Kintsugi

[Ed]

Came across this concept recently (thanks Nessa).

Kintsugi (金継ぎ?) (Japanese: golden joinery) or Kintsukuroi (金繕い?) (Japanese: golden repair) is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum a method similar to the maki-e technique.[1][2][3] As a philosophy it speaks to breakage and repair becoming part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. (wikipedia)

But I loved the concept of: 'repair becoming part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise'.

I think that much of my boat restoration used to be of the 'as good as new' type, and yet, I now find myself often working towards trying to repair, but letting the repair be visible and part of the history and patina of the boat.

What do you think?

eib

[Obscured by clouds]

love it.

I was given a Rolex by my father, who in turn got it from a customer for some work on his boat before the 1968 OSTAR. It now needs a complete overhaul [pricey!!] but I've asked the watchmender who does Rolex watches in the UK to keep the faded bezel and scratched glass, and dented case, because it's part of it's history. I'm still waiting on an estimate.

[Michael Brigg]

love it.

I was given a Rolex by my father, who in turn got it from a customer for some work on his boat before the 1968 OSTAR. It now needs a complete overhaul [pricey!!] but I've asked the watchmender who does Rolex watches in the UK to keep the faded bezel and scratched glass, and dented case, because it's part of it's history. I'm still waiting on an estimate.

The Antiques road show featured a Rolex in just the same condition and specifically stated that NOT restoring the watch face does indeed enhance the value of the watch. To be fair these refer to the "Bubble backed" Rolex Gold oyster. The Bubble I believe houses the Automatic winder mechanism.

Its on You tube here...



Additional comment also here...

A WW2 era rose gold bubble back, valued at £2000???
I'm glad he added "possibly considerably more" to cover his ****, this should be worth ten times that with all the provenance.

Dug this out while roaming around google if anyone is interested:


Watches for POWs and help in the Great Escape
By the start of World War II, Rolex watches had already acquired enough prestige that Royal Air Force pilots bought them to replace their inferior standard-issue watches. However, when captured and sent to POW camps, their watches were confiscated. When Hans Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held. Wilsdorf, who believed that "a British officer's word was his bond", was in personal charge of the scheme. As a result of this, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were ordered by British officers in the Oflag (prison camp for officers) VII B POW camp in Bavaria alone. This had the effect of raising the morale among the allied POWs because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that the Nazis would win the war. American servicemen heard about this when stationed in Europe during WWII and this helped open up the American market to Rolex after the war.
On 10 March 1943, while still a prisoner of war, Corporal Clive James Nutting, one of the organizers of the Great Escape, ordered a stainless steel Rolex Oyster 3525 Chronograph (valued at a current equivalent of £1,200) by mail directly from Hans Wilsdorf in Geneva, intending to pay for it with money he saved working as a shoemaker at the camp. The watch (Rolex watch no. 185983) was delivered to Stalag Luft III on 10 July that year along with a note from Wilsdorf apologising for any delay in processing the order and explaining that an English gentleman such as Corporal Nutting "should not even think" about paying for the watch before the end of the war. Wilsdorf is reported to have been impressed with Nutting because, although not an officer, he had ordered the expensive Rolex 3525 Oyster chronograph while most other prisoners ordered the much cheaper Rolex Speed King model which was popular due to its small size. The watch is believed to have been ordered specifically to be used in the Great Escape when, as a chronograph, it could have been used to time patrols of prison guards or time the 76 ill-fated escapees through tunnel 'Harry' on 24 March 1944. Eventually, after the war, Nutting was sent an invoice of only £15 for the watch, due to currency export controls in England at the time. The watch and associated correspondence between Wilsdorf and Nutting were sold at auction for £66,000 in May 2007, while at an earlier auction on September 2006 the same watch fetched AUS$54,000. Nutting served as a consultant for both the 1950 film The Wooden Horse and the 1963 film The Great Escape. Both films were based on actual escapes which took place at Stalag Luft III.

[trebor]

Hopefully to a War museum or regimental museum.

I prefer to repair to new standard, but the Vase looks good.

[Rupert]

Not sure I favour either approach. Fix to make the boat work to do the job she was designed for. So a racing boat, fixed to go fast. A work boat, fixed to float, a stylish fop of a boat, fixed to look good.

I do approve of a boat not having the scars covered over, though (or Saskia would have been painted long ago).

[Pat]

As we usually say - "It's a used boat and it has the battle scars to prove it."
Much preferred to the pristine rebuilds as it gives character.

[alan williams]

The Shed an Art Form!!!!!!
Al