Rolexcellent

So, it was decided — in partnership with Signor Seriousimo’s Il Pappa and La Mamma Seriousimo, visiting from those Great United Kingdoms — that we would embark upon the joint purchase of a srs piece of manjewels for SS’s 40th.

Il Pappa Seriousimo has had his Rolex for 25 years; it was chosen as a 60th birthday present for him by Signor Seriousimo when he was but a pubescent sapling of 15. So we knew this was most likely to be Seriousimo’s marquee timepiece of choice.

We ushered him into a tick-tock emporium in the bowels of the Harbour City, told him not to moan about any aspect of the exercise and ordered him to get looking at los timepieces.  One has to be forceful with Seriousimo — just as well for him he married someone as bossy as La.

Having done la research, I had selected four specimens priced toward the bottom lower range of il Rolex spectrum. My preference was for one without a date, that model being the – ahem – most economically priced of the lot.

However, when he sat down, he pointed at the following picture and announced, “I like that one.”

That one — we were politely informed — was platinum, and priced at $60,000.

Thankfully, Seriousimo saw sense and agreed that choice may not have been in our famiglia’s best financial interests, and we moved on.

His next choice was a lovely model with a smart navy-blue face — and a date.

“You sure you want the date?” La inquired, gently.

“I love having the date — I look at it on my watch about 20 times a day,” came his reply.

“But isn’t the date on your BlackBerry? You’re always looking at that,” I snapped said.

“Well, yeah, but it’s much easier to look at it on a watch.”

“Can’t I buy you a desk calendar?” I begged, a note of urgency creeping in, my upbeat, best-wife-ever, it’s-your-time-you’re-turning-40-anything-you-want-it’sallaboutyou demeanour threating to sour. “A Far Side one..?”

But by then, it was done.  Mind made up.  “I’d like the one with the date,” he said firmly. And so it came to pass.

So proud of his new manjewels is Seriousimo that he even toddled off in his lunch hour to buy some glasses cleaning cloths “special microfibre cloths” for polishing its face. All the better for seeing that all important date, one supposes.

Tick, tock… oh, sorry, that would be three ticks per second, La’s reliably informed.

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