Messages: 4918 Location: Texas
Registered: May 2006
A very special arrival
Fri, 28 December 2012 10:07
In August of 2011, my lovely wife gave me the best news ever; we were expecting our first child! A few weeks later, we found out it would be a boy and he was to arrive in April of 2012. After deciding on a name and all things baby, my next step was to find a watch to commemorate his birth.
There are infinite choices of watches to select from, and I was at a loss for what to get. I needed something that could stand the test of time, a timeless piece with a tried and true design. This watch needed to tell a story and have history behind it. I envisioned that at dinner, a ball game or just hanging out with my son, I would tell him all about this watch.
My goal is for my son to see the connection between his birth and the timepiece his old man wore.
Then it all came together when in January 2012 at Geneva's SIHH one model was presented and I immediately knew it was the one. This model comes from one of only two remaining watch companies still in the founding family hands going back to the 1800's. The watch is an iconic design and it started a new category never seen before, the sport luxury category. I know the brand well and its one I have the outmost respect for. Their timepieces are crafted second to none and I have been fortunate to own a few. But here was exactly what I wanted, a storied timepiece celebrating a milestone of its own and released on the same birth year of my son. Indeed it was the one!
Before I go into the watch, first a picture of my son on that beautiful April evening he arrived
Ok, let's do the unveiling
Can you tell the brand yet?
Now you know the brand, but which model?
Factory sealed, this piece never saw that case, good work AD!
Presenting the Audemars Piguet Extra-Thin Royal Oak 39mm 40th Anniversary "Jumbo" Reference 15202ST.00.124ST.01
The RGRC had to get in the shot!
Let's fully unwrap her now
I'll tell the little guy that daddy bought this watch on the same year he was born which was exactly 40 years after the first Royal Oak was introduced. I'll tell him I bought the watch to celebrate his arrival and that I had to wait almost 9 months to receive it, about the same amount of time I waited for him to arrive! I'll also tell him that a couple of months after receiving the watch, I myself turned 40. And then I'll tell him that the case number for the watch is 4001 (forty years and my first child, call it faith!) I'll bore him to death with stories about watches and the great people I have met while enjoying this hobby.
I showed him the watch today and at 8 months old he's less than impressed with it and more interested in the packaging. Perhaps over the next twenty or twenty-five years, the watch will grow on him because....this is HIS watch as I will be giving it to him when he's ready. For me, the most touching watch stories are those where watches are passed down to loved ones and I can't wait to give him all that I can in life including this very special timepiece.
Thanks for reading my post everyone. I hope 2013 brings you love, good fortune and health! Here are the some additional shots.
- galarza2073