The Watches of Baghdad
January 17, 2001
I'm certain that 10 years ago today, many of you were sitting white-knuckled in front of the television and watching Operation Desert Storm unfold on CNN.
For those with friends or family in the region who were either doing military service or lived in Israel or one of the Arab nations, the following six weeks were particularly nerve wracking - as they were for me. Michael M., a very close friend of mine was part of the four-head delegation of the International Red Cross (ICRC) which remained in Baghdad during the entire Gulf War. As all forms of communication immediately broke down after the first strike on January 17th, information about his well-being was very scarce. The coalition of course was informed about the ICRC's presence and they undoubtedly covered the roof of the building they were living in with the largest red cross flag they could find. But even in a war fought with such hi-tech weaponry, things can go wrong.
Michael on the first night of Desert Storm
Michael joined the ICRC in the fall of 1990. At the end of the two month training seminar in Geneva, he and the other 50 rookie delegates were given their assignments by their course instructor. Michael was the last one to be called ... "Et maintenant, la surprise! Monsieur M., vous allez a ...BAGHDAD !". course, everybody thought he was joking when he told us where he was being sent. After all, it was already three months after Kuwait had been invaded and it was becoming more and more unlikely that Iraq would retreat voluntarily. The international coalition had been formed and was ready to go.
The reason this story is being told here, is because Michael is also a big watch-nut and in fact, he's the guy I blame for giving me "The Bug". Due to having oil, Iraq was a very rich country and virtually everything imaginable was available to those with money. So he spent many evenings of the month before the outbreak combing Baghdad's "Thieve's Market" for curiosities, memorabilia and, of course, watches, some of which I will be showing you here. At this point, I'd like to thank those Timezoners who gave me solid advice and encouraged me to write this article. I was somewhat concerned that showing these watches would be considered bad taste, especially in the countries whose soldiers fought in the war. These gentlemen all gave me the go-ahead and said they definitely wanted to see them, so here we go ...
Iraqi Air Force Issue Breitling Navitimer Pluton
These Breitlings were issued to the pilots of the Iraqi Air Force for a number of years and still occasionally pop up at watch fairs. The back is engraved with "Iraqi Air Force" and an eagle, Iraq's national emblem. If I remember correctly, Saddam referred to his pilots as the "young eagles".
Patek Philippe Ellipse
A Patek Philippe Ellipse with 18 K yellow gold case and manual wind movement. The deep black dial seems to be enamel and again shows the national eagle holding the country's flag. I wonder what the word under "Geneve" says. A hundred dollar bill would have bought this watch but not having any foreign currency (don't forget, Michael was a rookie), he had to pay with over-inflated Dinars so it cost him twenty times as much.
