1

A Day
Observed

A story presented by

Scene 1:
‘Morning’

It was a bright cold day with glassy surfaces that looked hard.
Into the square frame he stood as if in a dream.

What emerged was precisely what he expected to find: a reflection of memory images. Contemplating his face in the photo frame he waited.

1960s lucite and chrome 3 image photo frame

By the steady hands of his watch, he listened to time. Every day for the past sixteen days he saw her. Silver lingered in the crease of
an open book.

Rolex burlwood dial, Jubilee bracelet Miniature
oar English university trophy, sterling silver.

So absorbed in his thoughts
he hardly saw the platinum catch-all, the key, or the revelation locked inside those lapis lazuli cufflinks tossed unmistakably in cold blue.

Hans Hanson catch-all. Mid-century, Danish sterling silver. Stirrup money clip, by Hermès. Padlock keyring, sterling silver " Tie bar-slide " Round lapis lazuli cufflinks" Square cufflinks, two tone rose and yellow gold, diamond."

Only by whirling on his heel could he hope to comprehend
the panorama.

Shoe horn, circa 1930. American sterling silver
Scene 2:
‘Noon’

He remained.Trapped in that enormous room,
unmistakably familiar in feeling yet so peculiar.

Above the mantle was
displayed an Austrian hound
of impeccable integrity.

Hagenauer sculpture, 1930

His gaze fell on the letter opener. By accident she had learnt more about his life from the contents of that letter than anywhere.

Dunhill letter opener with lighter top, circa 1950

Cleopatra’s eye reflected
the sun. Through the hypnotism
of precious metals there
emerged a dark slender shadow.

Cleopatra’s eye magnifying glass. Mid-century, gold plated
Hermès weighted pen. Silver plated.

A lighter presented itself, smooth to the touch
it gave the impression of
intelligent company.

Table lighter St Dupont, circa 1960. Gold plate
Scene 3:
‘Evening’

All this time light was receding from the room.

“I should explain why I spend so much time here”, said the silhouette. Leaves moved like shadows across her eyes.

Hermès rope bottle opener. Plated silver.

It’s not too late to turn back. Time moved with faint sounds.

Venini hourglass. Hand-blown lurid Murano glass.

He unscrewed the telescopic cup, rolled and remained still. Black eyes on the dice prophesied a new cycle.

Telescopic cup, J. E. Cauldwell. Gold plated. Dice,
Cartier for America. Vitreous enamel glass, silver

Staring down at the varnished surface her mouth worried him while her eyes examined the gold cufflink.

Audemar Piguet evening watch. gold plated, Roman dial, alligator strap
Scene 4:
‘Night’

Everything went crashing black.

Pale graceful hands placed
the gold stud box delicately
on the table.

Men’s Edwardian jewellery box, 1910. Gold plated.
Mid-century British cigar ashtray. Sterling silver and crystal.

He lit a match to make sure the watch had really stopped. Smoke lingered from its vesta case.

Realist wrapped tobacco leaf march vesta. Silver.

As the travel clock neared
one the figure vanished into dappled shadows.

Art Deco Jaeger LeCoultre travel clock.
Gold and silver plated. Retailed by Aspray.

On the newly varnished table two bronze shot cups sat alive like in a dream.

Tooth shot cup by Foundwell. Bronze and silver plated.
Set of 4, 3 silver 1 gold. Heath & Midleton champagne decanters circa 1900.
Sterling silver and glass.
The End

‘A DAY OBSERVED’
A story by FOUNDWELL
Photography Matthieu Lavanchy, creative direction OK-RM,
notes by Kate O’Brien and objects selected by Alan Bedwell

‘A DAY OBSERVED’
A story by FOUNDWELL
Photography Matthieu Lavanchy,
creative direction OK-RM
notes by Kate O’Brien
and objects selected by Alan Bedwell

Early and Rare Sterling Silver Gorham Martini Mixing Bucket

Golf Cocktail Shaker
and Matching Golf Bag Cup

Sterling Silver Woven Bottle Coaster

Foundwell

A SELECTION OF ITEMS BY THE PRODUCER OF
CRAFTED GOODS & PURVEYOR OF ANTIQUE WATCHES,
JEWELLERY & OTHER SUCH OBJECTS

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An automatic stainless steel and eighteen carat white gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust reference 16234 model. This example has a black dial, simple and classic silver 'stick' marker dial, with white printing and a Roman chapter ring, just clean hash indices. This dial is wonderful as it really has many color 'personalities'. As can be seen in the images taken of the watch, it appears very dark black. However, in direct sunlight it is a gorgeous, almost a bronze like, colour!

The watch comes on a Rolex Jubilee style stainless steel and white gold bracelet, with the center links in eighteen carat white gold. The fluted bezel is also in solid eighteen carat white gold. This is a more modern case that has the lug holes covered. Known as the "no holes" case. This was an improvement that Rolex made to the Oyster case toward the end of the 1990's, making this one of the first iterations of this case.

The watch is powered by a Rolex, Swiss made, thirty-one jewel automatic caliber 3135 movement that powered the majority of all Rolex models since its launch in 1988, from the Datejust to the Submariner. These later models can be identified as they do not have the earlier, characteristic, 'pie pan' style dial. This model also comes with the more ergonomic 'Quick Set' date function, and the newly designed smaller profile case, all of which were introduced in the 1970's. 

The dial is marked "Swiss Made" at the bottom, below the six o'clock marker. This signifies that the luminous material used on the dial had now moved away from the radioactive Tritium. The new material came from a Japanese company called Nemoto and Co., which specialized in producing luminous paint. Their new compound, called Luminova, was photoluminescent rather than radioactive, making it entirely harmless. Additionally, it was not prone to fading or discoloration like its predecessors; tritium and Radium. Luminova was far superior to tritium, and by 1998, Rolex began using it on their watches. These are now rare and collectible, as the production run was around two years, and are marked simply "Swiss". By 2000, Rolex had switched to Super Luminova, a slightly improved version of Luminova that was sold through a different supplier. These dials were marked "Swiss Made", like this one presented here. Being that this watch was made in 2000, it is one of the first batch of the Super Luminova dials. In 2008, Rolex announced a switch from Super Luminova to its own proprietary compound, Chromalight.

The watch was made circa 2000 with serial number P954XXX . The watch is in very good original condition, it is worn, but unpolished. The dial is perfect with all the original Super Luminova luminous material present and glowing evenly under UV light. The same goes for the classic Rolex baton hands, all of which match perfectly  The bracelet is very tight with little sign of sagging. The watch has come straight from a full service and comes with a Foundwell one-year warranty against mechanical failure. The watch is a very complete example with its original Rolex paperwork and green leather wallet, box, outer box with the correct reference sticker, hang tags and service documentation, including latest service.  A great opportunity to own a classic, easy to wear very complete Rolex now twenty two years old.

 


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Item Dimensions
Case Size
1.417 inches (3.59918cm)