A Watch for the Blind
October 22, 2010 § 5 Comments
Photo by Øystein Horgmo © All rights reserved.
This is a pocket watch I’ve inherited after my great-grandfather. Working as a farmer on the northwest coast of Norway he injured one of his eyes while mending a wire fence. Some time later he injured the other eye in the exact same way, making him completely blind. The watch has no glass cover and the numbers are indicated with braille-like dots.
The blindness did not stop him from providing his family with an income. Although he couldn’t go on as a farmer, he started making a living as a cabinetmaker. He died a few years before I was born.
Larger and additional photos available on my Flickr page.
The Sterile Eye 
This is wonderful!
Ditto what Ramona said.
Thank you, both :)
What a generation! In those days you didn’t have any option to leave work early – and if they had I doubt those guys would. A real hero! – and a beautiful item with a beautiful story connected to it.
Thanks, Peter! No doubt a generation made of some other material.