A Watch to Watch

At the embassy reception, I was fortunate to ask the right person for the time. “Mais oui,” the attractive young lady replied and raised her left arm with the remarkable bracelet that I had noticed earlier. On the band was a large, bulbous, luminescent beetle.

I thought she misunderstood my question, until she pressed her finger on the head of the ornament, causing its shell to open as two wing covers. At first, I pulled my head back, half expecting the jewelry to extend wings and fly away, until I saw that the covers had revealed a spherical watch. As its hands hovered and came to rest like compass needles, I saw that it was made of three glass spheres, each inside the other.

The outer globe was fixed to the watch base, had hour markings and contained a small amount of liquid in which the next globe floated. That crystal orb had a minute hand inscribed on its surface and held, floating within, an hour sphere. The woman explained that each inner sphere was positioned and rotated by a magnet underneath.

I became so enchanted discussing the workings of the stunning and distinctive timepiece, that I completely lost track of the time.