Watches and Athletes

Had to show Fletcher Cox, my hometown Eagles pick.

I was at Iron Hill Brewery the other night watching young men win the instant lottery...I mean the NFL draft picks...with my husband and my son.  You know Iron Hill...that's the restaurant where they sit you at those really high tables so everyone walking on the floor looks like some weird suburban version of Toulouse-Lautrec. I thought it interesting in a time when watch sales are way down, most of these athletes were wearing them.  Try as I may to see what brand would emerge as the most popular, most appeared to be "no brand big sporty cheapo watches".  But the real money is just beginning to roll in...give these guys time...soon will come the cars, the houses and the Brietling's, the Omegas, the Panerai's and the Rolex's...and, unfortunately for some, the bad behavior. 

It seems the watches we associate with athletes are the brands they are paid to wear.  The industry refers to these individuals as their "ambassadors".  Sounds like a really easy job, right?  Just wear a luxury watch worth thousands and you'll earn millions as you go about your daily business.  The thing is, once in a while, some of that business isn't fit for publication.  It would seem Rolex played that card smartly by associating their brand with golf.  Golfers are the usually the gentlemen and gentlewomen of the sports arena and one would wonder what inside info Rolex had on Tiger Woods that allowed them to dodge a vampire bullet by signing almost every other golfer in the history of the game except him.  Tag Heuer must still be kicking themselves in the ass for trying to stay with Tiger as long as they could.  But, in the end, they had to let him go because they knew the brand was more important than their amb"ass"ador. 

Tiger has been one of the best examples of schadenfreude known to man in the history of the world.

Opals As A Birthstone...

Opals are the worst birthstone possible.  They are fragile, bad luck, and mostly colorless booger looking things.  Unless they look like these...

(clockwise from top left) Judy Geib Machu Picchu Opal Cuff Bracelet with Enamel Mosaic Back, $14,680, judygeibplusalpha.com | Monique Péan Peruvian Opal and White Diamond Necklace, 18K Recycled White Gold, $15,820, barneys.com | Moonstone, Platinum and Diamond 'Cluster' Ear Clips, $29,500, Verdura, 212-758-33884. | Irene Neuwirth, One-of-a-Kind 18K White and Yellow Gold Earrings Set with Boulder Opals, Crystal Opals and Mixed Shape Rose Cut Diamonds, $57,820, Barneys, 212-826-89005. | 'Liberty Island' Ring Featuring Black Opal, Diamonds and Black Spinels Set in 18K White Gold, price upon request, Van Cleef & Arpels, 877-826-2533.  How nice of VC&A to provide their phone number!

These are magnificent examples of opals.  With my October birthday, I received many opals over the years and absolutely none of them looked like the above.  All are broken and many are missing...I have no clue where most of them are.  And that's OK as they supposedly reek with bad luck.  However, I was recently organizing my jewelry and found a memorable opal ring I received when I was around 13 or so.  The mounting was marquise shaped with multiple small, round opals on top rather than one large stone.  I remember losing one of the little opals right away and my mother, ever resourceful and crafty, actually dropped a dollop of Elmer's Glue into the missing hole, allowed it to set, and voila!, fake stand in opal at your disposal. I wore the ring like that, passing the glue off for an opal, for years.  And, guess what...although the drop of glue shrunk and hardened a little over the years, it was still there.