View Full Version : Most Treasured Possession
Other than your HiFi, your car or your wife/husband/partner, what is your most treasured possession?
Here's mine:
http://www.thepippin.plus.com/Misc/DSCF0062.JPG
If I tell you that then my willy will shrink and my insurance becomes invalid.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/SmHznHef9XI/AAAAAAAAASQ/pHq74U8mbBk/s640/IMG_2587.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/SmHz4Ypy4tI/AAAAAAAAASg/waPfi4E5x5w/s640/IMG_2594.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/SmH0dq5GguI/AAAAAAAAATI/zInr1KN9gR8/s640/IMG_2602.JPG
A hand made bike in Reynolds steel by
http://gallery.mac.com/robinmather
My 1910 Blackstone hot bulb oil engine, all 2.3 tons worth
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/Sept06164.jpg
My music collection..........simples.
Techno Commander
28-07-2010, 22:07
that Blackstone makes my Lister look positively weedy. :)
aquapiranha
28-07-2010, 22:17
My 1910 Blackstone hot bulb oil engine, all 2.3 tons worth
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/Sept06164.jpg
Fantastic! I LOVE old engines, I prefer steam though... Fred Dibnah was my hero! I even made a tiny double acting steam engine at school from castings I ordered from some firm. I am afraid it has gone astray, my mum used to have it but since she left s I have not seen it.
My most treasured posession? that is a tough one. my music obviously means a great deal to me, holding so many good memories as it does, but there are other things, such as my health! I will have to get back to you.
Rare Bird
28-07-2010, 22:30
My 1910 Blackstone hot bulb oil engine, all 2.3 tons worth
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/Sept06164.jpg
Wow thats great
Apart from my music collection, health etc. My most prized material possession is a 1937 Rolex Oyster, which came to me when my Father died, and shall go to my son when I go.
very nearly sold it last year due to this shit economy, but have manged to keep hold of it for now, it runs like a clock and has never been restored, i burnt out 5 clutches in 58k miles in my transit towing it around until we found a heavy duty one, i hope they bury me with it :lol:
very nearly sold it last year due to this shit economy, but have manged to keep hold of it for now, it runs like a clock and has never been restored, i burnt out 5 clutches in 58k miles in my transit towing it around until we found a heavy duty one, i hope they bury me with it :lol:
It's nice... but what does it do? ;) :scratch:
Rare Bird
28-07-2010, 22:49
i guess it works like a traction engine where you attach a belt to what ever you need powering
Generator for your hi-fi? Now that's what you'd call a 'dedicated mains supply'! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Haselsh1
29-07-2010, 07:59
I guess my most treasured posession has to be my Bronica SQ-A medium format camera which I use for all of my serious arty photography. It is a two and a quarter inch square format camera which when scanned at 300dpi produces quite a few megapixels. Try and beat that with a digital camera...!
Other than that my most treasured thing in the World has to be my Croft pre/power.
Ali Tait
29-07-2010, 09:08
My old BMW 320i.Just so smooth..
i guess it works like a traction engine where you attach a belt to what ever you need powering
You got it Andre,it drove farm machinery all it's working life in Devon I'm the second owner apart from the bloke who rescued it, he did nothing with it so I bought it of him and put it back together and ran it for the first time in about 30 years, that was back in 1999, I'm sitting in a q for the ferry to France at the mo,so will be off line for a few weeks
I had a feeling this thread would bring up some interesting oddities but I wasn't expecting two and a half tons of cast iron! Nice...
Sooty, my nearly 42 year old teddy bear. To be fair, he looks like Frankenstein's monster theses days, but I still love him.
My faculties.... what little of them remain. :mental:
My books.
What about your Celine Dion CD box sets?
Marco.
What about your Celine Dion CD box sets?
Marco.
You beast! That was supposed to be our little secret!
Rare Bird
29-07-2010, 23:06
What about your Celine Dion CD box sets?
Marco.
