Manifest Destiny

There have been many times over the years where I have woken up in the morning and thought “I bet if I go out to thrift/sidewalk shop today I will find a specific thing that I am looking for.”

Earlier this week, I popped into the local pawn shop where I became entranced by an 18k Cartier Lanieres Tonneau-shaped watch. I cannot afford it. And until I saw it, this kind of quartz-powered watch wasn’t even on my radar.

But once I knew it existed, I wanted to make it mine. I asked the guy behind the glass if they took trade ins. He said yes and I went home to try and figure out which watches and jewelry I could sell in order to reach the price they were asking for.

Long story short, even though I need to do a jewelry purge, I also do not have enough pawnable things to pay for the watch. I went to sleep still puzzling over ways to raise funds. And when I woke up the answer was as clear as day: go to the Value Village and you will find a gold bracelet.

And I did and I did. I got this rose gold chain bracelet with bezel set, mother of Pearl evil eye talismans. I could tell it was Portuguese because of the style of the clasp and I could tell there was some assay marks but they were too small to read without a loupe. When I got it home I could see that it was marked 800 which is 19k, the Portuguese fine gold standard.

One bracelet alone is not going to get me that watch but it does bring me a little closer. Plus it’s a pretty bracelet and who doesn’t need protection from bad luck?