Why I love ... fob watches

In a feature designed to lift self-isolation spirits, we asked people to share their passions.

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Here retired lecturer Rob Walls, from East Yorkshire, talks about his love of fob watches.

The time-pieces have seen something of a resurgence thanks to BBC TV thriller series Peaky Blinders.

The White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland also wore a pocket watch, while Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s amateur detective, would be under-dressed without one.

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The correct name for a watch collector is a horologist. I don’t consider myself as a horologist as I can’t repair them but I do take off the back and admire the precision of the wheels and the clockwork motion and the beauty and fine detail inside a watch.

I put a small amount of watch oil in and close them up.

I like to keep them wound up and I wear one most days. I do like a nice watch and I have six in working order.

My first pocket watch was a Hunter made of brass. A Hunter has a closed case. It was given to me as a 21st birthday present by my late wife.

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This was the mid-1970s at the end of the hippy days. I always wore a denim waistcoat, so the watch looked the part of “being me” and it went along with the badges on my shirt and the patches sewn on my jeans.

I still treasure the watch and it now has a long link chain and a brass claw holding an agate marble.But it’s not just about the watch, it’s the chains and the fobs and all you can attach to them.

I have a World War One trench pocket watch with a World War Two compass on a silver double Albert chain.

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This has a 1935 silver sports fob on the T-bar – the bit you put through your buttonhole.

These are all military issue ... we can only imagine the stories they could tell.Among my eclectic collection of fobs, I have a pocket barometer by Aitchison, of London. This was before he met Mr Dolland and opened an optician’s.

I also own a pomander on a single chain, chatelaine, propelling pencil and, my latest addition that I do treasure, small 1920s mirror that has an Egyptian pyramid look.

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I also have a number of watch stands which are on my bedside cabinet – all with a different watch to hold.

I have stands with steel cases on leather straps to hold miners’ watches and an ornate white marble one.

However, the star lot is a Mauchline Ware stand with a picture of Bridlington sea front.

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It holds my gold pocket watch with a gold double Albert chain, gold compass fob and a gold letter seal on the other end. That’s the one which is worth the money.

I do have a small wooden pillar box with a round glass front which holds my 1950s Dan Dare pocket watch. This one I dropped but I had it repaired for all the right sentimental reasons.

As I wear a watch you have to wear a waistcoat to show it off. The denim one is long gone but I do own a number of them, essential wear for the ageing hippy along with shirt and jeans without the patches.

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My hippy days are still with me, as I do have a few badges and brooches, but the hair is a lot shorter these days.

I like to spend my time looking for the more unusual things in the ‘time-piece world’. I visit antique fairs and car boot sales looking for the next addition to my collection. I would like to think my son or grandson would like them in the future.

Watches, chains, fobs, stands and waistcoats are inseparable and should all stay together.

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They are of course still of use to tell the time and they do look good when you are dressed to go out.

Most important of all, as a grandfather to two wonderful children, you can only play What time is it Mr Wolf? with a pocket watch!

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