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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A stainless steel and eighteen carat gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust reference 16013. This is an exceptional, and quite rare dial; a sand base with large printed black Roman numerals, chapter ring and printing for the text. This is a less common combination, and is particularly interesting given the classic Rolex baton hands are also painted black, really standing out from the dial. These dials are often seen in white with black printing, or even the navy with white printing. It is very beautiful on the wrist.


The dial is stamped "T Swiss T" at the six o'clock position, meaning that it contains tritium luminous material. This material replaced the highly dangerous, and radioactive Radium in 1963. Just like radium, tritium was also radioactive; however, it came with a much lower level of radiation and a much shorter half-life. While tritium was exponentially safer than radium, it only had a half-life of twelve years. This meant that after just a few decades, only a tiny fraction of the initial luminescence would remain. Additionally, as tritium ages, the color changes, which creates often beautiful, and highly sought after patinas on the luminous markers on these older Rolex watches. Tritium was far from perfect, which lead Rolex to search for a better alternative, which happened in 1998 with the introduction of Luminova. The Tritium in this case is all original to the dial, is in perfect condition with every lume plot in tact and in perfect condition. The color is a very beautiful warm latté color, and the same for the hands. All of which respond the same under ultra violet light.


The watch is powered by a Rolex, Swiss made, twenty seven jewel automatic calibre 3035 movement that powered all of the acrylic crystal Datejust quick set date models. These models can be told apart from one another as they do not have the earlier, characteristic, 'pie pan' style dial. They have the newly designed completely flat dials.

The watch is fitted to a much less common Rolex  stainless  steel and eighteen carat gold Oyster bracelet with removable links in place, which, if needed, can be taken out to make the bracelet smaller. It is a later addition  to the watch, as presumably the prior owner replaced a damaged or stretched out original version with this one twenty two years ago in the year 2000, as per the AB date code. There is very little stretch to it given its now twenty two years of wear, is still strong and tight.  These more modern versions of the Oyster bracelet are definitely superior. The links are thick, as is the large amount of solid gold used on the center links. They are not as hollow as their earlier counterparts. These later versions were definitely improved from a manufacturing and design perspective. 


The watch was made circa 1985 with serial number 875XXXX. The watch is in original condition, showing signs of light polishing to case. However, the case is very strong, with thick lugs.The watch comes with its original punched Rolex papers, wax seal tag and Rolex Datejust green hang tag, along with a Foundwell one year warranty against mechanical failure. The Datejust is perhaps one of the most produced models by Rolex, but examples like this are hard to come by, and in this condition, even more so.  Not that it really matters, but this watch was also originally sold in Basel.  So, a watch originally sold in the home country of Rolex!


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Item Dimensions
Case Size
1.417 inches (3.59918cm)