:lolsign:
That's a beautiful bike Brian. A Robin Mather, very exclusive and very expensive. Looks like a 25" frame which makes you 6ft 6 ish.
Sadly, my cycling days are long gone, but in 15 years of serious cycling I owed three bikes which I assembled around classic 531DB frames: a Claud Butler ; a Carlton and a Mercian.
The Mercian would have gone down as my most treasured possession. But is it really the bike or just the sheer joy of cycling that you treasure?
Now it's not so much material things I treasure, but tranquility of mind, which comes in fits and starts.
That's a beautiful bike Brian. A Robin Mather, very exclusive and very expensive. Looks like a 25" frame which makes you 6ft 6 ish . . .The Mercian would have gone down as my most treasured possession. But is it really the bike or just the sheer joy of cycling that you treasure?
You're right. It is the joy of riding it that makes it my most treasured possession. It is an an amazingly beautiful ride. I considered a Mercian, but Robin was closer. I had a two hour consultation before he started the work.
I think the frame is a little over 25" and I am 6ft3in tall with disproportionately long legs.
Last summer, after some routine maintenance in what was a highly recommended bike shop the rear dérailleur snapped into the wheel and destroyed the hanger. Robin took the bike back and brazed in new parts - complete respray needed, of course. The offending bike shop was not happy.
I put some extra cash into renewing parts coming to the end of their life, and Robin was very keen to do the work himself - I'm really not sure if the bike is mine or Robin's, even yet, but I ride it. It's much too big for him!
Expensive? About £1500 - you can pay more than that for a mass produced bike that will be dead in five years - mine will last 25, at least.
Now, if I buy a pair of Harbeths would my vote change?
quadsugdenman
30-07-2010, 13:54
My clocks!
Built by my Great,Great Grandfather and by my Grandfather in 1869 and 1926 respectively!!
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab85/quadsugdenman/Clocks/July102008006.jpg
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab85/quadsugdenman/Clocks/July102008007.jpg
Just keep on tick-tocking away!! :)
Now aren't they lovely. Ticking clocks drive me mad - with one exception - the one second tick of a long case clock. That's relaxing!
Maybe I synchronise my heart? My moderately inactive pulse is 58-60.
My clocks!
Built by my Great,Great Grandfather and by my Grandfather in 1869 and 1926 respectively!!
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab85/quadsugdenman/Clocks/July102008006.jpg
Just keep on tick-tocking away!! :)
*Very* nice, Garry... I can spy a Vettriano in the background - is it an original? ;)
Marco.
Rare Bird
30-07-2010, 15:42
I can spy a Vettriano in the background - is it an original? ;)
Have you got any cheeky Vettriano's Marco :eyebrows:
'One or two' in catalogues for customers, dude... I admire his style, though, and how he sticks two fingers up at the snobby art establishment, and the so-called 'cognoscenti' therein! :eyebrows:
Marco.
'One or two' in catalogues for customers, dude... I admire his style, though, and how he sticks two fingers up at the snobby art establishment, and the so-called 'cognoscenti' therein! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Agreed, there's something about Vettriano that always makes me smile.
http://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/sale-wanted/13893d1270388533t-sale-zurich-household-items-vettriano_singing_butler.jpg
It's becoming a bit cliché'd I know, but I don't care - I like it.
Talking of pictures that get up the noses of art critics, I've always had a sneeking and secret admiration for Tretchiko's 'Chinese Girl'.
http://modculture.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/25/tretchikoff.jpg
I've spent quite a while trying to work out why the girl's green face looks 'right', when it shouldn't. (The above image is not the best - it's too saturated, but was the best I could find.)
Another looked-down-upon artist that I like is Tamara de Lempicka:
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS1M7xVKEi_aFWh3pIyvNbobwLwB4Em4 aIeqNDCo7SRzXqXLy4&t=1&usg=__R95dKv8wBRXZGG7YJmLf40GUhxM=
though a lot of her work is a bit 'heavy'.
