I'm sure many of you have heard stories of treasures found while rummaging in old garages. Well this actually just happened to me, sort of I guess.

About 10 years ago I noticed the gold bezel of my Breitling had fallen off and was missing. I had just come back from the gym and thought it had maybe fallen off there. I know, why would anyone where an expensive watch to workout. Anyway, I called the club several times over the next few days to see if it had been found. No luck. I had bought the watch new while on an 8 week training program in Amsterdam in the early 1990's and it was my everywhere watch for many years.

I had thought about replacing the bezel but in reality felt the expense was likely more than the value of the watch itself. Sadly, I put the watch away in my drawer knowing it was impractical to either sell or fix.

The past year and a half has been a bit hectic. My wife was told to expect a promotion to Atlanta but her position was held up and our lives were put on hold until finally she was offered and accepted the position at the end of January. We are now in the process of packing things up and getting our house ready for sale.

I was packing up my Amplifier, a modern tube amp that weighs over 100 lbs and the special boxes it came in was in the garage. I took them down from the rafters and brought it in the house. There are 4 boxes, each one fitting inside the other. The most interior of the boxes had all the foam insulation to guard the amp and tubes from damage in transport. I take out all the foams and start carefully removing each of the tubes from the amp and place them in the numbered packages each indicating their positions. As I prepare to put the amp into the cut foam I notice a ring on the right upper corner of the box and take it out thinking it may be a fitting for one of the tubes.

I look at it for a few seconds wondering where this goes. It looks kind of shiny but still no clue. I turn it around and my jaw drops. I start yelling to my wife, "You'll never believe what I just found!"

I run up the stairs and straight to my drawer, take out the Breitling and snap it into place, give it a wind and get it running.

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Look at that beautiful patina!