It's 12:40. Still raining. I head east on 57th, figuring I'll bump into Kenjo at some point. I know it's closer to Carnegie Hall. As I cross 5th Ave. I notice the Piaget boutique a few doors south, and I decide to make a little detour. The doorman is abrupt. "Put your umbrella there," he commands. I look pretty casual in my yellow raincoat, made for hiking in Colorado. Obviously, his job isn't to keep the customers out completely, just to intimidate them. But, he can't intimidate me, so I ignore him and walk into the store where I meet a very nice, but cool, woman. I take off my raincoat, exposing my Reverso. I assume that watch salespeople are trained to look at the customer's watches, and this assumption turns out to be right. I tell her I'm here to look for a possible Birthday present, and she warms up immediately (I think it's 20% Reverso and 80% possibility of making a few bucks off me) and offers me champagne. I decline. We look at some watches, none of which leave their glass cages on the wall. Only one, the square classic one, is even remotely interesting. She points out that many famous people wear it, such as Frank Sinatra. I'm not sure if she means that he was buried wearing his, or if she is unaware of his departure. She also names Ronald Reagan, who at least is
alive [This article was written prior to the late President's death.
—Ed]. At that point I say good-bye, retrieve my umbrella, and leave.
I round the corner to continue east on 57th and glance at the BVLGARI windows, where I see a very decent looking diver's watch. And, it has actual numbers around the bezel, not BVLGARI spelled twice. But, no more detours. On to Kenjo.
I find Kenjo and peek in. It looks wonderful, but I'm hungry, so I keep on walking to a restaurant (Mangia, for you New Yorkers). I go upstairs because I need to sit and don't want to fight the mob in the food court. I take my seat, order a glass of wine (a mistake, I guess, as I need to be alert) and an entree. I start to read the beautiful Lange catalog that Philip had given me. I read about the history of Lange, both the original company and the revival, and about the watches themselves. They are indeed very special. The one I like, with the black dial, is pictured. I'm starting to fall for it. It's either that or the Patek 5080 with black dial. Wait a minute, I think to myself, you're not buying a Lange 1. Don't be silly... the Patek will do! And, I decide that it will, unless somehow the price of the Royal Oak drops by 50% in the next few hours. The problem, is, I don't think I should buy a Patek or AP without checking my usual Internet sources, so if one of those is the choice, then I won't buy my Birthday present today after all. So what, I think, it doesn't matter. It was just a wild idea anyway.
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