Quick Release oil while working the action has smoothed it up a bit. Not quite pinchable yet with my arthritis, but fairly easy to open with the long pull. Tie, tie clip, and watch were my Dad's. His dad, my grandfather, was accidentally blinded in one eye at birth, making life even tougher if you were born in the 1890s. Grandpa F was a Baptist preacher, which paid zero, so if they didn't grow it, they didn't eat it. My dad, the youngest of three boys, got his first pair of shoes, hand-me-down shoes, when he went to first grade. Got an eighth grade education, then with his parents help he lied about his age and went in the Navy in WWII. After the war ended he came home and got lucky to land a job with the Rock Island railroad. The job required an accurate watch, he had to have one, and had to make payments on it. In the 70s Bulova came out with a railroad approved Accutron wristwatch. My dad's friends who could manage their money all had one. My dad wanted one real bad, but he spent every penny he made on bills or other items, so Dad had to continue to carry his pocketwatch. Towards the end of my junior year of highschool, 1973, landed a full time job at Hensley's Mobil Truck Stop, $1.60 per hour. Pumping gas, diesel, propane, fixing car and truck flats, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, honest work for a 16 year old young man. Better than my previous part time work in restaurants, busing tables, washing dishes, mopping floors, cutting up salad, chickens or whatever needed done. Spent the money on my Camaro, motorcycles, girls, a couple underage beers if possible on the weekend. However, for Dad's 45th birthday, August 25, 1973, bought him this watch. $125 new at Stephens Jewelers, took an entire two-week check to pay for it. He was so proud … he loved it and wore it everyday till his passing, then I wore it until buying my first mechanical watch. Tis a little beat up with a few nicks here and there, but priceless to me.
