03/31/2026
A time traveller arrived in the workshop last week⏳ It was created in 1928 or 1929, then at some point after 1930 it was discarded in the mud of a since long-silenced lumber mill, a once pivotal establishment for the Cowichan Valley, now a rural residential neighbourhood west of Duncan🏡
There under the earth it lay, for up to nine decades, as its enamel face eroded away and its previous owner undoubtedly faded into obscure history⏱️
By chance it was unearthed during some gardening near a house that sits nearby the former Hillcrest Lumber Mill🪚 Soon after, it found its way onto the Trackside work bench where it was cleaned, and the back was removed to reveal patent numbers and watchmaker's markings betraying its age, amongst other things🔬
This Westclox Pocket Ben pocket watch (as opposed to the same manufacturer's Big Ben clock) would have featured a two-handed enamel face, with a smaller second hand dial, still discernible through the rust, and a loop over its crown⏱️
Though not an expensive watch then, or even now, it was undoubtedly of great quality, as are Westclox timepieces today⏰
Although this old watch will never again tell the time, its discovery tells the story of time in a manner that its remaining springs and mechanisms could never rival🕰️
