340. A NICE BOX FROM LONGINES…

By: muzill.mansor

I have quite a reasonable collection of watch boxes, be it plastic, leather, wood and lacquer. Some boxes are still nicely wrapped waiting to be filled up despite my rather handsome collections.

Nonetheless, this one box is rather special for it carries the ‘Longines’ brand name. It has spaces to fit in five watches as well as spaces for cufflinks and rings.

The only dilemma is I do not collect rings or cufflinks…

Maybe, it is a hint from my dear friend who presented me the box…for me to also pick up another line of collections…hahaha.

Nope, watchwise I'll be better off maintaining my status quo as as a loyal fan, collector and retailer...

A TALE OF WATCH BOXES

They come in all specifications, dimensions, colours, shapes and sizes. One thing for sure is these boxes do serve a purpose, i.e. to store safely the collections of watches for any situation. One is spoilt for choice due to the sheer elegant of the well crafted boxes being retailed at apparently reasonable prices.  

I have always adopted a very simplistic approach in the early days of collection history. Any empty box would sufficed the need to store away safely watches purchased. Simple old shoe boxes, old kain pelikat boxes or even any old box would be no big deal as they come quite handy.

I witnessed a few fellow collectors also share such a simplistic approach when I visited them to collect watches ordered, purchased and fully paid for. It was common to see watches purchased appearing from old shoe boxes. I thought it was pretty cool and neat though. No hassle...

I guess big time collectors with expensive collections would resort to expensive boxes to match their priceless collections.

No matter how the watches are kept and where there are stored is irrelevant so long as they are safe, secured and easily retrieved and we, collectors are pretty happy.

One problem though cropped up when the collections get bloated and memory started to stutter. Reconciling inventory of watches with the actual whereabouts can be a daunting task. More so, when old shoe boxes sometimes turn up empty. That's when the boiling point suddenly hit the roof and someone conveniently becomes the target.

So, recently before Ramadhan I consulted a friend, a watch dealer who partly owns a watch outlet at a major shopping complex in Ipoh and told him of my storage predicament.

He provided me with a very sound and convincing solution. ORGANISE!  Use the right boxes with proper labellings.

I ended up emptying my pockets picking a few of those boxes and he ended up clearing a few counters with a broad grin.

1.0   TRAVELLING LEATHER BOX OF TWO WATCHES

2.0   TRAVELLING LEATHER BOX OF FOUR WATCHES

3.0   LEATHER BOX OF FIVE WATCHES

4.0   LEATHER BOX OF TEN WATCHES

5.0   WALNUT WOODEN BOX OF TEN WATCHES

6.0   MAPLE WOODEN RAVEL BOX OF TWELVE WATCHES

And ...that’s the story of the day.