about.
Basses and guitars and things.
But this little.
Excerpt is about time.
You may ask.
Why is Morpheus concerned with time and its passing?
Seeing he is immortal after all.
Well.
.
.
Even demigods need a hobby.
To clarify.
The interest is not in the concept of time itself,
Which is nothing more than a human construct.
But in the gizmos of measurement developed over such a long period.
And to refine that further.
.
.
No plastic,
No batteries,
No digital,
Leaving only analog,
Spring-driven,
Wind-up,
Or automatic,
With minimal complications.
You may think I'm being overly simplistic and specific.
But.
.
.
Complications add cost.
They are clever clutter,
As anything beyond a date and perhaps a GMT,
Anne.
Tends to confuse the display,
In my humble opinion.
Morpheus prefers the classic clean look.
And the same could be extended to other elements of interest I mentioned before,
Such as playing bass.
A clean,
Classic sound above anything warped,
Fuzzed,
Or compressed.
None of that dangling your base at knee level.
What on earth is that about?
Some people.
Anyway,
I digress.
Without a watch,
Morpheus feels naked.
As without a hat,
Morpheus is hairless.
So these things aren't cosmetic or decorative.
They're just a simple necessity.
Looking back.
.
.
I believe my first watch proudly worn.
Was given to me as a birthday present around the age of 11.
That looked like the works,
With appealing features,
And I remember feeling rather grown up wearing it.
I would tell the time to my friends,
Even though they didn't ask for it.
I would time events to see their duration.
I would pinpoint true north by aligning the hour hand with the sun and dividing the distance to the minute hand by half,
And thus obtaining true north.
An old boy's scowl trick,
Apparently.
Even though I was never a Boy Scout.
The only thing that watch wasn't.
Was shockproof.
As I soon discovered after playing a vigorous game of tennis or something that boys do.
Only to discover that the dial had broken loose and was rattling around limply in its case,
Rendering the watch completely useless.
Morpheus was disappointed and beside himself.
Questioning whether or not his father in this life had only bought him a toy for a boy.
Rather than a chronograph fit for a demigod.
People made mistakes,
But just to get even.
I borrowed his prized Rolex for a bit.
I'm not quite sure how long that bit was.
It seems a little bit vague at the present moment.
But I noticed after a while that he was less of a man without it.
And so I returned the watch to its true owner.
Such true lessons in life are rare,
But figure importantly,
Don't you think?
Plastic digital contraptions proved entertaining for a short spell.
But somehow I knew that it was up to me to secure a real timepiece from the fruit of my labors.
Plastic,
Battery-driven,
Mass-produced factory lineups didn't figure.
And to this day,
I guffaw at those fancy crystal-encrusted fruit-named watches that sync with everything from their phones to their computers,
Telling them the number of steps they've taken,
The state of the body,
And the number of times they have evacuated their bowels,
Nonetheless.
Where do we draw the line here?
I say,
Enough of this.
Let's live in the much less complicated world of analog.
And appreciate the craft of the craftspeople.
Authentic creators and live music.
Oof.
I seem to be getting a bit off topic again.
No matter.
My dear wife.
Blessed be she.
Noticed my unadorned wrist and a lack of timely behaviors?
And took it upon herself to treat me to my first real watch.
A Rolex Datejust.
Superb in function,
Smooth in movement.
And bought in Hong Kong in celebration of completion of a master's degree.
A cause for celebration indeed.
As in those days before.
Online tertiary learning was a thing.
The postgraduate courses were literally done by post.
And we had to send our assignments in via snail mail.
Fondly remembered times.
It seems.
As I'm writing this,
Or reading this,
Whatever I'm doing.
Is that Morpheus is getting a bit sentimental about the past.
Hmm perhaps revealing his true age So be it.
Satisfied Morpheus was with this classic timepiece.
It reminded me much of the relics that I had briefly borrowed from my father earlier on in my life.
Satisfied,
Yes,
For rather a long period of time,
Until I heard about the spring drive.
Yes,
He is.
What an invention.
Developed by Seiko.
The same company that knocked a hole in Swiss watch sales by introducing the quartz watch in 1969.
Try saying that little tongue twister again if you can.
Swiss watch sales.
Swishwatch shows.
You get the idea.
Swiss watch sale.
Swish.
SwissWatchSales.
SwissWatchStates.
Soon.
Spring drive takes the mechanical energy from a wind-up spring.
And through a process of induction.
Converts the mechanical energy to electricity.
That powers a court's movement.
All in miniature.
And involving microhertz amounts of power.
Fantastic stuff.
And accuracy of plus or minus five seconds over.
God knows,
24 hours or more.
I love that it has a crystal back,
So that in the numerous times waiting for my wife,
I can take the watch off my wrist.
Turn it over and look at the guts of it in never-ending awe.
I have researched Spring Drive rather carefully.
As it is an amazing mechanism worth studying.
And trying to find the bits and pieces in the actual movement is a challenge due to their diminutive size.
Wonderful precision engineering.
A little wonder took decades to refine.
Probably the only negative aspect of that particular watch is the leather strap,
Which tends to melt in the Tokyo summer heat,
As it absorbs my salty sweat and simply dissolves over time.
My first response was to buy an authentic replacement,
But at a ¥30,
000 price tag.
It was a one-time thing only.
I eventually found a replacement at 3000 yen.
Or something ridiculous like that.
Also leather,
But without the Seiko stamp of approval.
And it has already survived a string of sweaty summers.
Without dissolving.
Caveat emptor.
Let the buyer beware,
As it were.
Another one-time instance resulted from some dedicated internet shopping.
That I thought yielded a classic restored Seiko from a more simple.
.
.
Upon arrival and inspection,
Morpheus,
To this day,
Is not entirely sure if it is authentic or some copy.
I suspect the latter.
Even now when I look at the dial,
It seems to be made of some cardboard-like substance.
Better not to dwell on that for too long.
There are some other chronometers that I could spend your time blabbering on about.
But I shall resist.
Maybe by now.
The dulcet tones of Morpheus have caused you to drift off into blissful relaxation and recuperative sleep.
All well if that is the case.
But if not.
.
.
Than make room for.
One more masterpiece.
The Kūʻōe Oldsmith.
Handcrafted in Kyoto and pleasantly affordable.
As they do not make their own automatic movement,
But use one supplied by Miyota.
Not as accurate as the Seiko,
But the brass casing,
Ceramic dial,
And leather strap Make this a classic design.
Such simple things in life are a good thing,
For sure.
But don't let these wee things fool you.
There are movements now called coaxial escapements,
And above that,
The amazing tourbillon.
In the end.
If you get hooked on this stuff.
You will have to decide between your house and home.
Or the height of miniaturized engineering that fits unobtrusively on your wrist.
I know which one I would choose.
Thanks for listening.
