Of all the 600 watches he possesses, Punthalathazham Biju from Kollam has a special fondness for a vintage Seiko Diashock 17 Jewels manual men’s watch. He wears this 57-year-old watch every day; ritually winding it every morning. The watch belongs to his father, Shanmughan Pillai, 82, who bought it when he was 25 years old. “In those days, most of these watches were brought here by people who worked in West Asia. My father saw this watch on someone, fell in love with it and bought it for ₹250,” he says. As the years rolled by and life took over, the watch was forgotten. When the house was being renovated a couple of years ago, Biju stumbled upon the vintage beauty and decided to restore it.
He found a mechanic who managed to find the parts. “It took over a month and a half, but when I gifted it to my father, he was overjoyed. He, of course, gifted it back to me and I wear it to this day,” says Biju, who works at the Kerala Water Authority. Fascinated by mechanical watches, he began collecting watches with serious interest.
