Last year, you might remember when I received a watch from JORD Wood Watches. I wrote a review of the Ely Maple watch, and many of you have commented about how beautiful it is. And it is. What I didn’t tell you back then was how every time I went to my dresser to get my watch, it was missing. It was missing because Ben was constantly snatching it to wear.
So last month when JORD contacted me again to see if I’d like to take a look at another watch, and maybe one for Ben, too, I couldn’t email them back quickly enough to say YES! Ben had perused their website many times, dreaming of which watch he might be able to save enough to buy some day, so I knew immediately which one would thrill him most. I asked for the Dover Koa and Black and soon it was in my hands. It arrived snuggled around its own little pillow and tucked inside a lovely wood box.
Tinkering around in your parent’s garage and playing with things you shouldn’t, you were an inventor from the start. Having a thing is never enough. You need to know the how, why, and what of the build. Your foundation for innovation is equal parts curiosity and creation. We know you because we are you. With gears in full view and structured style, the Dover Black & Koa was designed for the maker in us all.
When it arrived, I put it away for Ben’s upcoming 15th birthday. He accidentally found it early, but that’s another story, for another time (and the story of my life with this kid). Before I hid it (obviously not well enough), I spent a little time just admiring this handsome timepiece. The wood is stunning. I was not familiar with Koa wood before, so I did a little research and this is what I learned:
Koa is part of the Acacia family of trees and is recognized as one of the finest textured woods in the world. This native of Hawaii is truly a monarch of the forest, growing to heights of 100 feet. The best Koa (Acacia koa) can be found specifically on higher elevations of the Big Island and take 50 to 70 years to mature. (SOURCE)
This is what JORD has to say about themselves:
We are focused on creating timepieces that are modeled after a modern lifestyle. We value sustainability, efficiency, and experiential living. We make our watches for people who don’t just have somewhere to be, they have somewhere to go.
I’m reminded of the old saying, “I have places to go and people to see.”
There are a few features about the Dover Koa and Black watch that make it unique. It is self-winding (does not require a battery), with a power reserve of 36-hours. The natural koa is hand finished and pretreated with tung oils. All JORD watches come with a one-year limited warranty, and they are all made right here in the U.S.A. Care is simple, but it does come with those instructions.
So, today is Ben’s birthday. And like I always do on his birthday, I told him that I wanted to get out the camera and shoot some photos of his 15-year-old self, and that he should put on something he won’t mind being immortalized in his freshmen year scrapbook.
Why did it not surprise me that he came out in jeans, a hoodie, and his brand new JORD watch? It’s his style — quintessentially Ben. Off we headed to a local park to shoot a few pictures. It was not my intention to make the photo shoot about the watch, but sometimes it just happened. Ben really, really loves this watch, and he enjoyed showing it off.
I asked him what he loves most about it and this is what he said:
I like that you can see through it because you can watch the gears working, and that it doesn’t have a battery to worry about changing. It’s comfortable to wear, much lighter than it looks, and it’s just cool. I never really liked wearing a watch before my Mom got her JORD watch. Now I like wearing my JORD every day. I think I just feel more grown up now.
I think it’s that Edison trait thing Ben has — the creative, curious, want-to-know-how-everything-works thing, that has grabbed his attention. What teen boy wouldn’t want a watch you can see right through to the gears inside?
The Dover Koa and Black is only one watch JORD Wood Watches produces. There are many other wonderful options for both men and women, in many types of wood, and in other shapes and styles. I’ve seen three of them up close and personal now, and they are all breathtaking.