Sunday 21 August 2016

The simple life


There was me, only the other day, saying that I did not crave expensive watches, and now H.I. has me bidding on a Cartier for her. She has the identical model, but it has a cracked glass which will cost over £300 to replace. I cannot help but think that if it was a Timex, the glass would cost about £20 to replace. There's alot of snobbery involved in brand names - I mean, who on earth would spend £500 on a horrible little ceramic bauble of a polar bear which could easily be mistaken for something you can buy in a Disney shop?

It has always been like this, though. Whenever archeologists discover a beatifully made object which would have been very expensive 3000 years ago, they always say that the owner was keen to display his wealth. I think it is more a case of appreciating good craftsmanship, and it is just obvious that people with money can afford it a bit of extra gold inlay on their swords. The inlay doesn't make the sword more lethal any more than diamonds set into a Rolex make it more accurate in telling the time.

Try as they might, the Shakers just could not help but create things of visual beauty which would become highly sought after in the sales rooms when they made the deliberately ornament-free, entirely functional furniture. Things which do their job well by being designed sparingly - like unembellished swords - automatically become beautiful. Things which do not are almost always ugly.

Clearing clutter from our domestic lives has once again become fashionable, thanks to yet another silly self-help book which has recently been read by H.I.'s daughter and grand daughter. They are having a clear-out.

Green-Eyes turned up with a bag of stuff to give to her grand mother last week, and this junk was - in turn - given to her mother by her mother's mother (H.I.) when Green-Eye's mother was of a similar age or younger. Got that?

I looked inside the bag, and there were two, rough amber necklaces, some massive beads and bangles brought back from a trip to Morocco about 40 years ago, some necklaces made from sea-shells - in short, lots of stuff which H.I. would not have even worn then, let alone now. She told me to take them to the charity shop, which I did.

About five minutes after I had donated them, I ran into Green-Eyes, and she asked me what I had done with the clutter. I told her, and she almost screamed.

"Why did you do that? I could have sold them in a car-boot sale!"

After I had asked her why she didn't do that in the first place, I had the humiliating experience of returning to the charity shop where I found that every single piece of crap jewelry had been pounced on and was just about to be paid for by the eager buyers.

They were very understanding when I asked for it back, and I was very embarrassed and having to.

Green-Eyes is currently in Canada.




25 comments:

  1. Update: I just bought that watch - for £480. I have to admit that it was a bargain, though. It is gold-plated silver with a saphire set into the winder, and is in very good condition. With the banks just about to charge for holding money in savings accounts (the theiving bastards) H.I. is considering buying a few more watches...

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    1. I love wearing watches, and own about five of them. One is a 'Goofy' watch ca. 1980 which tells time backwards. It isn't really easy to tell time with. If I don't wear it for a long periods, the adjustment phase lasts a good few hours before I can actually figure out if it's 3.00 or 9.00. When confused, I consult my mobile.

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    2. Could be useful if you work nights.

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  2. I see that watches are now considered for oldies.

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    1. I think they have been since about 1970, except for the rich who still buy the expensive ones. I have rarely seen a young person consult their smart phones to know the time.

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    2. I suppose they carry a sundial

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  3. I do wear a watch that I bought from Tiffany ages ago. Its design is no longer made there.

    On to marble. Today's NY Times Sunday magazine supplement has a cover story about concerns over the ankles of Michelangelo's David. Would you like me to email the article to you? I haven't read it yet myself...too busy writing comments.

    Best wishes.

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    1. Is it the crack story? (Not back, sack and crack...) Yes please.

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    2. I've just emailed you the article.
      Now I will have to read it.
      Best wishes.

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    3. Thanks Frances - I will read it.

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  4. When it comes to beautiful and/or expensive things, people are motivated by different reasons. Some appreciate the quality and the beauty of an object, some just want to keep up with the 'Joneses'. But it's always easy to spot who's who.

    Green Eyes is lucky to have you. You do go the extra mile for her. Very caring, me thinks.

    And what, pray tell, is going on with David's ankles? Has all that endless standing around led to swelling and, God forbid, cankles?

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    1. I'll get back to you. I suspect he has the same age-related structural problems as me.

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    2. The article is available on line if anybody wants to read it.

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  5. I've only ever owned one good watch, and I managed to chip the glass. I had it replaced in Switzerland, then sold it on a specialist web page. I lost about £500 on the experience. I don't wear a watch any more.

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  6. Sorry Tom, I didn't get it...I don't understand your family set up..is HI the grandmother? who is the mother? is green eyes the grand daughter? and the amber belonged to HI originally? and I was amazed that you had the balls to go back to the charity shop..is the stuff online now? errmmmm wtf..doesn't really matter does it. You are right about the simple/beautiful and how we are drawn to it, and I feel lost without a watch...I wear a very plain and simple white face vintage longines that I bought online, but before that I wore a smashing leather strap one from Next...both are good. The collection of watches always seems to be in fashion for monetary purposes, and once when my parents were leaving the Dominican Republic my ma was amazed when the American lady (they thought she was some sort of military or ambassadorial or spy type) they were sat next to on the plane, rolled up her sleeves to show them the eight or nine watches she was wearing on each arm! as my parents are very provincial unworldly types the flying was making them nervous and she kindly managed to wave them through all kinds of passport controls at both ends of the journey....perhaps she was gangster!!

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    1. You summed it up in the first 5 lines. My father quite often wore 2 watches - mainly to keep the other up to temperature to adjust the time. That woman must have set off a few alarms, surely?

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  7. In the late 60s my grandmother exchange her small watch with my plastic one which had big black numbers on it, because she couldn't read the small "diamond" dotted numbers on hers. I still wind it up every day but I do not wear it; now the dots are too small for me to read.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. I cannot be bothered with clockwork anymore - I cannot be bothered with old ignition systems on vintage cars either.

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  8. Well done on the Cartier watch. You seem to really know your way around Ebay.

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    1. I think we struck lucky. I have, though, spotted and bought two 'Brighton Bun' candlesticks which the seller did not know could be screwed together as a travelling set, within one week of each other. Dealers try to sell them for about £400 - I paid £13 for one and £35 for the other.

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  9. I have not worn a watch for forty years, ever since I realized how many ways there are to tell the time. My 17 year old granddaughter would not be without that big round timepiece on her wrist and smart phone in her back pocket.

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    1. In a little village near here, the locals tell the time by looking between a large bull's back legs.

      It stands in front of the only gap in the trees through which you can see the church clock, you see.

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