Time Capsule
Vintage Personalized Wristwatches & the Stories They Tell
"You never actually own a watch...You merely look after it for the next generation" **
** Thank you, Patek Philippe
New! B-25 Gunner Maynard Reese – Shot Down over New Guinea / MIA 1943 – Returned Watch to Family
Staff Sgt. Maynard M. Reese (1922–1943), a turret gunner on a WW2 B-25 bomber, was shot down over the New Guinea jungles on December 22, 1943 while on a mission against a Japanese airfield.
Maynard and three other crewmen were ordered to bail out by the pilot. They landed in a dense jungle; their bodies were never found. Maynard and his fellow crewmen were classified MIA, but not declared legally dead until 1946.
Mary Jo, his 19-year-old bride, bought Maynard an Accro wristwatch before he was deployed, engraved with their initials and Maynard's unique Army Serial Number:
"M. J. R ~ To ~ M. M. R. ~ 2. 2. 43 ~ 12078267”.
How did Maynard's combat-worn, battered watch survive and show up for sale on eBay 80 years later?
Click below to read his story:
What are Time Capsule Watches?
They are vintage personalized timepieces engraved with the original owner’s name & other information enabling me to uniquely identify, research, and (hopefully) return them to the owner’s family.
Most belonged to servicemen (WW1 / WW2) or athletes, but there are also watches owned by an Alaska Gold Rush pioneer; an aviatrix friend of Amelia Earhart; and a notorious 1930’s St. Paul gangster.
Click thru Menus above. Enjoy the stories -- and wrist watches -- of these remarkable people!
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WW1 Military Watches
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WW2/Cold War Military Watches
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Athletes Watches
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Presentation/Personal Watches
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The Time Capsule Collection of Vintage Watches
Bob Stokes
"You never actually own a watch....you merely look after it for the next generation"
I have spent my entire life collecting something. 1950s baseball cards (yup, I had all the Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays cards...) -- and of course my Mom threw them all out when I went to college. Over the next fifty years, that morphed into Victorian Furniture, Victor Talking Machines / Nipper collectibles, 19th Century Advertising; Opera memorabilia – and finally, vintage personalized wristwatches.
Why? First, through the miracle of the Internet, the lives of the original owners have have been documented and preserved -- military heroes; athletes; community leaders. Second, each watch is unique -- it is the only one in the world. If you don't buy it, no amount of money can get it for you. And third, when I research the owner's family, I can return it to them for posterity.
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CONTACT ME
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TimeCapsule Index
WW2 / Cold War
1943