To return to the original question, apart from my records, books, cameras, travel photographs and my late father's items of woodwork and watercolour paintings - I guess it would have to be the Rolex watch my parents gave me for my 21st.
Regards
quadsugdenman
30-07-2010, 20:23
*Very* nice, Garry... I can spy a Vettriano in the background - is it an original? ;)
Marco.
I wish Marco. My wife has a signed print somewhere (I think) She collects Vettriano. I just like to look at them. They have a certain 'feel', the dress the look. Yip, I think he puts two fingers upto the establishment who are critical of his work. You are the expert in this field. Why is he so despised by the RA etc??
The Mercian would have gone down as my most treasured possession.
The magazine of the Cycle Touring Club (CTC) arrived a few days ago. There is an article in it about Mercian.
I was joking about my teddy bear, though I do still have him! For my 40th last year, my lovely wife bought me a watch - hand made in Switzerland by Dreyfuss & Co - limited edition number 34 of 500 pieces worldwide: I've always loved skeleton movements, and I also like the fact that from a lesser-known maker it is more unusual than other watches I've had in the past, and the TPPV (Ticks Per Pound Value ;)) is amazing
http://s7ondemand4.scene7.com/is/image/Signet/6565654?$detail475$
You're right. It is the joy of riding it that makes it my most treasured possession. It is an an amazingly beautiful ride. I considered a Mercian, but Robin was closer. I had a two hour consultation before he started the work.
I think the frame is a little over 25" and I am 6ft3in tall with disproportionately long legs.
Last summer, after some routine maintenance in what was a highly recommended bike shop the rear dérailleur snapped into the wheel and destroyed the hanger. Robin took the bike back and brazed in new parts - complete respray needed, of course. The offending bike shop was not happy.
I put some extra cash into renewing parts coming to the end of their life, and Robin was very keen to do the work himself - I'm really not sure if the bike is mine or Robin's, even yet, but I ride it. It's much too big for him!
Expensive? About £1500 - you can pay more than that for a mass produced bike that will be dead in five years - mine will last 25, at least.
Now, if I buy a pair of Harbeths would my vote change?
My cycling days were between 1970 and 1985. No RM in those days, but it's hard to make comparisons on quality as the ownership of Mercian cycles has changed and their frame builders have come and gone. I'm a tad under 6ft and used a 23" frame. From the pics I've seen RM edges out Mercian and his frames have an exquisite finish.
Unless you've been a dedicated cyclist it's hard to explain the addiction. But after years of daily commuting, CTC & club runs, audax rides, trainiing rides and a bit of time trialing it was a combination of injury, change of occupation and personal circumstances that forced me to quit. A horrible wrench, which I still regret years later. There was no pedaling into the sunset for me.
So much for the recommended bike shop then. Sounds a right mess and I assume you stuck them with a big bill.
I was lucky enough to always live close to a pukka bike shop. I used Reeds of Kingston Road SW19 and George Stratton on Wandsworth Hill when I was in South London and Rohan Cycles at Rayners Lane when I moved to Middlesex. But I assembled and maintained my own bikes so avoided any mishaps. About the only ever thing I got a bike shop to do was to remove a freewheel, fit a bottom bracket and true wheels. I bought my wheels for George Stratton Cycles as they still had one of Claud Butler's mechanics working for them. A funny little man with a huge red nose. He built great wheels and insisted on using campag large flange for 27" wire ons and campag small flange for 700c sprints and nothing else.
£1500 for a bespoke bike is not bad by today's standards and the frame could out live you :) I have no love of mass produced bikes, nor the modern sloping top tube and all that carbon odd shaped stuff. I'm stuck in a time warp in my admiration of the classic steel frame. There are some to drool over here:
http://www.classicbikeshop.eu/
http://fivenineclimber.com/bikes/gazelle/gazelle_pages.htm
And some interesting stuff turns up here:
http://www.lfgss.com/search.php?searchid=2449662
There's a good chance my Mercian frame is still in use somehwere out there. But I stupidly neglected to make a note of the frame number before I sold it, so it could have been on Ebay more than once for all I know.
