THE Oswestry farmer whose Rolex watch was eaten by a cow 50 years ago says its restoration and return has given him a ‘new lease of life’.
James Steele, 95, was shocked in June when metal detectorist Liam King reported back to his son Andrew that he had found the watch at their farm in Treflach Hall.
This led to the story – first reported by The Advertizer – reaching all over the world with the world-famous Washington Post even getting in touch.
READ MORE | Oswestry farmer shock as detectorist gets Rolex eaten by cow
Dutch watch company Chronoglide also got in touch and within three months, they have cleaned, restored and returned the watch to James in front of family and friends plus Oswestry mayor Mike Isherwood and Shropshire councillor Joyce Barrow.
James admitted he still cannot believe he has the watch back.
“I’m over the moon about it,” he said.
“People have been asking me if I’ve been excited about it but I’d gone past excitement.
“I’m only 95 – I take these things like water off a duck’s back as I’ve had quite a few disappointments but if I took them to heart I wouldn’t be here today.
“It’s a real boost to me – it’s given a new lease of life, it really has.
“I’ve got such a smile on my face and now everyone is telling me that I don’t look my age.
“I’m going to go to 100 now.
“I was amazed by the standard of the repair – I’ve ploughed those fields hundreds of times and normally when you lose something, things come to the top but this one never did.”
Kalle Slaap, a watchmaker at Chronogilde, was the face of the repair and was given the great honour of returning James’s watch.
He said: “I never thought I would see anything like this – this watch was lost for as long as I have been alive.
“It’s a tale of hope that things can be restored and the watch is a beautiful piece of history that belongs to James and he has it back now.
“I am astounded to how much we repaired it – our first reaction is that we have taken on too much.
“We didn’t know if it was an automatic watch or whether it was hand-wound and whether it needed minimal parts.
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“But watch parts are durable and so many survive and only the steel parts rusts but the heart and soul of the watch is authentic.
“I think there is as much my love and soul in this watch as the person who made it so long ago and the reaction of James is why we do it.
“I think this is what we all hope for in our careers because a watch has nothing to do with time, it’s part of you and lives your life with you so we hope it brings a lot of memories back.”
Liam King was the man responsible for the find and was invited to the big day.
“It’s absolute madness – I can’t believe it,” he said.
“When I first saw it I just thought it was some trash, an old watch but when I spoke to Andrew, he told me the story about it being eaten by the cow, I couldn’t believe it.
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“Well, we now know it wasn’t digested by the cow.
“I’ve been made to feel a big part of a really special day.
“Detectoring is great – more people should do it. That feeling when you find something is great and also each time you find something, you learn more.”
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