Messages: 6716 Location: California
Registered: January 2007
A Fish Story and a Watch to Boot
Mon, 18 March 2013 22:05
A Fish Story with a Watch to Boot
Every night for the past 32 years Mitsuo Onizuka would take the gold Girard-Perregaux watch he received in 1980 for 25 years of service at Vons market off his left wrist and gently place it on a nightstand.
In the morning, he'd put the watch back on.
Onizuka, who retired as a district manager from Vons in 1989, says it was the best job he ever had and the best watch ever, a 14k-gold engraved Girard-Perregaux timepiece he says hasn't lost a second in its fourth decade of tick, tick ticking
Mr. Onizuka or Mits as he is called by all of his fishermen friends on the lake who in retirement is an avid fisherman lost his watch on Irvine Lake in Southern California in November of last year in a fishing accident.
The watch was retrieved by another fisherman by accident after sitting on the bottom of the lake for a month. After some searching the fisherman found Mits and returned the Girard Perregaux watch to him. The watch after 40 years had found the one thing that could stop it-one month under water.
At the time of the incident Mike Margolis, the President of Girard-Perregaux North America heard about the watch and offered to have it restored at no charge by Girard-Perregaux in La Chaux de Fond.
Mits sent the watch to Mike who had it restored.
On Monday of this week I had the privilege of being there as Mike who was in California for some meetings decided to take a detour to Irvine Lake and deliver Onizuka his watch in person.
All original parts that could not be reused were returned to Mits
What a joyous reunion it was. Mits was reunited with his daily companion of 32 years (his wife of 52 years is still in first place)
To show is gratitude Mits, his wife and grandson took us out on an afternoon cruise of the lake
Mike wearing his Girard-Perregaux Annual for the event
Of course there were lots of fish stories, those that were caught and those that got away but in the end after 32 years this one stayed put
Kevin
Moderator, Girard-Perregaux Forum and Glashütte Original Forum
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
- kev5366