Watches, Pens, and the Craft of Analog Living
Ellen Ashford · August 1, 2026
I paid three dollars for a cigar box of old mail at an estate sale last spring, and it has changed the way I write. The box — a battered wooden Monte Cristo with a painted lid — was sitting on a folding table between a broken slide projector and a ceramic owl. Inside were … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 31, 2026
The Watch Under the Rhinestone Brooches It was a Sunday in late October, cold enough that the vendor had draped a moving blanket over the folding table legs, and I almost didn’t stop. The glass case was full of costume jewelry — clip earrings, rhinestone brooches, a string of plastic pearls with a broken clasp. … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 30, 2026
I was not looking for it. I was hunting for a spare bottle of Diamine Oxblood I was almost certain I had stashed behind the notebooks on the top shelf, and instead my hand closed around something spiral-bound and soft-cornered. Rereading old journal entries had never really been part of my practice — I wrote … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 29, 2026
Before I Ever Touch the Caseback The first thing I do with any unfamiliar watch is hold it to my ear and close my eyes. It’s the oldest, most analog form of diagnosis there is — no app, no equipment, no opened caseback. Just sound. I learned this habit slowly, over about four years of … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 28, 2026
The first thing I do at any garage sale is look for the shoebox. You know the one — taped shut, written on in marker, usually sitting under a card table next to a broken clock and three paperback thrillers. Last June, I paid three dollars for one that said “PENS + STUFF” and spent … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 27, 2026
The Watch That Started This Habit About seven years ago, I bought a 1974 Seiko 5 at an estate sale for twenty-two dollars. The movement was singing — a beautiful 21-jewel caliber 7009 humming along at 21,600 bph, keeping time within fifteen seconds a day. The crystal, however, looked like someone had used it to … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 26, 2026
A few years ago, I paid $340 for a vintage Parker 51 at an estate sale. The seller called it a “bargain.” My husband called it something less flattering. But the moment I inked that pen and felt the hooded nib glide across Rhodia paper, I understood something fundamental about vintage versus modern value — … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 26, 2026
The Desk Arrived on a Tuesday My grandmother’s writing desk came down from her attic in three pieces, wrapped in moving blankets that smelled like cedar and old wool. I had expected the desk itself. What I had not expected was the shallow center drawer, still locked, and the small brass key taped to the … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 25, 2026
A few years ago, I handed my Pilot Metropolitan to a friend across a coffee shop table. She picked it up, wrote three words, and frowned. “It feels scratchy,” she said. “Mine writes so much smoother.” Her pen? A Lamy Safari with a labeled medium nib. Mine? Also labeled medium. That moment is exactly why … Read more
Ellen Ashford · July 25, 2026
The Drawer Where My Grandfather’s Watch Waited My grandfather’s watch arrived without ceremony. No velvet box, no letter tucked inside. My aunt handed me a small zip-lock bag at a family gathering in 2014, and inside it was a slim, gold-toned dress watch from the early 1960s — a Swiss-made hand-wind piece with a signed … Read more