Functional Jewels

One of Columbia's little quirks is that it's home to the National Watch & Clock Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate with a huge collection of time-telling inventions.  Yesterday, my watch aficionado cousin and his wife were in town for a visit, so of course this was on our itinerary.  Here's a small collection of watch faces.  The colors and varied designs caught my eye.

But mostly, I found myself drawn to the pocket watches.  Small but full of detail, functional but beautiful designs.  Sandy asked me which one I'd choose, if I had to pick one.  She was joking, but I actually had an answer, it's this one!

Or this one, or the next one, or maybe the one after that.  Really, any of them would be fine :)

I can't say that I'm particularly interested in watches over any other subject matter, but I love antiques and these definitely qualify under that clause :)  I really do enjoy the craftsmanship and ornate styles - they just don't make them like this anymore.