JLS

My grandfather died on August 23, 1972. I never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Joecephis Lee Snodgrass but I hear tell that he was a wonderful man. I like to think that him and I were alike in many ways. I picture him as kind of quiet at first but when he warmed up to you the personality came through. He had to have a sense of humor. Living with the likes of my mother, grandmother, 5 aunts, and my Uncle Tom, it's hard to picture him with anything BUT a sense of humor. A crazy wonderful family! Yeah, I can tell that him and I had a lot in common.

The legend has it that my grandfather passed with this '69 Hamilton Electronic watch on his wrist. Armco Steel Corporation presented it to him "In recognition of 27 years of loyal and faithful service" mining for coal in the West Virgina mountains. Amazing. 27 years.

My grandma Bea kept the watch in the original presentation box for 14 years. She gave it to my mother sometime in March of '86 telling her that it hasn't worked for years and that none of the jewelers knew what was wrong with it. When she handed it to my mom, it started ticking. From then on, the watch was my mothers.

I have vague memories of that box with my grandfather's name on it. It traveled with us on our move from Llano to Marble Falls, ever present on my mother's dresser. I think my dad wore it several times. But still, it never worked.

Several years ago I started getting interested in watches. I randomly looked at the watch to see what kind it was but of course it didn't say Rolex, Omega, or Breitling so I didn't think much of it. Until December 24th, 2010.....

My mom was sitting on the bed in my old room when she called me in. There wasn't much ceremony when she handed me the box. All she said was "I want you to have this". Something came over me. I knew how much this meant to both of us but didn't realize it until then. She told me the story about when she got it as I looked closer. I noticed how beautiful the face was, how pristine the hands were, how polished the case was. When I turned it over, it was ticking.

Tears were shed and a legacy was passed on to me. I knew what I had to do.


I found out as much as I could about the watch. Brand, history, movement, etc. all came easy.

Hamilton Electronic's pre-date Quartz watches. It wasn't an automatic but it wasn't quartz. There was a race amongst all of the big watch companies to make the most efficient time keeping device out there. The Accutron won but there was a huge market for Electronic and Electric watches.

The problem was that the market didn't last long. To me this meant that it was going to be hard to find someone to fix my grandfather's watch.

As fate would have it, London was calling........


.....to be continued.