How I settled upon the watch I would pass down to my son

Ricardo Sime

In the seven years I’ve been collecting watches, I’ve been lucky enough to hear so many stories about unique timepieces being passed down through generations. There was a time where at almost every event I went to, someone would regale me with stories about that special person whose watch they now posses and cherish. Sons, daughters, grandchildren; all witness to how a watch can embody much more than a movement. It was through their stories that I realised just how much I wanted to be that person for the generations after me.

With that thought ever present in my mind, I decided in early 2018, after years of flipping watches, that I wanted a noteworthy watch I felt was worthy of passing down. I ended up selling most of my collection and saved enough money to reach a sum that, at that time, would represent the most I had ever spent on a timepiece. Knowing that I wanted something special, I didn’t want to deal with the constraints a smaller budget would pose. Once that was out of the way, I began my journey in earnest to find a watch that truly represented me. Something I wouldn’t find myself getting rid of in a month or two.

But where to start? I knew that I wanted a diver with a versatile aesthetic. Something that could take years of abuse without losing its look. I also wanted to buy a watch from a brand that I knew would last. When taking all these prerequisites into account, the search at times seemed impossible. Until one day, while reviewing the releases from Baselworld 2017, I came across the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Steel. Here was a watch that felt was made for me. A monochromatic color scheme with a touch of red. A diver with a great versatile look. Within a week I tracked down a used version in pristine condition and a week later, it was on my wrist.

From that day forward, my Black Bay Steel and I went every where. Vacations, beaches, hiking trips. A ton of meetups. Wherever I’d go, chances are that watch was on my wrist. Before I knew it, I was already celebrating a year of ownership, wondering where else my watch and I would go. Yet, before I could plan the next getaway, I was reminded of why I bought the watch in the first place.

After nearly a year of trying, my wife and I were blessed with the greatest news. We were going to be parents and I was going to be a dad. In a few months time, a little human being would be looking to me for guidance, for unconditional love and looking up to me as a role model. Every decision I would make came with the knowledge that a small set of eyes would be watching. In that moment, how I viewed my collection and how I collected took on new meaning. Here was my opportunity to become that person I had heard so many talk about.

During my wife’s pregnancy, I wrestled with the idea of getting another watch to celebrate this occasion. I questioned whether the Black Bay Steel was good enough. Was it truly worthy of what I was asking it to be; the watch that would represent me for years to come. But as time progressed, I realised that there wasn’t another watch. Nothing could replace what the Black Bay had come to mean to me in such a short period of time.

So, on October 17, 2019, as I welcomed my boy into this world, I couldn’t dream of wearing another watch. In that moment, I knew no watch in my current and even future collection could rival the Black Bay Steel’s place. This would be the watch I would pass down to my son, the watch he would remember me by. The watch his dad wore almost everywhere. We would share moments together with this watch and for every scratch and dent, there would be a story to tell. But more than anything, this would be the watch his dad wore when he realized it didn’t matter what watch he passed down. The only thing that mattered was the person he was passing it down to.