I'm stuck in a time warp in my admiration of the classic steel frame.
There are some lovely old frames about, and some builders can match them.
I don't miss down tube shifters - having to reach right down on a large frame to change gear is not so easy. Modern brake-shifters are wonderful - 30 gears at your fingertips (even if some combinations should not be used); and the click-click indexing is wonderful. The hidden cables of a modern setup is so much more elegant - the modern headset and stem is not!
And clipless pedals are so much easier than toe clips. Click into the "ski-binding" and you're off.
When I get really old I might have myself a recumbent trycyle. Now here is something to drool over
http://www.icetrikes.co.uk/explore-our-trikes/sprint
http://www.icetrikes.co.uk/image/full/sprint-3fs.jpg
if I can into and out of it, or a big boys trike
http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/tri-1.html
http://www.warlands-cycles.co.uk/upload/U9007_main_6.jpg
But that doesn't look nearly as much fun!
I'm stuck in a time warp in my admiration of the classic steel frame.
There are some lovely old frames about, and some builders can match them.
I don't miss down tube shifters - having to reach right down on a large frame to change gear is not so easy. Modern brake-shifters are wonderful - 30 gears at your fingertips (even if some combinations should not be used); and the click-click indexing is wonderful. The hidden cables of a modern setup is so much more elegant - the modern headset and stem is not!
And clipless pedals are so much easier than toe clips. Click into the "ski-binding" and you're off.
When I get really old I might have myself a recumbent trycyle. Now here is something to drool over
http://www.icetrikes.co.uk/explore-our-trikes/sprint
http://www.icetrikes.co.uk/image/main/sprint-1-20.jpg
if I can into and out of it, or a big boys trike
http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/tri-1.html
http://www.warlands-cycles.co.uk/upload/U9007_main_6.jpg
But that doesn't look nearly as much fun!
My Longines Conquest Ti VHP, given to me by my wife for my birthday in 1989. She passed away in 1999 and I wear it every day, always a reminder of our wonderful time together.
http://www.mtc.me.uk/images/Longines.jpg
Sorry to hear of you loss, Martin, ten years, but just yesterday. Nice that you have something you can wear constantly.
My wife wears her mother's watch.
I have my Father's half hunter chain and pocket watch. I never wear it. I have thought of buying a waistcoat just for the purpose! It is a very fine copper-gold chain.
I say my Father's, but it was his Father's and his Father's before that. My paternal Grandfather died when my Father was two years old - the watch went to an Uncle. Many years later when I was a teenager my Father was summoned to see his Aunt. She gave him the watch. It was in his hands for less than ten seconds before he had dropped it into mine. I don't think he has touched the watch since, but did ask from time to time if it was safe. Holding it was just too painful for him. Watches are funny things.
That's some history, Brian. It must make you think of all your ancestors and the things that that watch must have witnessed. No insurance could ever cover that so look after it carefully.
My Wahl Hair Clippers. Over 10 years old and cost about £20. Have saved me a fortune in haircuts, that I can spend on kit!
Reid Malenfant
06-08-2010, 19:37
My Wahl Hair Clippers. Over 10 years old and cost about £20. Have saved me a fortune in haircuts, that I can spend on kit!
:lol: I know exactly what you mean, i pull the same trick ;) I nearly fell over when i found out that even a trim was about £5 when my first pair gave up the ghost :eek: That was a few years ago to thinking about it :eyebrows:
I think my most treasured possession would have to be my house. I'd be truly messed without it, no mortgage & only just enough room to hold all the junk i appear to hoard. Yet another hand me down from when mother passed away early this year :(
Other than that i guess it'd be another watch, my uncle gave me an nice Omega years ago, the whole thing is 18ct gold, including the wrist strap.
Ali Tait
06-08-2010, 20:13
I have a watch that has a great deal of sentimental value,as it belonged to my brother who passed away just over a year ago-a Raymond Weil Automatic from the Don Giovanni range.
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