When is it necessary to replace something that works fine but that may appear tarnished or worn?
Although I have other watches, I purchased my favorite watch, the one I wear most often, fifteen years ago from a local big-box store. I don’t remember what I paid at the time. It was probably something like $20 or $30. Oddly a few years later, when I took my watch back to this store to have the battery replaced, the clerk at the jewelry counter said that the store doesn’t sell and never sold this item. Although a few other watches made by Wilson, the sports company, are available at eBay, I haven’t ever seen the model that I purchased in 1999 listed on eBay
My sweat from mowing the yard during a number of summers caused this watch to lose much of its finish on one side, so a couple of years ago I took a nail file and rubbed all of the finish off that side. It may not look aesthetically pleasing. Even so, this watch keeps great time and is currently in sync, to the second, with the online clock available at this
link. A few years ago, I purchased the mechanism that would allow me to unscrew the back so that I could change the watch battery myself. The current battery has not needed replaced for more than a year now.
My wife worries that the metal exposed below the stainless steel finish may be harmful. We tried to have the metal identified at a jewelry store, but the clerk erroneously thought that the watch only recently has acquired a silver finish from wear.
Despite my wife’s suggestions that I replace my watch, I have opted to hang onto it. There are other watches, and more stylish ones, that may supply the correct time. I could even dig out one of my other watches, but there is no reason to get something else. My watch works fine despite its appearance.
