[Longines] My aunt gave me this watch and it somehow made me sad

I have never been interested in watches. I have always thought it was just something on one’s wrist that tells time. Yet, I have this memory of being gifted by my aunt, my mother’s eldest sister, a particular watch during particular phases in my life.

My aunt’s sister is like my second mother, one who took care of me as a child when my mother couldn’t. We are quite close. She doesn’t have a family of her own, but she considers me her son.

My aunt gave me my first watch— a quartz piece from Timex with a black leather strap—which I used during my elementary years. In high school, I sported another Timex with a golden steel band.

When I graduated from college, she gave me my first automatic watch—a Bulova with a stunning steel band. This watch was my go-to for six years until 2018 when I bought an Apple Watch for myself.

Now, I have always been happy with the smartwatch because of how it made my world smaller as I could do everything with my phone from my wrist. Beyond that, I never really had an eye for timepieces, let alone expensive ones.

Just this December, when our family got together during the Christmas holidays, she gave me this blue Longines Presence watch.

I protested at first, saying I wasn’t comfortable accepting this expensive gift. I know Longines isn’t a particularly high-end luxury brand in the hierarchy of things, but I considered this to be beyond absurd. I knew I would never buy a watch at this price point.
“Don’t worry. It’s an older model,” she said. “I got it at a big discount,” she laughed.

When I dropped off my aunt and my mother at the airport after the new year, I suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia, joy, and sadness that stormed inside me.

Somehow, I was shuttled back to that time when I was still that silly kid running to her lap after school, sporting a Timex watch on my bruised arm. I remember going through the highs and lows of my teenage years with a battery-operated watch that she gave me and how she was proud of my little academic achievements despite it all.

I pulled through episodes of loneliness and depression (which I never told anyone about) with my first automatic watch after college, a timepiece I have neglected through the years but now hold dearly.

And somehow, after we gave each other a short goodbye at the terminal gates, I just thought of the amount of time that must have unknowingly slipped between us and how I dearly miss her and my family in my most quiet moments.

I have never been interested in watches yet here I am marveling at the blue hues of this thing on my wrist and already considering something I never thought I’d do in this lifetime—scouting for my next timepiece purchase.

Thank you for listening to my rant.