Living With The Past: A Week With A 1940's Vintage Gallet Chronograph Watch

Well I did just that, and I have to say: vintage watches are a lot like modern watches functionally. Mechanical watch tech has not really come all that far. The biggest differences in today's and yesterday's watches are in size and the materials used. Further, what made a luxury watch in the early to mid 20th century, would not be the same today, even though a lot of the same brands are around. Anyone looking to figure out how to keep a brand alive for a long time needn't look any further than the watch industry.My specimen for experimentation was a freshly restored Gallet. I don't know much about the watch as it is exceedingly rare. But I can estimate that it was most likely manufactured in the early to mid 1940s (possibly 1930s). The watch was my grandfathers, and in pretty bad disrepair when I got it (no working, missing crystal, harsh oxidation). It's working again now, and on my wrist. I will spare you the details of the restoration process, but due to a difficulty in finding parts, this restoration project far exceeded the the norm and took about a year of sitting around waiting for parts. My mostly original Gallet came back to me in an impressive, yet obviously vintage state. I stay away from the term antique, because that would imply obsolescence, and that is simply not the case here. One can buy a perfectly modern watch with a similar movement and functionality as this little Gallet.Gallet is a Swiss brand that has been around for a while, probably near 100 years. They are currently trying to reinvigorate the brand.I am not really one of those "vintage guys." You know the types; who like to buy things at thrift stores and search antique sales because nothing today is "hip enough." I tend to like modern conveniences. The idea of driving a 'classic' car as my main ride without all the features I am used to in my post-2000 automobile is not very appealing. It is ironic really, because I have a deep appreciate for timeless works of engineering art. I just don't want to live with them everyday if they aren't up to modern expectations, and this probably is connected to my constant attention to the computer and electronics industry product lines. When it comes to watches, I am all about what is new, or newer. The vast majority of my watches were made after 1995, and in watch years that is pretty new. I like the materials used in modern watches, especially sapphire crystals, and the large size of watches that we are currently used to.So what would happen if I lived with a classic mechanical watch for a week straight? No other watch at all, no quartz or automatic winding movements, just a piece of history on my wrist, simply to discover how I dealt with it.