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
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 wristwatches -- of these remarkable people!
New!
​Cops & Robbers: Officer Clare Davis / Gangster Morris Roisner
​
Two Prohibition-era men. One was the law. The other fought it.
​​​
Clare R. Davis was a Highland Park, MI policeman who helped capture three diamond thieves on April 3, 1928. For his bravery, Clare was presented with a 14k white gold Parker watch, beautifully engraved with his name and those of the crooks that he collared:
“Captured - April 3 1928 - Al Bloom - Herman Zeidman - Louis Goldman - by Clare R Davis”
​
Morris Roisner was a notorious St. Paul, MN Prohibition gangster, bootlegger, & kidnapper; he was sentenced to three years at Leavenworth Prison for tax evasion. In 1941, he was presented a 10k gold Elgin money clip by the Wurlitzer company engraved “Morris Roisner” (Morris & friends were skimming money from jukeboxes…)
​
Click below to read their stories:
/// ======== /// ========= ///
WW1 Military Watches
/// ======== /// ========= ///
WW2/Cold War Military Watches
/// ======== /// ========= ///
Athletes Watches
/// ======== /// ========= ///
Presentation/Personal Watches
/// ======== /// ========= ///
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.
/// ======== /// ========= ///
CONTACT ME
/// ======== /// ========= ///